Business continuity is a major concern for organizations of all sizes. Regardless of the scale of a disaster that hits your company, you would want it to recover, continue operating, and get back on its feet. So it always makes sense to be prepared with a business continuity plan in place, even as you hope that you may never need to bring it into action. The coronavirus crisis has made organizations even more conscious about the need for such a plan. The core objective is to stay afloat even in the toughest situation, but this is easier said than done. And you need much more than a positive attitude to keep things going; in fact, technology is the cornerstone of business continuity. The right IT solutions can single-handedly help struggling companies stay afloat. Here are the factors that really matter when it comes to finding and implementing such solutions.
Seamless communications
Communication fuels businesses because it keeps team members and customers connected. And when it comes to communication in the current landscape, the impact and significance of the internet is immense. Everyone expects instant gratification, which is the reason why a lack of proper communication becomes a continuity issue. And the fact that communication is multi-channel and involves multi-devices today makes it even more challenging for businesses to ensure seamlessness. Therefore, when you look up to technology solutions for ensuring continuity, ones that keep the communication up and running are to be the top priority. And they should also be capable of handling the complexities of multi-channel and multi-device communication for the business. Further, you also need to identify solutions that facilitate communication from anywhere, as remote working is a norm for companies now.
Information sharing
The choice of business continuity technologies also depends on their information-sharing capabilities. What if your business suddenly had to go remote, with teams having to work-from-home? What is your strategy for enabling field workers to access business data seamlessly, without posing a threat of leakage or theft of confidential information? Clearly, having an information sharing protocol is a crucial concern for any company thinking about continuity during a crisis. You need an IT solution that ensures risk-free access so that employees can continue delivering productivity, no matter where they work from. And this is only possible when there isn’t a need to worry about data security.
Reliable resilience
Another factor that you should bear in mind while choosing technology for business continuity is reliable resilience. Essentially, resilience is all about the ability to stay afloat even when you face a challenge or crisis. Unless you have the right systems in place, you cannot expect your organization to be resilient. For example, you need a data recovery plan if you face the threat of data loss or breach at any point in time. Similarly, there should always be a plan B to address downtime or tech glitches. Availing the best remote IT support management for managing such issues is a good idea because the outsourced model is far more cost-effective as compared to having an in-house support team. Further, you get access to expert IT professionals who are there when you need them and get you back on your feet instantly. What else do you expect in the name of resilience!
Post-crisis modernization
Apart from solutions that spur continuity during the crisis, you will also need ones that drive modernization. The purpose is to realign your business with the changes that the crisis brings. Consider the coronavirus situation that companies are facing right now. While a switch to the work-from-home model has brought a solution for continuing operations, you cannot deny the need for a long-term strategy because the change is here to stay. The need of the hour is a people-driven technology solution, something that increases resilience, builds confidence, and drives innovation for people and the business as a whole. Additionally, the technology you choose should be simple and easy to embrace because the situation is already highly stressful for everyone.
Driving a successful business continuity initiative is all about being prepared and being agile. If you get too late in adopting the right tech solution, there are chances that you may take your business to the edge and it may not even be able to recover again. Moreover, you can take a one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to business continuity solutions. They must be tailored to address your unique needs and challenges so that you have a perfect one to bail you out of the toughest situation.
I run a small business. It’s a network of memory care homes in Central Florida. Because we have decentralized models (locations spread all over), almost everything we do is in the cloud run by companies with excellent IT teams and redundant servers spread across the country. Using this outsourced model serves us well, especially during COVID, when our management and back-office teams follow stay-at-home orders. It will be interesting to see how big and small companies change and adapt to what now seems is the new normal.
Crisis has impacted every small and big industry but also allowed them to think broader and expand their business. This blog very well highlights how technology can help in business continuity and how it can help struggling companies stay afloat. Being working in an IT firm, we too use various cloud services such as dialers, team collaboration tools and more that smoothens the business process.
One major advantage of working from home is you will save time on commuting from home to office. In major cities, this is a real time burner.