In a post COVID-19 world, tech companies will see more demand than ever but also be under more pressure than ever.

Businesses quickly shifted to new ways of working as COVID-19 restrictions hit, in many cases overnight and intended just as a temporary measure to keep going.

The Cisco AppDynamics Agents of Transformation 2021 report found that the new way of doing business will put tech companies and technologists under increasing pressure in 2021.

Specifically, linking technology and its performance to business outcomes – sales transactions, revenue and customer experience – is now essential according to 98 per cent of survey respondents.

But this is easier said than done. 97 per cent of respondents could point to at least one barrier their company had to navigate in order to adapt this new approach.

Additionally, 75 per cent of technologists fear the inability to link tech performance with business performance will be detrimental to their business.

An acceleration to cloud computing, monitoring solutions and new business priorities challenges were key factors contributing to the higher pressure felt by technologists.

 

Which tech stocks might be under pressure?

With cloud computing tipped as a hot technology in the survey it goes without saying they will continue to experience hot demand.

There are a handful of pure play stocks including NextDC (ASX:NXT), DXN (ASX:DXN), DC Two (ASX:DC2) and Nexion (ASX:NNG). Then there are several stocks providing varying services under a Software as a Service model that will inevitably rely on cloud technologies.

These range from large caps Xero (ASX:XRO) and Fineos (ASX:FCL) to small caps Cirralto (ASX:CRO) and Dropsuite (ASX:DSE).

Stocks working on hardware, such as semiconductors, may also see demand increase.

One ASX stock is Pivotal Systems (ASX:PVS) which gas flow monitoring and control technology platform which helps chip makers manufacture faster. It is expecting 12 per cent growth in the sector in 2021.

Tech product distributors ranging from small cap Cellnet (ASX:CLT) to industry giant Kogan (ASX:KGN) will also benefit (from increased revenues) but be under pressure if the tech boom continues.