3 Leadership Considerations for Business Continuity Planning Post-COVID

Whether it is a natural disaster, political unrest, or a pandemic such as COVID-19, these kinds of crises have a profound effect on how we live and work. Every industry was impacted by COVID-19 as we witnessed, countries closed their borders, businesses closed, trade halted, and the economy has declined. Government and business leaders are unveiling plans to reopen and, in some cases have already started. With this in mind, we must reorient ourselves to business continuity in an ever-changing world where the new norm will be dramatically different pre COVID-19. There are three key areas leaders will need to consider for their immediate and more long-term planning.  

Workforce transformation – how we work 

We witnessed dramatic shifts in how and where we work in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. Enabling a remote workforce is not without its challenges. In addition to the logistical requirements of migrating to a work from home environment, companies must also consider the tools and digital skills necessary for continued productivity and collaboration for everyone.  

Our retail teams are providing Customer Success Training on how to leverage Microsoft 365 in a remote environment. More than 65,000 people representing government, health care, education and finance were trained on Teams in the first month and those numbers continue to grow. For educators in Pennsylvania's Milton area school district, learning how to connect students through Teams, Flipgrid, and Minecraft: Education Edition has meant few disruptions in the learning process for their students despite school closings. The requirement for these tools will continue to increase as remote learning becomes a part of our new norm. 

We are also seeing shifts in when people work due to added obligations ranging from caring for family members to providing educational instruction for children. Microsoft’s Work Trend Index Report released in early April, highlights this emerging trend. Notably, our data shows that a more flexible workday created by remote work is allowing people to work when it is best for them. While these are unique experiences directly related to the global response to COVID-19, we can expect workers to demand greater flexibility in work schedules in the future. 

Another important consideration is how we safely get people back to work in offices with inadequate air filtration systems and open floor plans that fall far short of the World Health Organization’s 6-foot recommendation. Commercial real estate company Cushman & Wakefield offers a potential solution with their Six Feet Office showroom concept. They have helped more than 1 million people move back to some form of work in China in the past month and offer a glimpse of what we can expect in the near future.  

Security, safety and infrastructure 

Balancing security with ease of access to the network to enable people to work from anywhere, at any time, on any device is more important than ever. Adopting a Zero Trust approach, based on a never trust, always verify principle, protects your company through continual verification of identities, devices and services. But identity management is a basic precursor. Maintaining safe and secure network environments hinges on up-to-date patches and tech infrastructure that supports quick mobilization and scalability.  

The need for modern, agile infrastructure is apparent as millions struggle to apply for unemployment benefits, small business loans, or mortgage deferments in recent weeks. Several government agencies and financial institutions still run the 60-year-old programming language, COBOL, on their mainframes. Not only are these antiquated systems hampered when it comes time to meet unexpected demand, but they are costly to maintain.  

Data is the greatest strategic resource of any organization. The power of data lies in how easily it can be accessed and utilized in meaningful ways. This is especially true as we fight against the spread of the novel coronavirus. Data around where people are, who is infected, how they are being treated, and how we are containing the virus is central to our understanding of the problem. This valuable data is a prime target for cyberattacks which increase during times of crisis. Already we are seeing spikes in phishing attacks and online scams related to COVID-19 treatment, testing, and available aid and resources. Organizations must plan for the considerable investment in modernization and hardware to maintain secure environments and processes for their data.  

Goods and services  

Disruptions to the supply chain are common in times of crisis. To mitigate the lasting impact of these disruptions on business operations, organizations will need to leverage technology for worker safety, demand planning, inventory management and logistics.  

The health and safety of your employees as we transition back to the workplace is a top priority. Innovative solutions particularly in the manufacturing industry are protecting workers and reducing the spread of the virus. Through integration with Microsoft Teams, RealWear’s hands-free technology allows industrial workers to complete complex work procedures while remotely collaborating with subject matter experts wherever they are in the world. Automation also provides unique opportunities for organizations to maintain necessary levels of production while reducing the number of people working at the same time to keep workers safe. 

This pandemic, like other disruptive events before it, exposed the repercussions of not having end-to-end visibility across the global supply chain. Shortages in materials and critical supplies mount in the face of increased customer demand. How will global manufacturing change post-COVID-19? It is necessary that organizations leverage technologies like AI, machine learning models and IoT sensor-connected networks to predict demand quickly, understand sourcing implications as conditions change, and adjust inventory as needed.

We are likely to experience the impacts of COVID-19 on business operations for the foreseeable future. When we look back on this unprecedented time, we will have hundreds of examples of the creative and innovative ways companies responded to address the needs of their business and their people. We must ensure we have a global framework for resiliency planning to get us through the next disruptive event.