Business Agility in the time of crisis

If we were asked at the beginning of 2020 about potential challenges to businesses and employees all over the world in the next few months, healthcare would probably not have made the top 5. In fact, most of us would never have imagined that the world as we know and work in could radically change overnight with unforeseen rules for safety and defence. To call this new state of affairs unusual is putting it mildly at best.

At this point, all of us have been affected by the healthcare crisis which has disrupted lives in more than 160 countries. Even as the spread continues, there is hope in the way the world has come together to put up a strong defence against the tragedy that has so suddenly reshaped how we live and work.

Demographics are being revisited, new rules are being formulated, and new populations are being taught the importance of social distancing and isolation for their own safety, and for the safety of others.

Businesses too are affected, and will be affected severely in the foreseeable. We are still some distance away from trying to measure the economic fallout. But given the complete shutdown of air traffic, travel, tourism, continued disruption of supply chains as well as short and long term effects on labor-intensive markets, we can only be prepared as well as we can be for the significant negative impact on production and consumption.

The disaster has reminded us of the true heroes of humanity who are demonstrating resilience and strength of character during these difficult times. We salute the Covid frontline heroes, the healthcare professionals, law enforcement agencies and allied institutions, the essentials delivery guys who are going beyond the call of duty to respond to the disaster.

Role of Technology

Isolation and lockdown are the only tools available with the general public to do their part in containing the spread. Though the changes have been drastic, we can agree that the most important aspects of human life and freedom are being upheld.

Students are continuing their lessons on online classes, giving their tests and exams digitally, accessing course materials; while employees are still working diligently, attending online meetings, conferences, seminars, etc. Shopping has slowed down but essentials are being purchased online, medicines are ordered and delivered from a phone.

All this has been possible only due to our ability to innovate, and our shared investments in technology. Technology has become our one strong link to normalcy and comfort in these times.

“Adoption, Innovation and advanced technologies have safeguarded the ingredients that are our defence”

Businesses would not have been able to operate as they have been operating if not for technology. It has empowered organisations to adapt to change quickly, and keep the important things working efficiently. In fact, the synergy between human resilience and technological innovation has been fundamental to the functioning of supply chains, delivery, and logistics for essential goods and services. And of course, technology is the greatest defence against the crisis disrupting not just living, but life itself.

In our own way, we are a part of the ecosystem of digital infrastructure and data centers that are keeping the world connected. Our clients offer fundamental services to populations across the globe, and are today working tirelessly to ensure minimal disruption and loss to those affected by these events. The tightrope balance between delivering fundamental services to the public while ensuring safety of employees is giving rise to a new normal for working. So when organisations are asking employees to work remotely, they also have to provide the right set of tools to ensure efficiency and productivity.

Cloud4C Response

For us at Cloud4C, we are equipped to handle the situation due to our constant obsessive commitment to data and information security of our clients. At this time, apart from our stringent adherence to protocols and security processes, we are deploying industrial-grade Virtual Desktop Interface (VDI) solutions, SSL VPNs, proxies, Antivirus, Data Loss Prevention solutions (DLPs), etc. for our employees to deliver customer solutions.

Our security analysts and experts are proving to be as agile as our technology, while acclimatizing positively to the new ways of delivering innovative solutions that will keep our customers at the top of their game. We are working to maintain uptime of our services, and providing support wherever necessary, whenever needed.

We are proud to share that our new products and services such as Virtual Desktop Services and remote connect services are being embraced by numerous enterprises across the world. These, in collaboration with all the leading public cloud platforms backed by our rich experience of governance and compliance services will go a long way in empowering our clients to deal with the crisis.

There may yet be a silver lining to this global tragedy if we can learn the right lessons for the way forward.

We expect that digital transformation, and organizations’ journey to the cloud will be considerably accelerated.

We at Cloud4C can help organizations to enable this journey through our gamut of differentiated Managed Service Provider (MSP) offerings and niche skills such as ‘SAP Lifecycle Management’ to support critical maintenance planner upgrades and critical fixes to ensure that such mission critical applications are available and performing adequately. These testing times will empower us with skills that will come in handy for facing such disasters in the future.

The situation has truly brought the importance of business agility into focus. I would reiterate my gratitude to the commendable efforts of people across the globe who are uniting to put up a brave fight. Hopefully, businesses and organizations too would show similar resilience in adapting to the new world.