Are companies freezing all expenditure or rerouting their CAPEX to suit new needs in a coronavirus-impacted business scenario?
It’s month three since we started discussing Covid-19 and now, it’s no longer a novelty. We have evolved from deluding ourselves into imagining this to be a temporary spell to looking at how to ensure business continuity in a virus-infested world irrespective of how long this situation lasts. So, while some of us have donned masks and gloves and bravely stepped out of our homes, businesses are also courageously revisiting their capital expenditures that may perhaps have been on hold.
No doubt, some businesses have frozen all investment indefinitely but there are others who may consider rerouting their CAPEX to address new priorities such as remote working and ensuring business continuity while still others may have seized this opportunity to cut some good deals. I believe solutions for remote working will now be considered as critical as any mainstream operation. Businesses, therefore, may potentially divert some of their investments to ensure that remote working is taken care of. Many may also now see wisdom in favouring OPEX over CAPEX and choosing cloud solutions.
In the meantime, while money has been on hold, no virus can impede our creative skills. Writers and animators have been hard at work crafting new narratives from their respective home offices. Businesses have been mulling new strategies to deal with the current situation and some innovative ideas will emerge in the coming months, I’m certain.
In the meantime, we had the opportunity to catch up with a few animation companies that have emerged in recent times in Saudi Arabia. Their strong storylines, rooted in Arabic culture, and high-quality productions, created in collaboration with local talent and international studios, are enabling them to conceive and produce ambitious projects that can have both regional and global appeal.
Those projects haven’t diminished because of a pandemic. In fact, the argument for content has never been more compelling than in a lockdown, where demand spiked, and supply couldn’t keep up. As we gradually return to work, we are likely to see a whole subterranean stream of changes that will gradually make themselves known to us. Let’s brace ourselves for the new normal.
