Covid-19: How Digital Technology Is Showing Business the Way

As bad as the current Coronavirus crisis is, think how much worse it could have been if it had happened before the smartphone era began?

Most of the technology we are now using to stay connected, if not sane, simply did not exist just a few years ago or were only available to a few people. 

WhatsApp and Skype had barely even been thought of 15 years ago and any talk of "social media" would have drawn puzzled looks, unless you count Friends Reunited.

Just 15 years ago, only about 8 million households had a broadband connection. Computers could access the internet at speeds up to 10 megabits per second (Mbps) - meaning that video conferencing apps like Skype (they added video conferencing in 2006) were impossible. The rest of the connected world, including me at that time, were still crawling along on dial-up connections.

That means all sorts of services that are currently proving vital were only just getting off the ground.

Today, 96% of UK homes have a broadband connection with an average download speed of 54Mbps. That is making it possible for millions of people in office jobs to work from home.

The teleworking revolution, predicted for decades, has at last become a reality - but only because enough of us have the connectivity and digital tools to work effectively from our spare rooms (sorry – home office!)

The lockdown is doing immense damage to the economy - but think how much worse it could have been without this revolution in connectivity.

Online Sales

Online sales were hovering around the 3% mark for most big retailers up until now, but they have rocketed to over 20% of sales and in recent days we have seen how vital the fleets of delivery vans and drivers have become to the fabric of our lives. These road warriors are rapidly becoming the 4th emergency service.

Fifteen years ago, before cloud computing made it easier for any business to scale up quickly, online retailers would have faced an impossible task in trying to cope with the unprecedented demands of just this last week.

Digital technology is therefore showing the way to businesses on how they can not only survive, but can even thrive in these difficult times.

Talk to us today about how we can help you reach your customers using the best digital technology and tools.