The world is constantly changing, and software changes with it. It grows and molds itself to the organization’s needs. With the COVID-19 pandemic, massive changes happened. The general objective of software engineering before the pandemic was to create more efficient procedures for organizations. Nowadays, the most significant need in organizations is connecting directly with the customer.
The pandemic has greatly limited the communication between customers and organizations. Software engineering has the tools to create these bridges that have been burned due to the pandemic. Now organizations need to be a part of their customers’ lives without being there physically like they were before. They need to be present virtually, and that’s where software engineering comes in.
Many organizations have done this by creating platforms where customers can ask for services, check information, evacuate questions, etc. Bokolo, from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, studied how telemedicine and virtual software platforms are one of the methods used to manage the COVID-19 pandemic. Telemedicine can be beneficial by reducing direct contact between people, and it also helps with patient follow-up.
Another example, according to Maspero and their team from the University of Milan, is the efficacy of teleassistance thanks to technological innovations has allowed substantial improvement. Tele-orthodontics has helped reduce unnecessary follow-up visits while maintaining monitoring and not jeopardizing expected results. 
One of the big obstacles that the pandemic created for fast growing startups was that they were not able to attract and hire good talent fast enough. They lost the ability to be part of job fairs, and were no longer able to conduct in-person interviews to get to know candidates better. This is where Mismo came to the rescue. Mismo helped these companies get access to top class engineering talent in Latin America to help meet their hiring needs. Mismo built a jobs platform that would let engineers create their 3D resume – the three dimensions being – the resume to showcase their experience, the video introduction to showcase their personality and communications skills, and the skills test to showcase their technical expertise. This platform gives Mismo’s engineers the opportunity to present themselves in the best way possible. It gives Mismo’s customers the ability to truly get to know and evaluate engineers to make sure they would be a great fit for their company. Using this system, Mismo helped some of Silicon Valley’s fastest growing startups hire dozens of engineers.
The COVID-19 pandemic will indeed have long-term effects on customer management, but the platforms created by these companies enable them to connect again with the customers. The biggest challenge during the COVID-19 pandemic for organizations is to be there for their customer even at a distance. Software engineering is the way to build back these highly valued relationships.
