Cisco Report: Businesses to ‘Emerge Stronger’ From Pandemic

A new Cisco report shows IT leaders, despite facing multiple challenges globally, expect their businesses to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic stronger.

Cisco commissioned the report by Freeform Dynamics. It is based on three separate studies and updates an earlier workplace transformation survey of 1,500 people across 12 countries.

Among the key findings:

• Three in four (74%) said their business will in some ways emerge stronger from the crisis.
• Respondents say flexibility is here to stay, and it will benefit organizations as well as employees.
• Most managers said they have increased their emphasis on employee well-being and work-life balance.

Top Challenges from Cisco Report

Cisco’s Aruna Ravichandran

Aruna Ravichandran is vice president of marketing in Cisco‘s collaboration group. She said workers need to know that their organizations “can respond quickly, intelligently and with agility” to just about any event. They also want to connect in the “most secure, flexible and productive ways — from anywhere, at any time,” she said.

This was reflected in the top challenges cited by workers shifted to remote work situations:

• Four in five (82%) mentioned the need for greater IT support.
• Three in four (77%) worried about maintaining customer service levels and satisfaction.
• Another three in four (76%) feared a disruption of workflow and processes.

Businesses realize that work can happen anywhere, productivity isn’t lost, and an expanded talent pool will lead to stronger and more capable work teams, according to the report.

Study participants said they viewed the pandemic as a catalyst for major change. This newfound focus and priority on health and well-being is a “silver-lining” during what is otherwise a sobering period of time, Cisco said. The question remains whether this mindset shift can withstand the test of time. But participants were optimistic that workplace culture is transforming in the right direction, it said.

“From a business agility and resiliency perspective, it’s important that we learn and adapt quickly from this experience,” Ravichandran said.