Covid 19 – Opportunities in the Technology Sector
It is no longer news that COVID-19 which started as a global health crisis, has plunged the world into a global economic crisis, the second in just over a decade. Despite the doom and gloom all over the world, some businesses are gaining momentum in these troubled times. These include technology firms and investors in the technology sector.
The pandemic has caused a drastic shift in consumer behaviour; consumers are jettisoning hitherto traditional ways of concluding business transactions to adopt new and efficient models that will assist them to comply with government regulations, social distancing measures, and general health and hygiene protocols. This has tilted the balance greatly in favour of technology-enabled business models. As a silver lining in a dark cloud, the present situation presents a unique set of opportunities for some technology businesses.
We have identified some areas in the technology-sector that are likely to be resilient despite the economic effect of the pandemic.
Cloud Computing
COVID-19 has imposed a digital transformation agenda on most businesses and has forced a rethink of how collaborative work and learning is carried out. The vulnerabilities of the traditional, non-cloud-based technology architecture are no longer in doubt. To protect their business, organisations are now adopting virtual collaboration, remote working, and e-learning solutions, all of which are enabled by cloud-based infrastructure. Cloud service providers are therefore seeing an unprecedented surge in demand for cloud resources as they work to keep the lights on in a world that is slowly shutting down. Indeed, cloud-service providers are emerging as the superheroes of these times.
Businesses that provide software-as-a-service (SaaS) are also winning in these days, as cloud-based solutions are now in heavy demand. The CEO of Kudo, a video conferencing platform that provides real-time interpretations for multiple languages was reported to have said, “What COVID-19 is doing for Kudo, is speeding up the adoption curve of people trying new technology. Because that’s the only way they can meet.” Kudo is reported to have recorded an estimated increase of 400% during this period. Zoom, another video conferencing platform that allows 100-500 participants for a meeting has also experienced a quadruple increase in the number of users during this period.