According to a recent report, the growth in global IT spending is expected to fall by the end of 2020, due to the coronavirus pandemic. The report stated that the IT spending of the global economy is likely to reduce by 3-4% by the end of this year. However, this fall may also present an opportunity for IT vendors to step-up as consulting partners for their clients.
The report stated while the significant impact is expected to be on hardware business, the software and services industries are also expected to slow down.
It has been noted by the experts that, however, adoption of collaborative applications, security solutions, big data and artificial intelligence are set to experience an increase in the coming days, which provides an opportunity for IT vendors to test some concepts of ‘Future of Work.’
According to IDC India Research Director of Enterprise Solutions and ICT Practices, Sharath Srinivasamurthy, “While the actual impact of this deadly COVID-19 pandemic on India market will be evident by middle of 2020, the industry is expecting a slowdown in terms of discretionary IT spending, along with the contract renewals and new deals getting signed in coming months.”
He further added, “Due to this crisis, the existing project executions have also taken a hit due to travel restrictions in place.” Which, in turn, will force the IT vendors to relook at their growth targets for the rest of the year as the impact will become evident in the next few quarters.
On the other hand, this downfall will also provide an opportunity for IT vendors to test their resilience on business continuity, remote connectivity, and cyber business security. This is the right time to look for innovative ways to serve their clients. Companies are now turning towards IT vendors to handhold them in the hour of crisis.
The report pointed out that businesses across the country — India — are also implementing alternative ways of continuing their business, which is generating a parallel corporate line that demands to be connected from where they want, when they want and to who they want.
Although working from home is not a new concept for Indian corporates, it certainly is a crucial time to see the success at this scale. Alongside, businesses are also exploring ways of collaborative work that leverages conversations, meetings, and assets across platforms with employees who are working remotely from wherever they are located to serve customers better and ensure business continuity.
It is also expected that the adoption of collaborative applications will also be growing at a rapid pace after the COVID-19 outbreak. Besides, IT vendors are working with clients to get special approvals, wherever needed, to have employees connect remotely to continue providing services, especially in supporting mission-critical IT systems.
