What a year it’s been!
Thinking back to January, we were dealing with the impact of the impending IR35 rule change. As with all software consultancies, although we have a core of permanent staff we use contractors as part of our ability to flex. This was causing headaches for us, but even bigger headaches for our customers.
Doesn’t this now seem quaint?
By March, all this was forgotten. We were dealing with the impact of the pandemic.
We had to onboard staff fully remotely. We had team members speaking every day but not seeing each other for 8 months. People haven’t taken enough holidays.
Talking to people in the industry, the impact has been very hit-and-miss depending on where you stand. If you’re tied to one of the hardest-hit sectors like tourism then it’s been a disaster. If you’re in other sectors you might have been unscathed or even had a great year.
Looking ahead to 2021
Looking ahead to 2021, what are the trends going to be? For 345 there are some trends that are continuing despite what’s happened in 2020.
Data is always going to be big and we are close to the point where people stop talking about AI and start using it. The tools are there, there’s virtually no barrier to getting started. The only barriers are in your own head. They are no longer technical.
The relentless move to cloud is also continuing. We talk to many businesses that are ditching their old on-premises applications and moving straight to SaaS as a key driver in their cloud strategy. This is great – but you need to make sure you keep your data.
As part of this we’re expecting to keep helping businesses move to the cloud next year, as we have been doing over recent years. We’re especially keen on migrating integration solutions to help our customers take advantage of the data opportunities that are now available.
We hope you have a great Christmas and we wish you a happy, safe and prosperous 2021.
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