New Demands of the New Work Culture in 2021 - Poly

With Work from Home coming to stay for a longer duration than expected, there are new demands on this new work culture. We talked to Ankur Goel, MD, Poly India & SAARC, who said, "After a year of unprecedented change which has changed ‘work’ and workplace as we know it due to the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses can expect to see continued transformation well into the New Year as employees and business leaders discover new ways of working.”

Ankur further revealed five trends that he believes will shape Indian businesses in 2021 -

1. Hybrid working is here to stay - Work isn’t a place, it’s what you do. In 2021 we expect to see more organizations adopting the new hybrid work model and a more consistent work experience no matter where they are, whether in the office, at home, or anywhere in between. Work is no longer defined by the hours put in but on the outcomes of the work.
2. The rise of the prosumer - Employees realizing that consumer-grade gear simply cannot deliver, are demanding that home workspace be upgraded with technology that allows for seamless collaboration, whether fiber internet connectivity, noise-blocking headsets, or even audio and video conferencing solutions which allow them to join video meetings with the click of a button.
3. Anything-as-a-service will drive business agility - Digital transformation will be fuelled by XAAS or Anything-As-A-Service. This is an adaptation of the digital services subscription model, as providers shift to providing value as a service. This lets businesses introduce and scale deployments as needed, providing the agility to continue to work seamlessly and without disruption.
4. The transformation of the office – Offices will become a central gathering point for employees to meet, while the majority of work will continue to be done remotely. Work spaces will become collaborative and technology-enabled to accommodate the work style of every employee, and facilitate business being done from anywhere.
5. Video is the way forward - Video is now more common than ever for meetings, and thanks to technological advances in the past few years, have enabled collaboration on a whole new level as an increasingly critical part of business-as-usual, as organizations in industries like telemedicine and education adapt to a whole new way of doing business.

“For 2021 and beyond, we’ll see more businesses adopting the hybrid working model and organizations will focus on creating purposeful workspaces, being thoughtful about the design and use of different workspaces. Focusing on the reimagination of office design for innovation, collaboration, connection, and trust will be key for businesses to thrive.”

--Ankur Goel, MD, Poly India & SAARC

With the changing work culture, more demands on the hardware such as laptops, smartphones, UPS, software solutions and networking services are becoming a reality. For the channel partners this is the moment to come into action and negotiate deals with offices to supply their requirements.