The Corona epidemic has made the digitalization hit with full force – remote work, digital communication, and remote solutions will fundamentally change the way we live and work. At the IT company Seavus, they have already worked with this concept for the last 20 years, and they are now helping other companies carry out what they refer to as Remotization. The Corona crisis has led to the realization that this works very well and leads to large savings, says Joakim Carlsson, sales manager at Seavus.
The IT company Seavus is basing its main business in eastern and southeastern Europe, while the majority of the customers are in Sweden and northern Europe.
Early on they created the Remotization concept, which means that a team of 20-50 people takes over the entirety, or parts, of the client’s IT operations, such as software development, security, data storage, and application control.
With the Corona pandemic, Seavus has seen a large increase in the interest of their business. Now they plan to hire an additional 200 IT technicians.
– It hit in the middle of March, when many companies were forced to send staff home that had previously been on-site. With our long experience, we could help them with processes and routines for how to work remotely with entire groups. It has worked so well that many companies will continue to use this solution, says Joakim Carlsson.
Three months after the start of the pandemic, many companies are now being forced to cut costs. With nearshoring to countries with lower costs, there is a substantial potential for savings.
– The cost of IT operations through us can be cut by half. A consultant in Skopje, North Macedonia, or Belgrade, Serbia, is much cheaper than one in Sweden. At Seavus we can also optimize the work so that the consultant can work on several tasks in parallel, which cut costs additionally, says Joakim Carlsson.
Many sectors are being affected
The banking and finance industry carried out their digitalization era before the Corona pandemic even started. Today, almost all of their work is carried out digitally or remotely.
Another sector that will be forced to go through a quick change by the pandemic is the healthcare industry. For some time, different types of net doctors and digital services for patients have been introduced, but this will now accelerate. Some parts will disappear completely, predicts Kocha Bosky, CEO of Seavus Group.
– The Coronavirus is here to say. It will lead to the end of medical tourism. You will no longer travel to other countries to visit doctors and get a diagnosis. Instead, this will be carried out digitally and with the help of AI, partly because it’s cheaper, better, and simpler, and partly because high-risk groups won’t be able to travel in the same way as before, he says.
The real estate industry will also have to be remade. The amount of business premises will decrease as e-commerce takes over, but office spaces will also be affected.
– Companies will no longer have desk spaces for the whole staff. Instead, just a small part, perhaps thirty percent, will be at the office at the same time. The rest will work outside of the workplace. This could also lead to decreased office space costs for the companies, says Kocha Bosku.
Seavus is culturally and temporally close
One advantage that the customer tends to discover is the new perspectives that Seavus’ team can contribute, about how to go beyond already established limits.
The difference between offshoring and nearshoring is the distance. Even if it’s possible to find even cheaper providers of IT operations in Asia, Joakim Carlsson wants to point out the advantages of nearshoring, of having the work carried out in Europe.
– Partly, we work in the same time zone, which simplifies the communication, and partly, the physical distance isn’t very big, so it’s perfectly viable to fly to the customer in Sweden in just a few hours. Additionally, everyone here speaks excellent English, he says.
By outsourcing IT operations, the clients can focus on their core business and the parts which generate profit.
– If they devote themselves to creative tasks, such as strategies and product development, we can take over their routine IT operations. We are very skilled at that, so it’s a win-win situation for both parts, he says.
Today, Seavus’ staff is spread out over 16 different offices. Their long experience with working remotely and with Remotization means they have a well-prepared workflow that they can carry out in line with each other, despite the physical distance.
– All routines and communication channels are already established. For a client, we can be effective from day one, Joakim Carlsson finishes.
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