CompassIntel Predictions 2021, and IoT Coffee Talk

Hello 2021, BYE BYE 2020!
​About a year ago I shared my predictions around 2020, but never even imagined what we would be going through in terms of disruption, covid-19 impact, and just a whirlwind of uncertainties across business of all sizes felt in 2020. I did mention last year that we would see 2020 as the year of '5G and The Edge' and that definitely was the case as we saw IoT solutions rely on edge computing to further real-time data intelligence and analytics needed for critical business applications and real-time intelligence for business operations.

As we push into 2021, below are a list of my top 5 predictions​:

1. ​Less than 25% of employees will go back into the office 1H of the year (does not include those essential workers), and it may rise to around 35-40% 2H of 2021. Push back from employees (in terms of returning to the office) will be expected as businesses seek specific employees returning back into offices, factory floors, operations, and working in their buildings. Many businesses will decide to keep employees working from home indefinitely, while others will prioritize employees that are "essential" to be back in the office or building. Knowledge workers and professionals, including administrative and customer support personnel will mostly remain working from the home. This means, business tools, applications/software, and PC/Mac related equipment for AV related communications will continue to be in demand and purchased to streamline operations and improve customer services. Just because the vaccine is rolling out in 2020, does not mean businesses will go back to normal or even fully go back to the way things were pre-COVID. People will need to brace for the fact that we are forever changed.
2. While we lose a ton of small businesses providing food and personal services, we will gain a whole host of new and entrepreneurial businesses in 2021…2020 saw a record breaking filings for Business Tax-IDs and during these hard times, as many seek to create their own path and start their own businesses. With recessions come entrepreneurialism, and many of those laid off workers will seek to start gig-based businesses, virtual companies, and small businesses to support their families. Numbers filed as of Q3 2020 shows massive growth in business TAX ID filings, especially in the mid-west and south (an 82% spike from 2019). The good news is, the experts or economists believe that with these filings, a high percentage of them are expected to employ others, which is something we need as unemployment numbers surge due to COVID-19 layoffs and business closures. The bad news is, there will be many that just won't make it. Please continue to support local and small businesses!
3. IoT solutions and adoption in 2021 will be driven around safety, compliance, asset tracking, logistics, and supply chain adherence and efficiencies. As last year saw major drivers around edge intelligence and computing, this year will revolve around the need to safely get back to business. As such, core IoT applications that support in complying with regulations, keeping workers and operations safe, and leveraging real-time intelligence around key assets including high-value assets where workers may not be present will drive adoption. Supply chain and logistics are key areas to keep an eye on, as businesses require location and asset intelligence from point of production to end-customer delivery (this is more of the same but additional intelligence to remove the human factor will be a driver). In addition, in situations where we seek alternatives to having people working within operations, we may see new applications to provide machine or computer vision and use of AI to further optimize and provide efficiencies of operations, especially in industrial use cases. 
4. Smart City projects will shift around the protection and safety of citizens, the city, buildings and infrastructure…both physical and cybersecurity. City governments have several factors impacting their shift in priorities. One is the hard hit to their budgets, as monies to support worker unemployment, healthcare, monitoring/tracing, and COVID-19 response become financially draining. In addition, automation around city services may be put on hold as cities focus on citizen safety, health and medical adherence, and economic development to fight against the hardships in key industries that may have in the past been major tax contributors to support in city services. The focus on building and infrastructure projects may be pushed to the front of the line of priorities, along with a focus on cybersecurity as recent incidents give rise to the need to protect important government assets.
5. Reliance on mobile, digital, and virtual tools, software and applications will surge in 2021…businesses will seek tools to help automate, offset workforce activities, shift resources to knowledge workers, and further enhance remote and virtual operations…this may include a combination of AI, RPA, business operations mobile apps, and 'as a Service' solutions. Just as we experienced the 2H of 2020, a continued surge in adoption and use of mobile tools, digital applications, and virtual-based software services will continue to be in need. In education, schools will seek better platforms and software to support in remote learning. In businesses, "as a Service" solutions to support in remote workforce operations will drive the business market. In addition, businesses will look to Robotics Process Automation or RPA to shift mundane, repetitive tasks to RPA-driven as the ROI (return on investment) can be achieved in as little as a few weeks and supports in prioritizing workforces to knowledge-based business activities.

Just as in 2020, we will continue to see the realization of 5G use cases in the support of greenfield projects and in areas where hard-wired infrastructure is either time-consuming or cost prohibitive. 5G use cases become real as we see live deployments in and around IoT deployment and in the support of remote operations i.e. oilfield, hazmat, rural, industrial. Lastly, this year will see technologies and solutions coming together...think IoT, AI, machine learning, edge computing. As partnerships were a strong force in 2020, these partnerships will continue to work together to roll-out more comprehensive solutions that resonate with businesses. 

Check out our recent IoT Coffee Talk below, where the IoT Coffee Talk team reflect on 2020 and discuss/share what's to come in 2021. Thanks Leonard Lee for holding us down and Rob Tiffany for having perfect attendance :) Thanks to Marc for bringing the brain and international flare. Thanks to David for keeping it real and sharing the industrial perspective. Thanks to Rick for speaking truth even when it hurts!