How Technology Is Impacting Businesses Post-pandemic

On National Technology Day 2022, preeminent personalities from the industry comment on the importance of technology post-pandemic

The pandemic, as we all know, has accelerated the adoption of technology across various verticals. While there were initial hiccups especially for industries that were not well versed with technology, digital transformation has now become a reality across sectors. Various industry leaders recently spoke to Dataquest, and spoke of how the technology industry will evolve post-pandemic.

“In the post-pandemic era, businesses world over are waking up to two major realizations. The first is that risks are an immutable part of the future. The second is that when it comes to risk management, technology has outgrown its role as a mere enabler, permeating businesses at every level and becoming integral to their core strategy,” said Jaya Vaidhyanathan, CEO, BCT Digital while also adding: “In 2022, I expect to see continued growth in AI-enabled technologies, robotics and automation, all of which will become instrumental in recalibrating businesses as they navigate uncertainties in the marketplace. Pandemic-driven disruption has challenged every walk of life and AI will be critical in helping businesses and key industries to rise to customer expectations on a sure footing.”

Vaidhyanathan is also of the view that new-age technologies are extremely pertinent to help organisations achieve growth. “Real-world examples include advanced technology solutions that empower any industry to grow, process, and deliver high-quality output, such as quantum computing to reduce financial and strategic risks; patient-centric systems that bring affordable healthcare to the grassroots of the population, or highly analytical innovations that reshape critical organization-wide processes, like governance, risk and compliance (GRC), helping them drive sustainable performance. Leaders today are pressed with the need to foresee the future to sustain continuity, accelerate growth, and circumvent risks effectively. This can only happen in a world where ground-breaking information is available to them in the nick of time to make decisions that are pivotal to holistic business growth. Intelligent and cognitive technologies, like AI or robotic process automation, are therefore their strongest allies, empowering them to challenge tradition, promote good governance and reinforce innovation at scale,” she stated.

Chandramohan Parlapalli, COO and co-founder, PreludeSys on the other hand says that the pandemic was the tipping point that helped industries realise the untapped potential that technology holds. “Pre-pandemic, technology played a supporting role to achieve non-IT industry business goals and long-term strategies. It was more of an operational support. The pandemic was the tipping point that demonstrated the untapped potential of IT as an equal partner for customer success. For instance, IT promoted the online channel to the business model, and the tool for seamless work environment in a distributed office, home, and the travel mode. It’s the technology that will be at the core for the organization mission, vision, and subsequent strategy,” he said.

Parlapalli is also of the view that to achieve India’s target of a five trillion-dollar economy by 2030, the technology service provider industry will play a key role. “It will be a core component across all industry sectors and services that will directly or indirectly contribute to jobs and revenue. As we are all aware, Indian IT companies have increased their contribution to India's GDP from 1.2% in 1998 to almost 8% in 2018 and 7.7% of India's GDP in 2020. And this will only grow. Currently 4.5 million people are employed by IT-BPM sector. And the last count of 100 unicorns from India is just the beginning,” he added.

Similarly, Rajesh Ganesan, president, ManageEngine, says that technology will henceforth be the main differentiator on how a nation progresses. “Technology touches and improves the lives of individuals, families, communities, businesses, and nations, and effective application of it has been the greatest differentiator in terms of how nations progress. On this national technology day, we urge people who have benefited from leveraging technology to make two important decisions. The first is to enable access to technology for people who don't have the privilege or access to it. And the second is to not just consume but also contribute to creating technology and building the know-how to apply technologies in the surrounding communities. These small steps will lead us towards building more empowered communities and a strong, self-reliant nation,” he commented.

Along the same lines, Ramprakash Ramamoorthy, director of research, ManageEngine says that unlocking the true potential of IT by integrating it with the latest technology will be a key factor in the next decade of India's growth in technology. “India is at the cusp of embracing a digital revolution across the country at a scale that's unforeseen, thanks to advances in technology like unified payments interfaces. India's completely digital vaccination platform, COWIN, is a testament to the country's capacity to scale implementation and adoption of technology driving the digital revolution. As we accelerate this digital journey, it's pertinent to understand and appreciate the importance of IT in our country's growth. Today, the first touchpoint of many businesses is digital, and IT teams have to be equipped with the right tools and techniques to ensure systems stay up and relevant. There has also been an ever-increasing cyber security threat landscape, which has to be addressed with emerging defense techniques that include technologies like AI,” says Ramamoorthy.