At the end of 2020, I shared my thoughts about the arrival of Covid, and what it meant for us. “2020 has been a challenging year for everyone—but we’ve adapted quickly," I said. And quick it was, with many businesses grabbing any and all quick-fix tools they could for remote work. By contrast, 2021 was the year we understood that the changes made in 2020 would be long term, with reports including our own 2022 Business Communication Trends showing nearly 70% of decision makers saying working policy changes from the pandemic will be made permanent.

So, in 2022, I think we’re going to see more organisations fixing for the long-term the communications technology they adopted in the short-term. Yesterday’s band-aid packages simply can’t compete with a solution explicitly designed for business today. 2022 is the year I think we’ll see patience run out for businesses that don’t deliver the right experience post-Covid – for both customers and employees.

Three key areas to watch

Our latest 8x8 research about all business communications trends you’ll see in 2022 is worth a read in full, but here I’ve picked out the top three areas that I see as key for partners over the next 12 months – areas that will reveal huge commercial opportunities as we work together.

1. Agile workplaces

For some organisations, delivering remote workplaces was easy – a few tweaks to existing platforms or solutions. But for others, it required a complete rethink on how they operated, and there wasn’t time to evaluate all the options. As a result, some companies simply don’t have features designed for long-term hybrid working needs.

It’s as clear as day that people need collaboration and communication tools that work seamlessly at home, in the office, and as they move between the two. While we’re not sure yet how big ‘The Great Resignation’ effect will be, reimagining the experience for employees will play a significant part in reducing the churn we’re already starting to see.

Partners will be key to helping organisations get the right tools for long-term ambitions. Experience of tools like 8x8, that deliver a consistently great unified experience for employees and contact centre agents, on any device, anywhere are invaluable.

2. Connected culture

2022 is also going to be about how we work, not just where. Our research shows that on average companies use seven different tools for messaging, collaboration, file sharing and meetings. Even for IT-savvy users, this adds considerable time, friction, and frustration to daily activities. It reduces what can be achieved in a day and can seriously demotivate an organisation’s teams.

For some businesses, this is a result of the complexities of updating a web of systems built up over time, while others simply don’t know about the significant advances that have taken place in analytics, collaboration solutions, and real-time communication channels. As technology providers, we have a huge opportunity to support both camps, enabling customers to create a truly connected culture that is focused on a single, cohesive user experience.

3. Composed experiences

Many technology leaders have come out of the last year or so with a tech-stack full of features, but less of an understanding of how their teams collaborate each day. This coming year I think we are going to see more organisations focusing on use cases, and customising (or composing) user experience around individual or team needs.

This is a new way of working for many companies though. Partners have a wealth of technology and experience to advise and support them on the journey. By offering value-added services and expertise builds customer loyalty.

Tip of the iceberg

These are just three of the areas that we’ll be focussed on at 8x8 over the coming year – a year full of promise for our partners and customers. I’m always happy to chat if you want to talk about any of these trends or would like support with a specific customer challenge. Read more about technology trends impacting every organization in 2022 here.