While 2020 has been kind of an emotional rollercoaster filled buy Phone Number List with all the highs and lows of a good horror comedy movie, there are some things about 2020 that inspire me and I will miss them so much.
Below, I'll share the ups and downs we've experienced together, what 2020 has been like for us at Vtiger, and some takeaways that will help us move smoothly into 2021.
deprivation
For many, the world has been turned upside down by enormous loss, fear and uncertainty. We have lost loved ones. Many have lost jobs and endured terrible hardships. India, for example, saw nearly a million migrants walk hundreds of miles to return home during the lockdown.
Companies faced unexpected challenges at the start of the year with the onset of COVID-19, as many were forced to switch their entire workforce to remote work almost overnight. Companies also scrambled to ensure they were using and getting the right tools to manage their new business processes, while dealing with the reality that no one knew how long it would take to maintain operations in this new environment.
Employees have felt the pressure, too; many of us have been trying to stay productive while using disparate internet connections to join meetings (while at least wearing presentable outerwear), juggling work and family at the same time, and providing homeschooling/childcare, all without the ability to leave our surrounding walls.
As I write this, I can imagine myself and my wife, 30 years from now, sitting by the fireplace with our grandchildren and telling "The Great Story of 2020 - the year the world changed."
For us at Vtiger, 2020 has also been filled with its fair share of ups and downs. Like many companies, we’ve had to shift to a new way of thinking and working. In early March, shortly after the launch of Vtiger 8 and at the onset of the pandemic, our entire team transitioned to working from home. While this presented some initial challenges, we’re fortunate to have most of the tools we need to stay productive and keep things running with our cloud-based CRM.
In particular, 2020 brought a lot of grief to the Vtiger family as we unexpectedly lost a dear colleague and friend, Vijay Kumar. Vijay was only 25 years old when he passed away and was a true ray of light to everyone around him. Vijay was an inspiration in both his professional and personal life, always navigating this world with a big smile on his face. He was a valuable member of our engineering team and an integral part of the Vtiger 9 rollout.
To know more about Vijay, read this memorial blog written by our CEO Srinivas Kanumuru.
Resilience, courage, sacrifice and innovation
If you scroll through your social media feeds, you'll see a lot of posts from people who are ready to bid 2020 farewell, hoping to never have to think about it again. While I completely understand where some people are coming from, looking back, we also had a lot of positive experiences last year.
The tragedy, uncertainty and change forced upon us by this pandemic has really brought out the good in people. It has made us appreciate all the little things we took for granted in our busy, always-on-the-go, never-looking-back pre-Covid lives. We have learned that we as humans are very adaptable and can truly survive anything with the right mindset and resources. From airline employees to maids , here is an example .
My mother-in-law Mary Jane said it best when she said, “All of the technology has really helped me emotionally during these times, allowing me to connect with family and friends. Not to mention quick and easy access to food, medications, and services we need. Without access to some of the technology that I didn’t even know existed last year, it would have been much more difficult, if not impossible.”
New and existing technologies, especially cloud technologies, have been key ingredients for us to maintain normalcy while keeping us connected to each other. Cloud technologies and services have helped many companies stay on track by making radical changes to their organizations and business processes. The same tools that were already being used and adopted by large organizations are now being used by doctors, teachers, families, and many others to help patients, educate children, and see loved ones, no matter where we were riding out this storm.
Vtiger also had some positive moments in 2020. With the world practically at a standstill, we took advantage of that time to rework and redesign some of the features in our CRM. This led to our team successfully launching our newest version of our cloud CRM, Vtiger 9. Because we had the right tools at our disposal, we were able to do this with 100% of our employees working remotely. Over the past few weeks, we have migrated all of our Vtiger 8 users to Vtiger 9, and have also begun the migration process for our Vtiger 7 customers.
With the launch of Vtiger 9 , we also added several new features, including One View , new integrations , a completely new intuitive interface , and Calculus ; our new AI-driven engine that uses historical data and conversation analysis to help teams succeed. We also learned how fortunate we are to be able to provide our cloud services to organizations around the world while working from home. For that, all of us at Vtiger are truly grateful.
We also understood the challenges many of our customers were facing and wanted to help them. In March, we started receiving emails from some of our customers who said they would not be able to afford their Vtiger subscription due to the pandemic and restrictions. That same month, we launched the Vtiger Business Assistance Relief Package to help businesses struggling with late payments and reduced bills.
While this gesture wouldn't solve the problems our customers were facing, we knew it would help them continue to use our product to generate income.
Our team was also happy to be able to lend a helping hand to the corona warriors by offering them a tool to track their daily activities.
Results of 2020
At the end of the day, humanity deserves a pat on the back… or maybe two. We have approached the challenges and uncertainties of 2020 with determination and agility. We have navigated uncharted waters and found ways to individually and collectively move forward, thrive, and survive. We have come to understand that even without technology and tools, we are all connected to one another and have more in common with our global brothers and sisters than we once thought. We have learned that sometimes it is good to slow down and truly appreciate and value the limited time we have with our loved ones. If we can take the good from the bad and hold on to the lessons we all learned in 2020 , we can move forward to make 2021 and beyond truly special.