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What industries and technologies will begin to develop rapidly after solving the problem of COVID-19

The virus and massive self-isolation of the population entailed the forced digitalization of a wide variety of business sectors, medicine, social programs, etc. Some industries that have not been able to adapt to new trends are rapidly collapsing. Some are balancing on the verge of loss-making, while some, on the contrary, are growing and developing.

The voices of experts are heard louder and louder that our world will no longer be the same. That even when all the worries subside, we will live in new conditions - more isolated, mobile and technological. I want to speculate about technology. Make a prediction of our IT life in the near future, so to speak.

So, what and who will be "on horseback".

Remote work and online planning


Obviously, the number of people wishing to work from home will increase. This is not about freelance, but about remote work. Previously, many could not afford it because of the mass of fears and stereotypes both in their minds and in the minds of leaders. Forced to switch to remote work, both of them were able to really feel all the pros and cons of this format. Surely there are those who "did not enter." But there are other people who like the changes. The opportunity to save on transport and food in a cafe / dining room, the appearance of "extra" time, which used to take to get from home to work and back - these factors will become an important argument when choosing a work format in the future.

In the same way, for many it became a discovery of how convenient it is to hold meetings, meetings, meetings through video communication. Not everywhere, but in many companies where my friends work, they have become shorter and less frequent. They speak the case and discuss only important issues. Due to the fact that communication has become a little more complicated, the team becomes independent. Because of the little things, it’s a shame to organize a video meeting. Leaders who are accustomed to calling on the carpet and personally communicating with subordinates suffer a little. However, they have Zoom and a bunch of other services.

By the way, just Zoom, Hangouts and other video conferencing services are now on the horse. They were much sneezed for security flaws (for example, the lack of encryption and data transfer on social networks), but continued to use due to the lack of alternatives. Services took into account errors, issued patches, and are now actively expanding, inventing new chips and actively monetizing them. Moreover, there is a demand for videoconferencing from officials. Look how actively they communicate, isolating themselves in their offices.

VDI, SaaS


Once companies go online, they need technologies that ensure the safe work of employees with corporate data. VDI and SaaS already existing on the market came in handy. With their help, you can provide each employee with a fully configured computer with corporate software in a day. And if something happens, everyone can access the familiar desktop and databases at home. Via VPN, of course.

Alternatively, provide employees with a laptop / tablet with configured VDI. Personal workspace, good performance (which is important when working with "heavy" files), the ability to quickly add the right amount of jobs and a high level of security are really important advantages. The advantage of VDI is that the technology allows you to remove part of the load from the IT department. And they already have a hard time, so the introduction of VDI and SaaS is only a plus.

Since these technologies are now in high demand, it is expected that they will be finished, diluted with new services and packaged in a new wrapper. Already now they are used by companies of various levels, ranging from government agencies and ending with small commercial organizations. And it is unlikely that all of them will abruptly switch to the usual format of work when the wave of panic subsides and the problem of COVID-19 is resolved. That is, demand will remain after the end of the quarantine regime. Accordingly, the industry is clearly not going to fade.

Dramatic leap in scalability


The demand for solutions that can quickly scale the IT infrastructure will definitely increase. Remember how the government services site was lagging under a “parental” DDoS attack, and how quickly it was possible to solve the problem by providing everyone with a request for a child allowance. Yes, you can call the example clumsy, but similar incidents happened with other sites (I can not help but mention a site where GTA V was handed out for free).

Of course, nobody likes accessibility issues. So we can expect that the number of proposals to ensure the continued availability of resources will increase. As is the demand for scalable solutions. In particular, cloudy.

Hybrids and multi-clouds


By the way, about the clouds. A business representing this area is now actively using its winning position, attracting customers with super-beneficial offers. In the long run, the forced transition of companies to the cloud will increase the level of knowledge about these platforms. Accordingly, people will begin to more boldly use cloud solutions, while taking advantage of different service providers. That is, the number of companies implementing a hybrid or multi-cloud strategy will increase. Well, simply because it is really convenient. So cloud providers can pretty rub their shaggy paws.

Why not just a cloud, but a hybrid or multi-cloud? For greater reliability and safety. If one of the cloud storages suddenly becomes unavailable, you can turn to another. This guarantees the availability of data and the ability to save information in the event of an emergency.

Smart Systems, Internet of Things


Many countries already have technologies to recognize people's faces in public places. Some even tested the system of "trapping" potential carriers of the disease. There are a lot of questions on the observance of human rights, but will these very people be asked? Anyway, many are ready to compromise on civil liberties in exchange for alleged security.

Perhaps existing CCTV systems will add new equipment or change functionality to mitigate the possible consequences of future epidemics. New intelligent systems will appear that will monitor crowded places, identifying potential threats. The question of how these systems will be used will be left out of brackets. In general, the “smart city” systems, computer vision, IoT received a good impetus for development. And precisely these technologies will be in demand in the future.

Online Learning


Schools, kindergartens, universities and other institutions are now engaged in distance learning of their wards. Yes, it is difficult. A number of my educated teachers complain about the increased load due to the unusual format. However, while at a young age, it is still better to conduct training in a team (socialization, adaptation, all things), then for older students, online learning will often be more convenient. There is much to argue about where it is more effective to use online learning. It is clear that you cannot teach plumbing in a video call. But foreign languages, design, layout, programming - why not?

It seems to me that we should expect an increase in the number of online courses that complement the basic program, as well as full-fledged alternatives to classical education. Perhaps classical education is also being modernized - for example, schoolchildren will be able to listen to a lecture on history, art, physics, astronomy from a famous scientist on video communication. Whether it is a recording or real communication is not so important. It is important that this was very rare before. Now it will be more often.

Quantum computers, global computing systems


Surely you heard the news that a network voluntarily created by ordinary people to fight against coronavirus has become more powerful than what was considered the world's most powerful supercomputer. Similar associations have happened before, but this time everything turned out really globally. If the project can really help in the fight against the pandemic, then this will open up good prospects for creating software and projects for using the power of computers of users from around the world to solve local problems. The potential of such computing systems is quite large.

The same can be said about quantum computers. Already, much more governments, corporations and organizations are planning to spend a lot of money on developing quantum devices that can give a significant increase in computing speed. And if Intel, IBM, HPE, Microsoft, NVIDIA and AMD were doing this before, then in the future we will hear new names. Will quantum computers benefit? Yes, if correctly targeted. Quantum computing, although not universally applicable, can help solve some problems much faster than supercomputers.

Industry development


When production stopped in China, everyone hiccuped. Almost all products (electronics, medical equipment, clothing) are made in China. As a result of the current crisis, manufacturers will reassess the risks and begin searching for new locations to locate their plants and factories. Perhaps someone will return to their country or move to India, Malaysia and Indonesia. It is dangerous to store all the eggs in one basket, and the industrialists once again became convinced of the correctness of this statement.

Production processes will also undergo changes. The level of robotization of production will increase. The fewer people involved in the production process, the lower the risk of stopping it in the event of an outbreak of another infection. Remote enterprise management technologies will also become more flexible.

Interestingly, partly the fear of stopping business processes will affect the work of office employees. Before the pandemic, the trend was open space format, where one sneezer could infect all colleagues in the room at once. Perhaps, a return to the cabinet format will follow to increase hygiene and reduce the risks of the rapid spread of pathogenic microorganisms.

Summing up, I want to say that I almost certainly missed something. It will be interesting to hear what changes you expect. And do you expect them at all?

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