After the initial spending cuts businesses took at Covid’s onset, multiple reports have found corporate leadership is now laser focused on growth. Supporting the work from home environment by spending on IT is a top priority of CFOs going into 2021.
The percentage of workers around the world that is permanently working from home is expected to double, rising from 16.4% to 34.4%,” according to a survey from U.S.-based Enterprise Technology Research. “The CIOs also expressed increased optimism about business prospects in 2021, as they see an increase in tech budgets by 2.1%, compared with a 4.1% decline this year due to the lockdowns triggered by the pandemic.
(via Reuters.com)
Assessing company priorities for 2021 was broadly addressed as a part of a recent report published by Brainyard. The report was based on data collected from over a hundred executives, surveyed on how their companies have shifted in the wake of the pandemic (click here to view report). Results were varied, although a main theme in the findings was digitizing for remote work. Also established in Brainyard’s report:
- On an average day, CFOs spend the largest amount of time (68%) on email/collaboration apps. Unsurprisingly, adapting to work-from-home environments was one area that CFOs felt was one of the most important actions to address in their companies. The report emphasized the substantial role technology has in remote work. CFOs are at the helm in strategizing where to allocate funds in terms of promoting the best possible work from home climate.
- Respondees reported a trend in conserving cash during April before a return to traditional habits in the fall. Marketing, sales and IT were among the top areas of spending.
- When asked where CFOS are squandering funds, the most popular responses were based around travel and excess office space. Some CFOs are considering cuts to office space that may be permanent.
- The majority of those surveyed said the pandemic had a negative effect on their company, yet many felt their companies were in a positive position for 2021. Additionally, it was reported that “companies that excel with technology, talent management, marketing and sales do so because they’re managing these with data.” The report strongly suggested the important of tracking lead conversions from MQL (marketing qualified leads) to SQLs (sales qualified leads) to sales won (customers). The precision of targeted digital campaigns was sighted as a frontrunner above ‘traditional media.’
A Gartner Report also focused on CFO feedback, shared similar sentiments about remote work and prioritizing technology going into the new fiscal year. Tallan’s Michelle Petri-Hall, CFO.
Having not traditionally been a remote company, the transition to remote work at the beginning of the Pandemic was daunting. With the help of technology platforms like Microsoft Teams, we seamlessly and quickly transitioned. We’ve seen an increase in overall productivity. We have been able to broaden our geographic reach allowing us to expand into regions that we were previously restrained by travel to cover.
The Gartner Report found that companies are taking additional steps to provide at-home work equipment and adjusting to flexible work schedules in order to reduce workflow disruptions. Based on those surveyed, it concluded almost three in four CFOs intend to shift at least 5% of previously on-site employees to permanent remote positions. “Most CFOs recognize that technology and society has evolved to make remote work more viable for a wider variety of positions than ever before,” said Alexander Bant, practice vice president, research for the Gartner Finance Practice.
Executives across the board, including leadership at Tallan, recognize the value of technology in remote offices, as working from home shows little signs of letting up.
Having not traditionally been a remote company, the transition to remote work at the beginning of the Pandemic was daunting. With the help of technology platforms like Microsoft Teams, we seamlessly and quickly transitioned. We’ve seen an increase in overall productivity and we have been able to broaden our geographic reach, allowing us to expand into regions that we were previously restrained by travel to cover.
Michelle Petri-Hall, CFO, Tallan
There are a multitude of new tools designed to make the at home office as productive an environment as possible, including the Windows Virtual Desktop from Microsoft. The Windows Virtual Desktop is a new application for secure, scalable remote work that can be easily managed in conjunction with other Azure services. Tallan is hosting a webinar on Feb.10, where we’ll be delving into how to better integrate the Windows Virtual Desktop into your remote arsenal. Stay tuned to our event page for details.