IT will go beyond its mandate to strengthen relationships across the business
As we progress into another year of the pandemic, businesses across the world are trying to deepen their understanding of customers and employees, so they can serve them better. IT has been a cornerstone of every business, providing stability and support round the clock. But this year, it’s going to move toward the center, where delightful engagement is the watchword. Here are some predictions on the defining trends in the IT sector this year:
Apps will reign supreme for customer service engagement
Our research shows that 68% of WhatsApp users report it’s the most convenient way to engage with brands. Both customers and employees will prioritize messaging channels for engagements that are traditionally had via phone or email. Collaboration between customers and brands will move away from the call center and into the app store.
Automate the mundane, humanize the pain
As the pandemic pushed business online overnight, companies quickly scaled automation and self-service technology like chatbots and FAQs to deflect and resolve employee support issues. However, IT teams have a big opportunity to go beyond resolving tech requests and make it a delightful exchange that deepens relationships across the business. More companies will automate the mundane using robotic process automation (RPA) so the business can continue to run even when the employee is unable to gain access to the infrastructure, but they’ll also rethink employee service as a branding opportunity. In 2022 companies will rethink the bot deflection for even the simplest conversations and exceeding delight with the human touch.
Customer data security will make or break brands
In 2021 most IT departments strengthened their endpoint protection, identity and access management, data loss prevention, and perimeter security posture as a reaction to the pandemic. These investments have a long shelf life and set the foundation for enhancing the overall security posture for the new year – customers will stick with brands they trust in 2022.
Companies need to establish a complete “tech review” for employees
Pretty much every company struggled to get all of their employees securely online after we all started working remotely. In order to avoid this mess in the future, companies should implement a “tech review” for each employee showing who and where they are, what role they play in the organization, what devices, tools, and apps they use, and what level of access they need. This will enable IT to provide a more secure, seamless, and frictionless experience for the end user.
Beefing up IT consumerization
We’re in the Golden Age of consumer-tech simplicity, and employees expect to see that same simplicity, instant gratification, and autonomy in their workplace tools as they experience in their everyday lives. The continued deployment of RPA tools, bots, and smart applications are table stakes for businesses who want to keep their employees happy and minimize frustration or resignations.
Creating a cloud infrastructure for the long haul
One positive that came from the pandemic was the long-overdue corporate acceleration toward and adoption of cloud and SaaS platforms. Unfortunately, many architectures or solutions deployed in reaction to the pandemic were not “enterprise-grade”, so now they’ll need to re-evaluate what technologies are working the best and sustainable for the long haul.
Enduring the Great Resignation
Many tech workers are leaving the workforce due to burnout and retaining talent will be more difficult this year than ever. The shortage of talent will create challenges in recruiting and hiring talent. Companies will need to step up on all fronts of employee culture, from pay to benefits to career development, and adoption of technology that is easy to use and makes work delightful.
