In a recent conversation with the CEO of a tech company that sells into North America primarily, he told me things look strong in the long-term but weak in the short-term. This makes a lot of sense more tech is needed as people work from home and we will rely on it for social distancing and more.

The challenge is we do not know how many companies will make it through this mess – retail and commercial real estate are challenged for example.

Even the best tech companies will lose customers to shutdowns and bankruptcies.

Still, one wonders why the U.S. is the most pessimistic region when it comes to tech spending. According to Statista, the actual sentiment reduction is 12.7% compared to 9.2% overall. Perhaps the reason has to do with the fact the U.S. is still in lockdown – either partially or fully, depending on the area.

Much of Europe has opened, Asia has been open for a while and New Zealand says they have no more cases.

There isn’t a good way to sugar coat sentiment – the speed of its recovery will depend on how fast the recovery is and what happens to business sentiment overall.

Then there is cybersecurity – reports of incidents the FBI have already increased four-fold. Now is not the time to spend less on cybersecurity.

The best way to get through this is via pandemic tech which will allow us all to get back to the old normal or new normal, as soon as possible.

Here are resources to learn more: Pandemic Tech Alliance, Pandemic Tech News, Pandemic Tech Report, Pandemic Tech News TV.