Stop fear-mongering!

Covid-19's impact is just too exaggerated!

I am really annoyed with all the fear-mongering that has been going on. There is the other side, and in totality, IMO, the future is brighter!

At the outset, let me state that Covid is here to stay. I don't doubt that vaccines, and cure won't be found ever. However rogue scientists, or scientists of rogue nations will be ready with the next one, soon. The show will go on with the pandemics around. In the last 3-4 months, mankind has learnt a lot, and being intelligent, we will adapt. We have to look at the opportunities it has created, and align our attitude, skills, and plans for the future.

Larger number of people have been 'Working From Home', and watching Internet content. That created need for far more band-width. My almae matres (Cisco, Juniper) must be busy shipping routers/switches/security devices...

Several months of successful WFH has convinced even the sceptics that it is not only viable, but a good option. Having realised that WFH works, businesses are now looking at how to make the remote employee stress-free, and more productive. Hundreds of millions of 'Enterprise Class WFH Solution' (A robust, secure, highly available networking device that has redundant internet connections+all the orchestration) complete with enterprise class video-conferencing will be sold in the near future. Home of every WFH employee is a now a branch-office, and needs everything that a branch-office needs. Spouses may be working for rival companies. These new requirements will trigger new wave of innovations in Software Defined Networking, and Customer Premises Equipment. I am so excited with this opportunity that I may go back to it again. SDN will undergo a revolution. It is going to stay exciting for another decade.

I also believe (noise from some idiots notwithstanding) that 5G will finally take off in a big way: For people to stay safe, data from vast number of sensors will need to be collected analysed (mostly using AI) for pathogen presence. High-speed, low-latency networks are needed to take corrective actions in real-time (imagine yourself turning into an automated fumigating machine qautomatically). 5G is so timely!

Needless to say, more data centres will also need to be built to analyse all this data, quickly enough.

You may have learnt that Google is giving $1000 to every employee to equip their homes with right furniture. Few other companies also announced similar steps. This trend will eventually get viral, and create a demand for 100s of millions of ergonomic furniture to enable WFH employees to work efficiently, and free of fatigues. Employees of companies not investing in ergonomic furniture will soon start suffering from Carpel Tunnel Syndrome, Spondylitis, and other disease. Their efficiencies will plummet, they will suffer, spend more time with doctors, and physio-therapists (even there, there is increased business for some).

The biggest bull-shit that has been going around is about real-estate! Reality is that social distancing needs more space. For last few decades, the 'Work Place Resources' departments spent all their creativity in packing more people into smaller, and smaller spaces. NO MORE! They have to undo/re-do everything. Conference rooms for a dozen will get relabelled, "NO MORE THAN FOUR". Not all work can be done from home. Product building is a team-sport, and requires people co-located. Despite increased WFH, mandatory social distancing regulations will force continuous building activity (initially remodel, then build new) in real-estate.

These days, I work in multiple areas. While Networking continues to be my first love, Energy, Blockchain Enabled Smart Supply Chain Management, and Precision Agriculture are my other interests. I am finding all of these areas exploding with opportunities!

Few months of shutdown has made the planet a lot cleaner. We learnt, if we pollute less, nature can recover. We should not go back to polluting, ever. Renewables should be our ONLY source of energy. That requires replacement of all devices/appliances running from other sources of energy to be upgraded to one that runs from a renewable source. 'Electric Transportation', 'All Electric Homes' etc. will get a massive boost. A massive opporrtunity is built!

One of the startups I mentor, has built a Blockchain Enabled Smart Supply Chain Management Solution. They have done more business though the lockdown period than they did in their entire existence before that! The business continues to rapidly grow (all retail going online, video-shopping, virtual malls, virtual trial rooms....).

Another startup, having been in the business of 'Monitoring, Predicting, and Correcting' 'Personal Air Quality' for years, suddenly finds enormous interest in what they do (don't we want the air around us to be pathogen/allergen/pollution free?).

And of course, there are smart businesses making money stitching PPEs instead of frocks, building sanitisers instead of deos, and so on. Copper/Silver Nano-particles are being coated on everything: from doorknobs to steering wheels to apparel to door-mats to linen....(looks like the copper/silver nano-particles trap, and kill the virus).

Several businesses are providing disposable/single-use solutions including disposable furniture, upholstry. etc. Packaging is undergoing its own revolution: trap the microbes, and stop the spread!

I expect to see continuous evolution of new materials. New materials always fuel further innovation.

I am a die-hard agilist. I believe in "Fail-Fast". Businesses that are failing now should be happy that Corona accelerated the inevitable, and they have an opportunity to do something relevant, and profitable.

The pessimists remind me of the silly talks that used to happen in weeks, and months post 9/11. Great people kept predicting doom.

You will recall, there was no TSA before 9/11. Most airports had no X-ray machines for hand-baggage. There were absolutely no full-body scanners anywhere. 9/11 created millions of security jobs worldwide (not just airports, even in malls, and hotels). Full Body Scanner companies, Baggage X-Ray companies, Metal-detector companies have been thriving. Air-travel kept growing. Fierce competition did eliminate some poor performers, but the world did not slow down. It did increase costs, but mankind accepted the higher cost for safe travel, safe shopping, safe family dinner, safe stay...

Corona Virus will have a similar effect. There will be changes in the way, we live, work, and play. A lot of new opportunities are being created. A lot of innovation is happening. irrelevant, unviable businesses will shut shop. There will be some pain. But, such businesses would have anyway failed sooner or later.

To me the future looks brighter than ever.