Connected technology is playing a key role in keeping employees and professionals working during the pandemic. Companies and their IT systems must continue to evolve in this field to be able to support the new demands for remote work, as the volume of data will be increasing. That is why it is essential to assess how these changes will affect different industries and how they will affect storage needs.
A globally connected workforce
Millions of people around the world have been forced to work from home and telecommuting has exploded in a very short time. In fact, according to the latest Adecco report, Spain has 2.86 million people who telework at least occasionally; 1.2 million more teleworkers than a year ago. Given this data and the changes experienced by companies, IT teams have had to deploy virtual workstations so that employees could access critical business applications. And remote employees have used video conferencing and collaboration tools to have virtual connections without barriers.
If we look to the future of video conferencing, with the help of Artificial Intelligence, the user experience and efficiency of team meetings will get better and better. AI video conferencing can identify the best time for all attendees, eliminate background noise in meetings, generate an automatic transcript of the discussion, and even share action lists and notes.
Long-distance education
During the initial months of the pandemic, while schools and universities were closed, governments asked administrations and teachers to modify the teaching model overnight. Going from being completely face-to-face to a 100% online model. The result of this new teaching model triggered a greater need for personal data storage. Students and teachers needed internal hard drives, SSD drives, or desktop drives to be able to back up their assignments, documents, and projects. Going forward, distance learning could also use virtual and augmented reality to create immersive learning experiences for students.
The result of this new teaching model triggered a greater need for personal data storage
Intelligent and automated supply chains
The automation was already before the pandemic one of the main objectives for companies seeking to streamline processes to improve efficiency, control, accuracy, and security of your organization. The pandemic has made clear the arguments in favor and has triggered an increase in its use.
In a case like the current one, in which social distancing has been required, having an automated supply chain is a clear advantage to avoid the task jam and not to put workers in danger. The health crisis has also created an opportunity for robots, drones, or autonomous cars as they allow more efficient and contactless delivery of products.
eSports and virtual events
Numerous companies and organizations have had to cancel or postpone their public events. Event organizers have been forced to rethink their strategy for these types of meetings, going virtual or offering a hybrid between face-to-face and online sessions to connect and attract their audience. Our form of entertainment has also been modified. Now, people are spending more time at home and using streaming video services. With the existing platforms, one can visit the Louvre, save the world from zombies, or climb a mountain from the couch.
The online sports and games sector continues to grow in popularity. By 2023, the world’s 2.7 billion gamers are projected to spend more than € 180 billion on video games, particularly mobile games and potentially handheld gaming devices.
On the other hand, the power of the cloud has allowed us to stream videos directly to our devices. However, the shift to cloud DVR is presenting great challenges for service providers due to the rapid growth of content libraries. Cisco forecasts that global IP traffic will reach 4ZBs in 2022, with 82% of them being video. And for that same year, it is estimated that peak hour traffic will grow at an annual rate of 37%, up to 5 times more than in 2018.
Increased demand for data storage
The current situation has pushed companies to accelerate their digital transformation. Both private organizations and public bodies are dramatically increasing the storage capacity of their systems, accelerating cloud computing, and sharing disaggregated flash storage resources to ensure they have the right capabilities and tools to service and manage data storage. connected technologies.
The remote living model with new computer systems has proven its worth around the world, and that could bode well for businesses, even after the pandemic.