For those of you who receive our newsletter and have been following us on Facebook, you’ve probably heard about this latest Forrester report sounding the alarm that all businesses need to commit to some very important changes if they want to survive the next 10 years. If nothing else, the coronavirus pandemic has shown us that this is precisely true. According to the report, organizations need to make both a technology and culture shift — from “efficiency” to “agility.” But what does such a shift look like, exactly?
What Does “Agility” Mean for a Business?
The short answer: survival. Agility refers to having the ability to adapt to any emergency — whether the crisis is known and definitely pending, or completely unknown with no predicted time of occurrence or duration.
In the case of COVID-19, we still don’t know its expected duration at the time of writing this article. For all we know, this pandemic could go on for years. One way or another, everyone is going to have to learn how to adapt to it without putting their health at risk. And, ideally, we all want to hang onto our businesses, too.
What Does a Shift to Agility Look Like?
To meet digital transformation goals, companies are turning to hybrid, multi-cloud environments. These are known for their ability to improve user interactions and provide business agility. For example, cloud-based utilities such as Meraki MR and Cisco Umbrella complement each other in ways that afford your organization a great deal of technological flexibility. What’s more, the cloud is where everyone is headed if we’re not there already. (Everyone pretty much is, at this point.) And when it comes to cloud computing, there are many options that allow businesses to take advantage of the opportunity for increasing productivity while also controlling costs.
A Shift to Agility Means Culture As Well As Technology.
While improving IT agility comes with significant technical challenges like securing critical data and managing workloads, corporate culture as we traditionally know it needs to evolve as well. This may very well be the largest hurdle to overcome since this is the more human element, and humans can be notoriously slow to embrace change. Cultural challenges include scaling to business and geographic needs and rethinking the way teams and processes are handled. Plans of action, vulnerability management, contingency plans and incident response plans all need to be carefully crafted into your organization’s policy.
With a powerful combination of cloud technology, careful planning and a corporate structure that is flexible enough to recognize and assign the right people for the right tasks, an organization should be able to weather any storm no matter how long it lasts — especially if they have help. V2 Systems has been a trusted leader in managed IT services since 1995. We have multiple certifications from Microsoft, Cisco, Amazon Web Services, ITIL, Juniper and CompTIA. We’re ready to put our numerous qualifications to work for you, so that your organization will be more than prepared for any contingency.
Our aim is to see that you survive a lot longer than 10 years.
Since 1995, Manassas Park, VA-based V2 Systems has employed local systems administrators, network engineers, security consultants, help desk technicians and partnering companies to meet a wide range of clients’ IT needs, from research, to implementation, to maintenance. Concentrate on your VISION…We’ll handle the TECHNOLOGY!
