Software Priorities Pre-COVID

Before the coronavirus became widespread, most organizations were looking for software that could meet demands for higher productivity and efficiency as well as ways to reduce turnover and improve employee engagement.

Companies were buying software that improved business processes and workflows. This included collaboration tools that allowed teams to get tasks done faster. There was also a move towards transforming physical processes into digital ones. It was all in the name of efficiency.

However, following COVID-19 and the lockdown measures that many countries implemented, survival became the main focus of organizations. Now, during recovery, there are six different software priority categories that will be important going forward. They are:

• Security and security software
• Risk management
• Customer engagement and experience
• Multichannel platforms
• Remote work software
• Employee experience

Security and Security Software

With the shift to survival that many businesses took after the coronavirus became a worldwide pandemic, remote working became key. Yet, organizations were then faced with a new challenge: How to keep their remote workers’ setup secure.

Hackers quickly adapted their methods to utilize the COVID-19 pandemic to try and get into more systems. They would try phishing attacks that would entice users to click on a link or open an attachment for important coronavirus information.

Going forward, organizations will need to find ways to secure data and information being accessed by remote employees on a number of different devices from laptops to smartphones or tablets.

Risk Management

There may be no surefire way to reduce the risks that many organizations face in a post-COVID-19 world, but risk management software may help soften the blow. Experts have estimated that the best possible scenario would see a GDP loss of $76.69 billion. However, it is important to keep in mind that things are constantly changing in the global marketplace.

Yet, with the world economy in turmoil, it only makes sense that organizations will shift their software priorities to risk management software. By helping companies assess and reduce the risks they face, it will be an invaluable tool for most organizations post-COVID-19.

With an uncertain future, many companies will shift away from focusing on new growth and rather concentrate their efforts on reducing the risk they may face on a number of fronts including cybersecurity and economic instability.

Customer Engagement and Experience

One of the biggest reasons behind the economic decline is that customers have been buying less. There may be a number of reasons for this including a job and income loss, or fear and anxiety about being in public. Whatever the reason, increasing competition for customers will mean that organizations need to offer a better customer experience.

Prior to the COVID crisis, customers were focused on buying from companies that offered a good experience. One that had values that aligned to their own. Organizations were using various marketing approaches to customize the shopping experience and engage more with their customers. This engagement will need to continue and may even need to be ramped up over the coming months to secure customer loyalty.

Customer engagement or experience software are the tools that help organizations connect with their customers. This can include social media, messaging apps, surveys, website analytics, and chatbots. Organizations will be making these types of software more of a priority to improve their engagement levels with consumers.

Multichannel Platforms

To improve sales, organizations will also be looking to leverage multichannel platforms. Essentially, this is a way that companies can offer customers methods to make a purchase when and where it pleases them. These different channels can include emails, print ads, brick-and-mortar stores, e-commerce sites, mobile apps, and more.

Companies that are able to access multichannel will have a better chance of keeping customers coming back. They also improve their chances of being discovered by new customers.

Work from Home Software

Most businesses encouraged their employees to work from home as a key response to the unfolding COVID-19 situation. Statistics show that productivity was not harmed when most teams started working remotely. A survey by Deloitte found that 70 percent of workers were either just as efficient working from home or were even more efficient.

It will come as no surprise that even as more and more companies start to open up again there will be a significant number of employees who want to continue working remotely. To support them, organizations will have software priorities that make remote working easier, more streamlined and more secure.

Software designed for remote teams can include collaborative software, messaging platforms, video conferencing tools and more. Some employers may also want to use software that can manage an employee’s time or monitor what they are working on at various points in the day.

Employee Experience

Keeping your staff engaged and productive will still be a big software priority for the post-COVID world. Software solutions that offer employees a better workplace experience are going to be sought out by organizations looking to reduce their turnover rates.

There is various software on the market that can improve your employee experience. They can help you create feedback channels like surveys, gamify the workplace, recognize achievements among your staff and build a connection with your employees.  Many of these software solutions are designed to help employees find answers or information quickly. For example, an online platform that lets your employees know what benefits they have or how many vacation days they have left for the year.

Turnover can be expensive for any company and reducing costs and finding ways to hold onto good talent is going to be a high priority for businesses recovering from the turmoil of the past few months.

If you are looking for software solutions to help your business manage the post-COVID-19 world, we can help. Contact us today to find out more about how to implement software solutions to help you remain competitive.