Times, they are a changing, with technology

I do most of my consulting and training work with technology equipment companies, and have been hearing about the many changes they are going through now because of the pandemic. While the “new normal” is obviously not yet known, most people are describing the following changes:

·        Primarily due to Supply Chain issues, deliveries have been delayed as much as 3-6 months, impacting Revenues

·        Companies have realized that many/most of their white collar people have learned to work more or less efficiently from home. This concept could save cost in many ways, including the need for adding office space

·        Sales people are figuring out how to sell virtually, with some difficulties. While the travel cost savings are significant, I do NOT see this as a permanent change, because the sales person is a critical differentiator and sellers will resist this once the pandemic is over. People like to buy from people they trust.

·        Video conferencing with platforms like Zoom have become the new normal in this area. I use it nearly every day

·        And many Field Service organizations are now using concepts like Microsoft’s HoloLens 2 “mixed reality” to remotely show customers how to fix their equipment, essentially becoming the “brains” while on-site customer technicians become the “hands on”. This is another big cost savings as far as travel costs.

There is no doubt that rapidly evolving technology will continue to offer improvements in many areas. Recently there was an article in the NYT about various Israeli technologies that may accelerate diagnosis of COVID-19. I am optimistic that several of them will work.