“We slept in a world and woke up in another.”
In December 2019, the Coronavirus (COVID-19) began taking its toll with the cases as on date reaching an alarming number of 1,853,155 in 210 countries. Bar the hazardous repercussions it continues to bring on human health; the novel coronavirus has also been overwhelmingly destructive to domestic and international businesses. Nevertheless, it’s heartwarming to see the world, especially the software development companies and developers, contributing in a humongous way to depress the influence of this tragedy on humans, businesses and the economy.
Though forced, 2020 will see a big digital transformation through the innovations and developments that the IT industry, businesses - small or big, are bringing on the table against the outbreak. Engineers all around the grid and 3D printing tech are lending a hand to accelerate the prototype & manufacturing of ventilators.
- Software is being created to track the spread of the viruses. Applications on the other hand, share relevant information with the people and make them self-aware of the situation.
- Assessment tools provide real-time awareness for people to understand the risks of the virus better. Then other means for remote assessments, testing, training, treatment, and care.
- Wait times at the hospitals are reduced through digital operations.
- Telemedicine support is provided to the doctors through telecommunication technologies.
- Enterprise applications are built to hire new employees and train them via digital mediums.
At this crucial time, we all need to do our bit for the world to flatten the curve, as they say. And, digitization, of course will make all of this possible.
Not everyone was reporting to the situation with the kind of seriousness it demands. And, to prevent the spread of the virus through social distancing and self-quarantining - the situation demanded a call for a forced lockdown in several parts of the world. As an outcome of which people experienced tectonic changes in their schedule and lifestyle. “A lot of people aren’t springing out of bed, taking a shower, running out the door,” says one expert.
As the Digital world is the only hope to let us stay connected and the only means through which we are able do things without stepping out of our houses, indeed it has contributed to the smooth transitioning in the employee’s working style. From regular, to now working remotely. But, for the companies with a large workforce, it certainly was a challenge. But as this happened, many IT companies built software and apps and made them available for free to support staying at home jobs. This is one of their few initiatives of contributing to ensure business continuity and economic stability.
One of such tools is FindNerd, a business software built by Evon Technologies that is available for free and focuses on efficient project management, collaboration, task tracking, invoicing, and resource management. Using this, one can keep a close check on the work being done and the employees productivity while they’re working from home.
CORD-19, a technical innovation in support with the ongoing fight against COVID-19
Kaggle, the world's largest online data science community and a platform for data science competitions, came up with a time-bound paying challenge: the COVID-19 Open Research Dataset Challenge, or CORD-19. The challenge was all about developing a tool to analyze a dataset of tens of thousands of articles on virology and infectious disease that could be used by doctors and researchers to answer inquiries in line with the disease (COVID-19).
As a result of which, the Allen Institute for AI in partnership with the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Georgetown University's Center for Security and Emerging Technology, Microsoft Research, and the National Library of Medicine - National Institutes of Health, in coordination with The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy created the COVID-19 Open Research Dataset (CORD-19). This free dataset has over 47,000 scholarly articles, including over 36,000 articles about COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, and related coronaviruses. It was given to the global research community, including top software companies, so that they could apply recent advances and AI techniques to generate new insights to fight against the infectious disease. With the sharp rise in cases day by day, there is an urgency to come up with a promising solution to this pandemic, once for all.
Let us check, Evon Technologies has got listed as the top software developers in India.
Apple and Google join forces
The two companies say, "All of us at Apple and Google believe there has never been a more important moment to work together to solve one of the world’s most pressing problems,". And, through close cooperation and collaboration with developers, governments, and public health providers, they hope to harness the power of technology to help countries around the world slow the spread of Coronavirus crisis and accelerate the return of everyday life.
COVID - 19, a stumbling block for businesses and economy
Factories and offices are shut, business-related travel has been banned, major industry events are called off and all of these demand for a remediation response.
- Due to the sudden and short notice of the situation, analysts say companies did face challenges in organizing thousands of computers and internet connections for the employees to work remotely.
- Client protocol that does not allow working from home for their projects, adding to it the inability of employees to commute to their workplace is obstructing the business processes.
- Some work requires access to the private customer data that is critical and cannot be used off the office premises.
- With further restrictions coming into force, businesses are suffering from a downturn in trade and, therefore, the employees.
- They’re unable to operate due to lockdowns, disruption in supply chains, unavailability of staff, and out of myriad problems created by COVID-19.
Software outsourcing - Need of the hour
The future is uncertain. Especially when speaking about tech start-ups, you cannot afford to let this catastrophe get in the way of your company's growth when resources are limited and economic stimulus packages won’t be enough. There is a need to ensure business continuity and preparedness to slide back to normal when the economies bounce back from the global financial recession. So, you might just feel the need to add outsourcing to your creative counter strategies. Don’t worry, I say this giving you all the right reasons.
- According to research, 87% of US companies outsource product development to save costs.
For every company, it comes down to cutting costs and increasing profits. While the country goes through an economic crisis, outsourcing services will help you save money and stay sustainable.
- As with time comes experience - the outsourcing company knows how to build a flexible model so that risks are lowest for their client’s business.
- They say “Time is money”. The Agile model used ensures speedy and efficient production, fastening the process, and saving time.
- A compelling advantage that comes with outsourcing is the technical expertise that reflects in their services, which in turn will give you a great product.
- Be it delegating your work in the office and outsourcing it to another company. It always gives you time to invest in high priority matters that others cannot attend to.
Like everything else in life, this too shall pass. As we all hold hope for the SARS-CoV-2 virus to go downhill and for our lives to go back to normal, let’s keep in mind the need for a solution. Let’s make innovation and development in technology not just take us to the finish line but make us win the race. So, don’t let lack of resources stand in the way. You always have an option of hiring resources to meet your needs like mobile and web application development, technology consulting, product engineering, quality assurance, marketing, etc.. Evon Technologies, one of the top software development consulting companies based in India brings excellence and efficiency to the table by understanding the client’s perspective behind the idea and treating it with utmost respect, so the execution is bang on. As Adam O’Donnell, the CEO of Quantifize LLC said “Outsourcing is never easy but Evon tech cares about the outcomes”.