We’ve all heard about how economic downturns are both unpredictable and imminent. And once again in the history of humanity, we are all living through one. The coronavirus pandemic has given a whole new meaning to the term “enterprise resilience”—one that most companies are struggling to embrace. In times like these, leading with technology is essential. And when access to the best solutions is limited, working with autonomous software development teams is the road to take.
Enterprise Resilience in Times of COVID-19
Enterprise resilience has always been tightly linked with adaptability. Businesses need to have the flexibility to manage disruptions while maintaining the continuity of operations, the safety of employees, control over assets, and even brand equity. And while disaster recovery and post-disaster strategies always had a place in the conversation, COVID-19 has really put enterprise resilience through its paces.
The pandemic is, basically, and imperative for the entire world to change the way we approach enterprise resilience. Businesses in every industry have run into several types of market and operational problems (most commonly, fluctuating demand and supply chain disruptions). Now more than ever, we are all aware that every business context is permanently uncertain.
However, the concept of uncertainty is easy to misinterpret. There is a fine line between fear and opportunity. So let me say this clearly: it is not about being dragged and overpowered by the waves, but rather about learning to ride their inevitable crests and troughs.
Leading with Technology
Technology is the answer to minimizing the operation, financial, and commercial impacts of the pandemic. We are all probably witnessing that right now, with businesses all over the world increasing the size of their IT teams or reaching out to software development companies that can give them a push in the right direction.
From a simple ecommerce website to a robust IT infrastructure, the value of the relationship between technology and business is now greater than ever. Tech has literally become essential to keep clients close and maintain the productivity of new remote teams.
On the flip side, it has also become essential to deal with the increasing cyber threats. A few weeks ago the World Health Organization reported a fivefold increase in cyber attacks, most of which targeted SMBs or companies rushing digital transformation the best they could.
These are the business areas where technology is helping businesses achieve enterprise resilience.
- Remote collaboration: It’s been a couple of months since most business teams suddenly switched from in-house to remote collaboration. Maintaining “business as usual” has only been possible for organizations that had been working with remote methodologies for years. If there was any doubt before, it has been proven that embracing a remote culture requires more than cloud computing technologies and a decent IT infrastructure.
- Cybersecurity: The rapid changes we are living through today have taken a toll on the security and IT status quo of many companies. Hackers are finding new exploitable opportunities as a result of the rocky economy and the difficulty of our situation. Still, the value of cybersecurity hasn’t changed. What has changed is the visibility of lacking it. Keeping up with cybersecurity is a priority today – even more than before.
- Supply chain management: Using technology to maximize the efficiency of supply chains is nothing new. Many of the disruptions we faced weeks ago have actually been solved thanks to technologies like artificial intelligence and predictive analytics. Automation and data are and will continue powering supply chain management for years to come.
- Business Intelligence: The rise of ecommerce development and the fluctuating demand of the public has forced entire industries to rely more on data. This transition was expected to happen a few years from now, but the circumstances forced its acceleration. Being able to make data-driven decisions is crucial for enterprise resilience.
Working with Autonomous Software Development Teams
Our current context has made one thing clear: the time to embrace technology is now and the sooner you do it, the better. However, it’s not possible for every company to grow a comprehensive IT department in such a short period of time. For all those who need results now, working with autonomous software development teams can be the key to increase their enterprise resilience.
Autonomous software development teams are one of the services provided by software development companies. Their main function is to provide all the talent needed to achieve business goals. As their name implies, these teams work autonomously and remotely, but communicate and give status reports as requested. This way, the business can focus on other pressing matters and still have access to high-quality software.
In terms of enterprise resilience, working with autonomous software development teams gives businesses the flexibility to manage challenges with technology in the most efficient and cost-effective way possible. What’s more, their remote work methodology also provides valuable risk mitigation during uncertain times, since distributed teams are not affected by local circumstances.
A Never-ending Process
Although working with autonomous software development teams can certainly be a great way of building enterprise resilience, we must remember that this isn’t a linear process – it’s a cycle. Every business needs to think in terms of discovery, assessment, remediation, and evaluation of technology solutions on an ongoing basis. This is the only way to create value, drive change, and achieve an impact.
The crisis has made it relatively easier for businesses to simplify their priorities, with technology taking a leading role in each of them. The days when it was easy to keep pushing digital transformation are gone. As the new world adapts and complies with a new environment, businesses based on trust, efficiency, and adaptability will master the new enterprise resilience.
