Undoubtedly, COVID-19 has caused significant disruption worldwide. For small-to-medium-sized enterprises, the global pandemic has had a considerable impact on many. Flu symptoms aside, the primary issue with global disasters is they come completely unexpected. While you can prepare for the worst, those circumstances tend to arrive unannounced and unwelcomed.

These days, businesses are largely dependent on two key functions: human resources and technology. In the wake of a disaster, contingency plans for proper staff may already be in place, but as for technology, few are prepared or even aware of the consequences of a national crisis. At the end of the day, your P&L is going to take a hit depending on how well you’ve prepared your business by migrating to the cloud and how quickly you’ve been able to offer remote access.

Remote access means business as usual

Let’s be clear: the last thing you want is ongoing disruption to the day-to-day running of your business. During situations like COVID-19, many businesses and enterprises are encouraging employees to work remotely. Since social distancing is encouraged, many staff and contractors are working from their home or another location outside of the office.

Taken from my article top advantages of a hosted software model, here’s a work-from-home statistic about the increase in remote access:

The statistics on the work-at-home in the U.S. based on an analysis of the American Community Survey conducted by GlobalWorkplaceAnalytics.com says that 4.7 million employees (3.4 percent of the workforce) now work from home at least half the time. 47 percent more U.S. employers offer flexible workplace options than they did five years ago.

Recent figures suggest more than two-thirds of the global workforce already work remotely at least one day a week, but with COVID-19 wreaking havoc around the world, many more people will be working from home for at least the next couple of months. Some have argued that this could lead to a permanent shift toward remote working. To accommodate this growth in demand, all eyes will be on Microsoft Teams, Google’s G Suite, Slack, Zoom and the big tech players in the coming months to optimize and improve their services.

Continuity during crisis is key

When helping clients work towards business continuity management (BCM), I’ve helped establish a process to help them stay up-and-running. Typically, I run through a checklist to ensure the flow-on effect of a national disaster is minimized:

1. Cloud migration: moving from servers to the cloud can help companies of all sizes access reliable and dynamic managed services. When searching for a trusted managed cloud provider, enquire about service, support and regional/global resources.

2. Enable remote access: a key element in setting up clients is allowing them remote access to documents and applications for company users who can access important data from anywhere and at any time.

3. Keep things user-friendly: For users, I also urge that remote access to software and productivity tools aren’t hindered so that employees can focus on their job and avoid frustration.

4. Get back-up support: visits from the IT contractor for hard disk failure, server crashers and expired licenses becomes an issue of the past once cloud migration and remote access has been established. Nevertheless, ensure your support subscription is current and you can get in contact when help is needed.

A great example of cloud-based remote applications is Microsoft. At the forefront of cloud computing, Microsoft Office 365 has allowed continuous productivity and collaboration – even in remote settings. Besides email, Word, Excel and PowerPoint, organizations can manage staff/shifts, assign tasks and projects, collaborate and even instant message. SharePoint Online and OneDrive is a widely used centralized document management system that is perfect for small to mid-sized organizations.

Final thoughts on BCM

Your managed cloud service provider’s job is to support you and ensure that your business can continue functioning throughout any disaster. Business continuity and disaster recovery is a large subject, nevertheless, working with a trusted managed cloud service provider should help you in resolving key areas that could create impact. Keep them accountable!

AECCloud has always prioritized BCM and assisted organizations by consulting and offering solutions. Our global network of talent is an added advantage as we are always thinking ahead in taking preventive measures. We also leverage our regional and global offices to ensure there is a good flow of business continuity.

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Business Continuity and Cloud: A Two-Step Approach