Remote working, video conferencing, and e-learning have come to stay – Ogunibe
Femi Ogunibe is the founder/CEO of Techmarket Investment Partners Limited, which provides digital enterprise solutions to organisations in Nigeria and outside. In this interview he talks to Stephen Onyekwelu about how video conferencing is changing the face of remote working and e-learning. Excerpts:
What Impact has COVID-19 had on business and the lessons we can learn?
The COVID-19 pandemic did not affect all businesses in the same way. To a large extent, while many businesses had their revenue plummet, there are a few others that experienced an increase in revenue especially such as e-commerce stores, food delivery, and video streaming services.
One of the major impacts of the pandemic is that it forced business executives to make tough decisions and rethink their product offerings in a way that it is still valuable to their customers and they have to do this to ensure the survival of the business.
How are Nigerian businesses adjusting to the new reality of remote work, video meetings and other digital transformation?
Interestingly, Nigerian businesses are adjusting quite well and swiftly too. We have always had a history of adopting technologies somewhat late but with incredible speed when we do. COVID-19 has forced us to rethink everything including remote working and all its consequences. The new reality of remote working, video conferencing, and e-learning has now come to stay, with many organisations realising that they can actually function 100 percent without a physical office space.
So, companies are making the switch to cloud infrastructure more than ever before; we are witnessing this first-hand with our clients. However, for organisations that depend on physical interaction like trainers, schools, court
rooms and the likes, a lot still need to be done to transition from personal video solution to complete professional audio and video solutions, room-based and cloud-based video collaboration platform.
Do you think the Nigerian workforce has done a good job of leveraging technology in relation to the global space?
As much as I would love to say yes, we still have several fundamental challenges to overcome. The global space you mentioned has become an interconnected workspace not tied to one place enabled by technology through virtual conferencing and collaboration.
Our workforce still needs to be equipped to harness the power of technology by ensuring the Information Communication Technology (ICT) skills of current graduates are fit for the global space.
It also means constantly reinventing the training needs of employees.
Techmarket is advertised as one of the top collaborative solutions company in Nigeria. What has the journey been like?
Our journey has not been an easy one, presenting a range of hurdles to overcome along the way. Over the last decade, we have succeeded in providing world-class, value-added enterprise solutions to organisations in Nigeria and beyond.
We have established a reputation in the Information Technology (IT) industry by designing and developing practical and time-tested state-of-the-art solutions that are quick to implement, simple to learn and easy to use.
Techmarket set out on a mission to make our business take care of your business; bridging the digital divide and providing platform for business to collaborate with their customers, their partners and their internal team.
Our engineers consult with you to determine your pain points and opportunities to improve communications, and design a solution that maximizes both value and Return on Investment (ROI).
What are the biggest video conferencing challenges today?
Security is topmost as with every new technology and video conferencing is no exception. Video conferences include not only video and voice; they may also include file sharing and screen sharing of confidential information.
Security is thus a vital element of any video conferencing solution, especially if it is going to be used by senior executives.
We only implement video conferencing system that is compliant with current security protocols and is continually updated with the latest advances in encryption.
What are some of the innovative ideas Techmarket has introduced into video conferencing?
There are many. One thing we have started to do is to rent or lease our video and collaboration equipment for short use so companies do not have to spend so much on that infrastructure, if it does not meet up with their long-term need.
Also, we have created a meeting platform that can allow participants of an online meeting or training to be divided into workshops for say 30 minutes or 45 minutes and can later re-join the general meeting after the workshops are over.
This is a unique offering and it is available for full deployment for organisations that need this feature on a subscription-based video conference platform.
What are the major factors that inhibit productivity in Africa?
Many factors contribute. For example, we spend a lot of time in traffic commuting to work or meetings; draining out the energy that is required for produc tive work.
This is one of the reasons we have been advocating for organisations to adopt room-based video solutions which will improve the performance of their team.
Can you please talk more about the adoption of room-based video conference?
Considering the time and cost savings of video conferencing, video-based training and more, it is obvious that video is transforming the business environment. Video has the potential to streamline business processes by enabling highly effective communication and collaboration across distributed teams.
Even though video has moved to desktops and mobile devices; organisations who host video meetings, training or presentations from a set location need to adopt room-based professional video and audio solutions. This applies to organisations like healthcare providers for telemedicine; law firms and courtrooms; educational and training organisations; governments and others.
