Enterprises believe COVID-19 to have bigger impact than 2008 downturn: Study

Bengaluru, Dec 3: Almost 70 per cent of respondents of a global market study believe that COVID-19 will have a bigger impact than the 2008 downturn with budgets, supply chains, employee availability, and customer intimacy being impacted the most.

The joint study by HFS Research and Infosys revealed that 51 per cent organisations consider remote work or hybrid workforce model to be the way forward Cloud, cybersecurity, and modernisation will power digital business models and increased IT spending, it found.

The study titled, 'Nowhere to Hide: Embracing the Most Seismic Technological and Business Change in our Lifetime', focused on how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted businesses across industries, an Infosys statement said on Thursday.

It revealed that numerous organisations have accelerated the adoption of automation, digital business models, and the hyper-scale cloud to respond to customer needs quickly and competitively. The report also brought to fore a shift in corporate mindset to advocate change and digitise businesses. For the study, HFS Research, in partnership with Infosys, surveyed 400 Global 2000 executives to understand how businesses can survive and thrive in the economy riddled with the pandemic.

According to its key findings, the public sector, banking, insurance, healthcare, life sciences, and the high- tech industry respondents are relatively confident as they see emerging opportunities for making appropriate investments amid the crisis.

"At least 65 per cent of respondents are insulating their business from volatility by building diverse customer pools and investing in an agile business model," the report noted.

Over 60 per cent of enterprises plan to accelerate their digital transformation initiatives and over 70 per cent plan to change their product and service portfolio to drive greater customer value. Investing in creating a virtual, secure, and cloud- enabled IT environment that enables remote working at scale (virtualisation, collaboration, security).

Investments in the cloud, cybersecurity, and modernising core IT apps and infrastructure are at the top of the priority heap. Enterprises expect to increase their spending the most on business and digital consulting, followed by IT infrastructure services (including cloud). They expect the demand for IT and business process services to pick up to serve the dual purpose of driving digital while saving cash.

Nearly 90 per cent of organisations realise they need to reposition to unleash people in the new reality. Post- COVID, working arrangements will change dramatically. Only 37 percent prefer a return to an office-based environment. The work culture will evolve from siloed working to interdisciplinary collaboration.