COVID19 x Cloud Computing
Being in technology sales for over seven years I've had many conversations with clients around "what if" those "what ifs" cover a wide variety of topics such as. "What would you do if your entire network crashed?" Or "What would you do if you need access to your data and just couldn't get to it?" Or "What would you do if ALL of your employees had to work remote for just one month can your IT staff and infrastructure handle it?" COVID19 is making every organization answer all of these questions and more. In this article, I'll break down the effects of COVID19 and how it will change how organizations operate moving forward and why "The Cloud " just might be the answer every organization is looking for. Please feel free to share within your network.
Global supply chains, especially in the manufacturing sector have experienced many different forms of disruption over the years – from earthquakes and tsunamis through to social unrest and even piracy in the Indian Ocean. Each disruption brings with it uncertainty in terms of how suppliers will be impacted and how long the disruption will last for.
However, with the coronavirus, or COVID-19 outbreak as it has become known, things couldn’t be more different. This is not a short term disruption, this could go on for many months and impact companies all around the world. In fact, Oxford Economics estimates that this particular outbreak will cost the global economy $1.1 trillion and Dunn & Bradstreet take that one step further and are predicting that nearly 5 million businesses around the world could be impacted. So how can companies remain productive/profitable during this time? The answer is The Cloud gives your employees access to your data anytime, anywhere is what all cloud providers do best and no matter if your small business or a fortune 2000 company there is a cloud computing solution for your organization. Companies will have to adopt some at least one of the cloud computing models SAAS (Software as a service), IAAS (Infrastructure as a service), or PAAS (Platform-as-a-service) employees must work remotely and the cloud gives them the best option to do just that.
From high tech to retail, pharma to the government, every single industry sector is going to be impacted in some way. Each company is going back to the drawing board to ensure their employees can remain productive and safe, but they also need a way to ensure employees can access data from their homes and with many organizations still, on-premise this is a huge challenge. All hands are on deck right now to not only keep employees safe, but their data must be kept safe as well. Below is an example of how data is accessed from the cloud and as you can see with so many different access points this could be an IT administrator's worst nightmare and a hacker's paradise. Now more than ever is a chance for big cloud providers to show why their solution is number one.
CXOs around the world are accelerating the development of business continuity plans to ensure that companies can, as much as possible, function as normal during this disruptive period. COVID19 will bring with it self-quarantine periods where employees self-isolate at home and this is where corporate IT infrastructures have to be flexible enough to support remote workers. Companies need to focus on keeping their employees safe during a time of crisis. In fact, there are three key areas where I feel businesses need to focus on when choosing solutions to help during a time of crisis. ( See image below.)
CXOs need to offer their employees a new way to work in terms of how they get access to and collaborate on business information. Companies may decide to accelerate cloud deployments so that remote workers can get access to corporate networks and undertake their normal day to day jobs. Regardless of what happens, I believe each company must change the way they operate and how employees can access and use data moving forward this will change the way we work forever and "THE CLOUD" will be at the forefront for every organization moving forward.
References:
Georgetown University
Grand Cayon University
OpenText blogs
Dun & Brand Street
COVID19.com
Dr. Edward Jackson