Humans are adaptive to nature and environment and easily alter themselves to fit the need of the hour. The pandemic saw us doing that exactly ­ whether it's in terms of personal or professional lives. Work from home is a perfect example but then adapting to this new normal needs to adapt to new workflow methods.

I interviewed Arun Balasubramanian, Managing Director ­ India & SAARC, ServiceNow to know more about this shift and how should companies & individuals prepare for the same.

Everything has gone digital, and with new normal that we have entered into, our job functions have changed forever. How should companies prepare themselves for the same especially looking at the twists and turns that the pandemic has brought in?
India has witnessed a dynamic shift in companies adopting digital workflows, which we like to call a `workflow revolution'. Since the onset of the pandemic, everything we knew about business and work has changed.

CEOs are now waking up to this revolution and transforming their businesses in order to enable their employees to work better and more productively. Such a digital revolution will redefine how work gets done and managing critical workflows will become imperative to provide employees the experiences required to do their jobs effortlessly and efficiently. Leaders need to focus on the need of the hour ­ a cross platform integration system that brings together various enterprise apps and departments to create a seamless employee experience.

Simply put, such a solution will not only transform the way employees work but also help keep up with the evolving needs of customers. Leaders must not forget that a company exists because of its people, and it is absolutely critical to keep your people happy, in order to keep your customers happy.

How will companies change/tweak their growth strategies now? What should they set as their foremost target to achieve and how?
Digitalisation is no longer just a buzzword, but a business priority; this was the case even before COVID-19. The businesses that did not realise this pre-pandemic are now rushing to introduce digital transformation and the ones that were already on the path are now investing more.

Companies are now reimagining their businesses, using virtual tools to stay connected

and bridge the gap among employees and departments. Major company decisions, business deals and functions that earlier required travelling, can now be executed from the comfort of our homes.

Going forward, the focus needs to shift towards integrating AIOps to automate menial tasks, and allowing employees to concentrate on decision making and strategizing instead. We believe that behind every great experience, is a great workflow. Intelligent platforms will handle tedious, repetitive processes so that people can unlock productivity and focus on more creative, value-added work.

For companies that have to return to the physical workplace, adopting modern digital workflows will help them create a safe workplace not just for employees but also for their customers.

The future of work, incidentally is already transpiring. We have heard from our customers about an overall increase in productivity and successfully maintaining business continuity with a remote workforce

We see a future of work built around people, one where organizations and technologies adapt to meet human needs. The future of work, incidentally is already transpiring. We have heard from our customers about an overall increase in productivity and successfully maintaining business continuity with a remote workforce. That is the power of digital workflows.

With work from home becoming the new work culture, how should companies work towards data security, especially looking at the increasing cybercrimes?
The biggest concern for companies while adopting collaboration tools and digital platforms for the new work culture, was cyber security and the safety of its employees while they work remotely. Cloud and digital infrastructure represents a new set of risks to companies. Today, as most companies have their employees working outside the firewall, protecting data becomes increasingly challenging and thereby, even more important.

Companies must work on a comprehensive strategy for data access to protect themselves from data loss or breach. In addition to this, companies must also educate their employees on best practices for ensuring data security for home devices and workspaces, as that poses the biggest risk. With a large number of companies in India choosing to continue the work from home model till the end of the year and some till even later, it is imperative to build a strong base for data security and employee know-how to avoid malicious attacks.

“MSMEs and large-scale enterprises will need to understand that we are experiencing a seismic shift from the `business process evolution' to the `workflow revolution'”

What would be your suggestions to the backbone of the Indian economy, i.e. MSMEs & SMEs? How should they prepare themselves for the new changes?
According to Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation (MOSPI), MSMEs contribute 30 percent of India's GDP and truly are the backbone of the Indian economy; however, they have been significantly impacted by the pandemic. The government's push for a self-reliant ecosystem driven by MSMEs provides hope.

MSMEs and large-scale enterprises will need to understand that we are experiencing a seismic shift from the `business process evolution' to the `workflow revolution'. Leaders should not invest blindly in every kind of technology in the pursuit of making the new normal work for their company. One can protect revenue and increase productivity by empowering people with technology, thus enabling them to work better, from anywhere and anytime. Breaking down silos and creating a space for great employee and customer experiences will be the secret sauce for cracking this new phase of work.