Customer experience is a familiar term that is present in almost every line of business, more so in the service industry. In the modern age, it has become one of the most important factors to consider when selling any product or service - one that can make or break an entire company.

Travel and tourism were among the most affected sectors by the COVID-19 pandemic. Global travel restrictions caused a massive decline in international demand for travel, and data from the latest issue of the UNWTO World Tourism Barometer showed that international tourist arrivals fell by 72% in 2020.

2020 forced many businesses to accelerate their digital transformation and experiment with different technologies as more of their employees working from home. Despite vaccines becoming available, most consumer studies show that people hope to continue working remotely. 

Connected device intelligence firm Parks Associates recently hosted the first session, in a series of virtual events dedicated to understanding the Future of Video and exploring the emerging market for Over the Top (OTT) video, which is streaming content entering the home via the internet, subverting the broadcast networks and cable providers. Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime and Sling are well-known examples.

To become one of the fastest growing CX solutions and technology companies, Everise needed to digitally transform the inner and outer functions of the company in order to scale effectively. One department we had to work on was finance. To do this, we partnered with Netsuite to update our back-end systems and sustain rapid growth within our operations. 

Historian Yuval Harrari told Noema Magazine in June that the world is going to be “fluid and malleable”. As we draw near to the end of 2020, this remains true. Organizational resilience continues to be contingent on employing mindful risk mitigation strategies while retaining an entrepreneurial spirit.

In the pre-pandemic world, we can probably agree that business was done differently. Meetings were held in bland conference rooms with lukewarm coffee and maybe a slightly stale doughnut tray. We shook hands, sat face-to-face, and made small-talk before reviewing that fancy PowerPoint deck from a drop-down screen or a large monitor; this was a typical scene in offices worldwide.

Working from home was just one of the many necessary adjustments caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. What was once a sought-after perk of working, suddenly became part of the new normal. Before the spread of COVID-19, the number of U.S. employees that regularly worked from home was relatively small. 

As the year 2000 approached, then Microsoft CEO Bill Gates -- who at the time enjoyed near-Nostradamus status --  was asked about the most important technology developments to anticipate in the new century. One thing Gates described seemed highly improbable at the time: the idea that as internet bandwidth approached computer processing speeds, actual data computation and storage would take place farther and farther from the user.