When business is a tornado of chaos, what does your company need?

Are you tired of talking about COVID? We are too. But we need to for a second.

When you look at the full scope of what COVID has done to businesses, what are some of the major things that are changing, and will continue to change?

If you look through different articles and talk to business owners/leaders, here is the primary list:

• Better cost structure: 
  Many businesses realized they did not have cash on hand to persist for a long time with active disruption to their customer base. Now, you see some industries like gaming, and those revenues are up. E-commerce would be another example, as would fintech (people don’t want to go into banks). But overall, businesses want cost containment and cost efficiency, especially if COVID is prolonged and continues to have spikes and waves.
• Organize and pivot quicker:
  In March, when you saw the beginning of global lockdowns, a lot of companies had to pivot to work from home (WfH) model, which involved video conference tech and self-organization at the employee level. Most companies did that successfully but now, months later, they are dealing with new realities around video call fatigue, figuring out if they’ll return to the main office, and continued changes to the core business.
• Adopt new technologies:
  This is a big one. It started with technologies that would enable remote work, i.e. cloud tools, video conferencing, project management tools, knowledge management tools, and more. It has also proven to be a good time to try and move from legacy applications to modern, cost-efficient applications.
• Learn to work remotely:
  This means understanding your calendar, pacing your day, breaking up video calls, knowing what is happening with your kids (if you have them), and understanding how to do review processes and feedback when you are not physically in the same place as colleagues.
• Be flexible:
  We don’t know exactly when this will end globally. We think 2021, but we don’t know when within 2021.

What industries is this happening in?

The disruptions of 2020 are being felt in most industries. Like we mentioned above, some industries are better for revenue in this period -- e-commerce, fintech, energy, gaming, etc. But even those industries that are scaling upwards are still having to deal with this list of looking at their cost structure, organizing better, adopting new technologies, being more flexible, etc.

You are also seeing a ramp-up of AI and machine learning adjacent to many industries, where those technologies are expected to represent $2 trillion (with a T) in overall value. We have talked before about the RedAI app, which allows the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry to better understand shelf space and revenue projections. Machine learning has also come to tire recognition. This is a time where different industries are doubling down on technology. 

Why is outsourcing important right now?

Some outsourcing benefits in general:

• Cost containment and efficiency
• Access to lots of expertise
• Best practices for new technologies
• Serve as extension of your core team
• Documented results in multiple industries
• Flexibility

These are all the benefits that companies need when things are uncertain. They need flexibility in managing their people, tech, and processes. Outsourcing gives you that.

We put together a checklist to help you understand what you would need to look for in an outsourcing partner.