COVID-19: The catalyst for digital transformation

COVID-19 is a crisis that is bound to have a widespread and long-lasting impact on humanity and global economy. Although it is not yet clear when this crisis will end, one thing is indisputable: the pandemic will have a significant impact on most businesses for months, or even years to come.

Since all evidence points to the fact that this is not a conjunctural event, businesses need to be prepared for the future. They need to start building the necessary operational “resilience” now, if they are to survive in the new reality. This means adopting all the digital tools that are fortunately available to us at the moment.

It is obvious that the pandemic has highlighted the value of digital transformation in such an urgent and explicit manner, that every business -regardless of industry and size- must act to accelerate this transition… now!

The time for Cloud ERP is now

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced businesses to take immediate measures to protect the health of their employees, and minimize the impact on their operations. In most cases, this meant implementing a remote working policy. With millions of people worldwide working remotely, it is hard to imagine a world without the cloud. Whatever the perspective, cloud was born for situations like the one we are currently experiencing.

After the initial turmoil, it is now clear that this current need for remote working approach will eventually lead businesses to rethink their business model, evaluate and implement contemporary digital solutions such as transitioning to full-cloud business applications like ERP and CRM.

Seamless access to tools and data

Remote operation requires faith in the decentralization of resources, but also certain essential structural elements for seamless operation (e.g. continuous communication and access to data and systems). The real power of business cloud during this pandemic is evident by the fact that all employees have access to the tools they use on a daily basis, from any device, regardless of their geographical location.

Those that use cloud solutions for their business software, were able to operate remotely from day one, as soon as it became imperative. Cloud offers all departments -from management and sales to marketing and accounting- access to the tools and data they need to keep doing their job.

The same office experience is transferred to laptops, even personal ones, tablets and even smartphones. And now that mobile operators are generously offering Gigabytes, Enterprise Mobility (EM) becomes more accessible and flexible than ever, allowing you to run your business from any kind of device. Thus, EM, which used to be perceived as a supplementary business tool, has now become a vital “weapon” for business continuity.

Another significant parameter that should be highlighted, is that businesses need not concern themselves with security, since it is dealt with by the vendors themselves. VPNs, policies, access rights and other issues are already solved in cloud computing.

Gain an advantage now

Businesses that used to focus excessively on day-to-day operational needs at the expense of investments in digital tools, have truly suffered a shock. Those that will manage to transfer their processes to modern digital platforms, will mitigate the impact of the crisis and achieve business continuity not only now but also in the long run.

Regardless of how uncertain these times seem to be, businesses which can and do operate remotely have a viable alternative for dealing with this and any other crisis.