The biggest challenge facing organisations is competing with the new rules of the game in a market where uncertainty exists due to the Covid-19 crisis. For this reason, it is essential to make decisions with an eye on Digital Transformation. Without a clear and agile strategy, it is impossible to scale up opportunities to generate value for the company and guarantee business continuity.
This digital and transformation framework seeks to maintain a clear vision of everything that happens in the company. In this way, it is much easier to analyse data and make high-level decisions by having real-time information on how changing threats could affect your corporation. That's why information systems technology and automation are winning the day when it comes to mitigating the impact on businesses.
The most disruptive solutions are helping companies take their expectations to historic heights in uncharted territory. How? By optimising processes, data analysis and response times. However, it is key to anticipate everything that can happen with a solid contingency plan. It's true that we all need to have a roadmap of what to do in case of an emergency, but quite often we are caught off guard.
Advance planning is left for later because there is no time, and when an incident happens there is a hasty and chaotic response that can make the situation worse rather than better. Therefore, Forrester indicates that companies that have made an effort to gather information about the audience will have an initial advantage. However, it is essential to address the specific scenario with open communication, as a significant percentage of employees will face some disruption to their routines, which will impact on their productivity and therefore on the business.
It is clear that organisations that respond with transparency get rewarded. Create flexible response plans and continuously monitor the situation in order to adapt to changing conditions. The coronavirus outbreak will continue to affect us for some time, and no company will be immune to its impact. The fundamental thing is to cushion the blow in order to emerge strengthened from a complicated situation which, handled by experienced and trained experts, can become an opportunity to advance and grow in the new normal.
Having a contingency plan is a basic element, although a good number of organisations overlook it, judging from the figures. A study by an international consultancy firm shows that over half security professionals were unaware whether their company had a roadmap for adequately tackling a crisis such as that of Covid-19. The problem is aggravated if we take into account that only 10% of professionals who did have this plan declared that they followed it. Why? It is too early to know the reasons, but what we can say is that cyber-attacks have increased during the pandemic. In fact, experts warn that 2020 could see a peak in terms of attacks.
Tackling strategic change with agility is the way forward, because, apart from identifying risks, it is necessary to decide what steps need to be taken to ensure that the organisation's, employees' and partners' data is safe. The pandemic is an opportunity to learn and be at the forefront of addressing changes in the workforce and planning for unexpected events. So surround yourself with experts who can help you put together a document that assesses the risks and plans for any unforeseen events so that you can focus your efforts on ensuring business continuity.