From ensuring physical distancing to carrying out temperature checks to instituting contactless attendance, Indian IT firms are cashing in on the rising demand for safe work solutions among enterprise customers worldwide.
Though these solutions earn only modest revenue for IT firms, they help build relationships with customers during crises, say analysts.
Over the last few months, Indian IT firms have launched a range of solutions that will help companies get their employees back to work safely. The focus obviously is on ensuring physical distancing and other safety protocols are followed and maintained.
These companies include top IT firms such as HCL Tech, Infosys, and TCS, which have launched solutions internally as well as for their customers, to cater to changing safety protocols amid the Covid pandemic.
Adapting to the new normal
Speaking to Moneycontrol, Kalyan Kumar B, Chief Technology Officer, IT Services, HCL Tech, said: “We are in a new normal and the normal is changing constantly.” Companies will have to be fluid to adapt to these changes, he added.
Kumar pointed out that with lockdowns and lockdown relaxations taking place across the world, each country/State is in different phases, with different safety protocols being followed. “For instance, from Monday, London, which was completely open, has a rule of six, where you cannot have more than six people together,” he explained.
These changes will keep happening, said Kumar. As a result of these constantly evolving protocols, companies are facing a challenge on how to enable employees’ seamless return to the workplace.
“Most firms are wrestling with the work-from-home and the return-to-office conundrum,” said Peter Bendor-Samuel, CEO, Everest Group, a consultancy firm. “The service providers know this and are attempting to help clients on a relevant point of need. Hence the proliferation of solutions and platforms.”
What these platforms offer
These platforms offer a range of services to ensure that the workplace is safe, including physical distancing, to avoid the spread of Covid-19 among employees.
Kumar explained that factories, manufacturing assembly lines and supply chains cannot run be remotely and need people. But, at the same time, 100 percent of the employees cannot be present in the same space because of physical distancing requirements.
“If you have a 100-seater office in any part of the world, now that place can only hold 40 people because of social distancing norms,” Kumar said. These are also issues for retailers, shopping malls or even movie theatres that have a 100-seat capacity. For them, it becomes even more important where occupancy is an important indicator of revenue.
“So, returning to work means we have a lot of tech-enablement solutions as a part of working with customers,” Kumar said. HCL Tech uses sensor technology and integrates it with the client’s system to ensure physical distancing.
Infosys uses video analytics algorithms to send alerts when the distance between people walking together or gathering at a place is not sufficient. It also issues an alert when masks are not detected.
These solutions also include temperature checks, contactless biometrics for attendance, and contact tracing for employees.
Will IT firms gain from these solutions?
Analysts say there is no bump in terms of revenues for IT services companies from these solutions. But, given that they are relevant at this point, helping clients establishes trust and a relationship during this crisis, they added.
As Bendor-Samuel puts it: “For the most part, the revenue opportunities these offer are modest compared to the traditional managed-service offerings and large SI projects. However, the service providers see this as a strategic issue as it may influence clients thinking about long-term changes to their supply chain for services.”
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