The communications, media, and technology sectors have faced unparalleled disruption during the pandemic with skyrocketing demand paralleled by a rise in customer expectations. While many organizations in this sector were frontrunners in digital transformation, the overnight shift exposed the need for greater resilience, flexibility, and technological capabilities.
Now, the industry faces another round of challenges with the economic uncertainty – without ceasing to customer demand and expectations.
Economic uncertainty and digital transformation initiatives in the communications, media, and technology sectors
Organizations across all industries are facing the implications of the current economic state: slowdowns in growth, resource reduction, and budget cuts – all while being asked to continue delivering more business value. The communications, media, and technology sector is no exception.
To attract new customers and keep current customers happy, communications, media, and technology companies must deliver on critical initiatives such as intelligent customer service, streamlined quote-to-cash, and accelerated ad sales. While these are no small tasks in a normal climate, it becomes even more difficult when faced with the Great Resignation followed by the “are-we-or-aren’t-we” recession.
Approximately 40% of IT decision-makers (ITDM) believe hiring and retaining team members is the biggest challenge they face. This creates a vicious cycle where increasing demands continue to strain IT, leaving teams burnt out and exploring new career opportunities. With many organizations slowing or pausing hiring altogether, “do more with less” has never been more applicable.
Today’s economic uncertainty exposes the need for greater productivity, scalability, and efficiency. Let’s break down how companies within the sector are being impacted and how digital initiatives can combat the challenges ahead.
Technology companies
To alleviate integration challenges and relieve IT team bottlenecks, many tech companies are turning to API-led connectivity and reuse. With the right technology, IT teams no longer need to start from scratch to deliver on new initiatives. Exposing APIs in a reusable manner supports business process automation and the accelerated development of new features.
As growth and revenue face unknown futures, customer retention becomes even more critical. This means empowering all teams to deliver the best possible customer experience at every point in the journey. To do this, companies need to be able to tap into data silos, unlock data from legacy systems, and bring it all together with information from modern technology stacks.
This approach seamlessly connects backend systems and enables digital initiatives such as creating a single view of the customer or providing a personalized customer journey that will allow teams across the organization to deliver a unified experience.
Media companies
Media companies have a plethora of customer data that is critical to generating value, not only for their subscribers, but also for their advertisers.
When budgets are cut and spending is limited, advertisers scrutinize their ad spend to maximize the value of every dollar spent and ensure good ROI. Media companies must streamline the ad sales process to make it simpler for the brand advertisers to engage. Additionally, they should have an integrated view of campaign performance from all channels to analyze, adjust, and act in real-time to deliver the highest possible value to their customers. Having access to these insights empowers advertisers to continue justifyifying their spend.
Communications companies
While communications companies are generally less impacted by economic downturn due to the essential services they provide, a best-in-class customer experience is still critical. Continuing to focus on how to increase the average revenue per user (ARPU) can help make up for any potential loss of business. This goal can be accelerated with connected backend systems that also integrate AI-enabled technologies.
If all systems – whether they are on-premises, in the cloud, or hybrid – are connected, communications companies can access relevant data for a single view of the customer. If a customer wants to cancel service, teams can see service history, preferences, and recommendations on what might prevent this. For other customers, representatives can automate repetitive tasks, and instead, spend valuable time with the customer to discuss recommended offers and drive up ARPU.
Conclusion
With the implications of today’s economic uncertainty, implementing the right digital initiatives can not only shield communications, media, and technology companies, but can also accelerate them through a downturn. API-led connectivity and reuse helps teams accelerate delivery of new initiatives when efficiency is key.
Learn more about the state of digital transformation through a communications, media, and technology lens in our full report.
