Frost & Sullivan Finds Cloud Services Leading Investment Focus for Post-Pandemic Era

A new market analysis from Frost & Sullivan, Communications and Collaboration Investment Priorities, finds that organizations are focusing their investment strategies on solutions related to combating the work challenges brought on by COVID19. The necessity for remote access and cloud services due to safety concerns(from both customers and employees) has made cloud technology a top focus for the majority of businesses in 2021.

According to the report, 43% of participants believed that managing the challenges of COVID19 outranks all other businesses goals for the rest of the year. Companies across the globe are looking to equip staff with collaborative remote technology and multiple channels of communication, so that workers can stay connected and work efficiency while the world waits for the pandemic to settle down. Cloud capabilities also give companies the opportunity to expand customer service operations with automation, so that customer satisfaction won’t be hindered by a reduced workforce.

"COVID-19 has expedited technology investments for multiple businesses. Adapting to new work modes and increasing digital customer engagement represent key digital transformation objectives driven by the pandemic," said Elka Popova, Information & Communication Technology Principal Analyst at Frost & Sullivan. "An anticipated increase of IT/telecom budgets in 2021 by 27% on average indicates that vendors and service providers must be prepared to meet specific customer requirements to capitalize on the opportunity and business use cases."

The exponential rise in popularity of  cloud services has also put online safety in the spotlight, and 50% of surveyed  organizations have cybersecurity as their main focus for 2022.  It seems clear that the world economy will not be quick to rush back to normal business operations, and remote work will likely be a permanent fixture in business culture. Because of this,companies across the spectrum are actively preparing to deal with the unknown challenges that may arise over the coming months and years.

Edited by Maurice Nagle