With the COVID-19 pandemic forcing millions of people to start working from home, there has been a huge rise in demand for remote working software such as Zoom, Zoho Assist and Microsoft Teams.
In fact, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said recently that the company has seen seen “two years’ worth of digital transformation in two months“.
Microsoft Teams – a communication and collaboration platform that combines chat, calls, meetings and collaboration – now has more than 75 million daily active users and in April the company registered more than 200 million Microsoft Teams meeting participants in a single day.
Such software has proved invaluable at a time when workers have been unable to discuss things in the office or travel to meetings. But how will things look in a few months’ time?
Jared Spataro, corporate vice president for Microsoft 365, says that after weeks of learning, working and living this way, we are all developing new habits. And while some of these habits will prove short-lived, it’s likely that some new working practices will persist well beyond the current crisis, becoming the default way of doing things.
“Data from regions like China and South Korea, where many people have returned to the office, but continue Teams habits they developed while working apart, backs this up,” Spataro explained. “For example, a report out this month showed more than two times the number of new Teams users each day in China compared to end of January. And the number of daily active Teams users in China also continued to grow week over week.”
These findings suggest that, once people see the benefits of digital tools, they are happy integrate them into their working life and will continue to use them post-lockdown.
Of course, the digital tools that enable remote working depend on a fast, reliable and secure internet connection. Our Next-generation connectivity report, available for free download, explores how the next wave of connectivity will impact key business sectors.
Tags: remote working
