How to prepare for 2021

What did 2020 teach us?

A lot of things. Many different lessons.

In terms of business, the most relevant is that the standards have become different. Virtually everything is online. It’s easy to access. Many companies were able to pivot to a work-from-home model overnight, or within a week. Projects continued happening. Revenue was made. Sales were completed. Companies did OK, and even very well, in a highly digital world.

2021 will be more of the same on that front. Most people are predicting any “normalcy” in terms of in-office work and group gatherings won’t happen until late summer or early fall, which is still nine months or more away.

So the question for 2021 becomes: how do you take the lessons of 2020 and become more digital, more innovative, more customer-first, and more profitable?

A look at our core industries

We worked on many different projects across 2020, but some of our core expertise is within:

• Manufacturing
• Healthcare
• Energy
• Finance
• Logistics

Because we know those spaces more, here’s a quick look at some things to expect for 2021 in those areas.

Manufacturing

Increasingly you will see AI and machine learning become normative in this space, both in terms of machines used in processes and in terms of the logistical side of moving product towards ship-ready. The industry will only become more digitally-transformed in 2021.

Healthcare

There will be an increased focus on omnichannel ease of delivery and different providers being able to “speak to each other” in terms of patient records and history. The disconnect in healthcare is often that if a patient sees three different providers, each one cannot access previous records because of either (a) laws or (b) a lack of integrated technology. Much of the 2021 innovation in healthcare will be around delivery, because that’s what the world is focused on right now. 

Energy

The world wants more green sources of energy, and cloud will be a driving force in moving us there. Investments in R&D within energy sector will keep shifting to advanced software.

Finance

Finance will work on more contactless delivery options, which require significant back-end coding. Mobile phone = bank card, increasingly. New products will arise from challenger banks, often around payment schedules and different options for deferment as inequality becomes an increasing concern. There will be movement on bitcoin, blockchain, and other emergent tech in 2021.

Logistics

Delivery and real-time tracking for end user experience will continue to dominate this sector in 2021. The integration of sales and logistics will also be a major theme, so that sales reps know exactly when their products are arriving at stores and where they will be placed, and can go work the relationships as soon as the boxes are being unpacked. 

What does this all mean for your company?

Almost everything that happens at scale in 2021 will be digitally-driven and powered by extensive back-end software functionality, some of which is very complicated to code, test, map, deploy, and debug. That’s why outsourcing your software development to a team of experts -- across the industries above and more, plus specialties like cloud, testing, AI, ML, etc. -- makes a lot of sense.

Without expert software development, especially in a year like 2021 where we’ve already normalized the need for effective digital, you won’t get very far.

But what do you need in terms of a software development team?

We created a checklist for you to consider. Look it over, and if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out. We love working with clients to reach their most audacious goals. We did it for all of 2020, even when our business got disrupted in March, and we’re doing it all of 2021 too!

Have a great holidays and consult this checklist, then feel free to reach out to us.