In the coming months, it is likely that governments, including those in the Caribbean region, will need to institute lockdowns and other interventions to try to reduce the rate of COVID-19 infections. How ready is your organisation? Here, we outline 5 ways organisations can improve their IT readiness.

 

As countries worldwide try to balance re-opening their economies for business and trying to keep their citizens safe, many have been opting for the former, cognisant that at some point, they might need to re-institute measures aimed at slowing down the rate of infection of COVID-19. In the Caribbean region, many countries have re-opened their airports, in particular, to welcome visitors, and to begin the process of reviving their tourism industries, which have been among the hardest hit, thanks to the pandemic. However, in re-opening their borders, there has been a marked increase in reported infections, primarily among visitors, which are making citizens concerned.

Although we might think of visitors as people safely ensconced in hotels away from the masses, many are nationals visiting from abroad, who are staying with family and within local communities. More importantly, they are not necessarily adhering to the self-isolation requirements, and so have been the source of some of the new clusters of infections that are being discovered.

Currently, governments might be conflicted about when to institute a new round of restrictions – whether now or later – but the odds are they are coming. The first set of restrictions, especially the lockdowns, might have occurred with little notice, and so whatever measures organisations had time to implement might have been made on the fly. Now, noting that we are still in the throes of a global pandemic, and having the benefit of some past experience, we now have an opportunity to plan and better prepare. Below, we outline five ways organisations can ensure their IT is ready for whatever restrictions and interventions that might be established in the not-too-distant future.

 

1.  Fine time the business continuity plan

Outside of hurricanes and tropical storms, which are the norm in the Caribbean region, many Caribbean organisations might not have had cause before to significantly adjust its operations for an extended period of time. It is thus likely that whatever business continuity plan that had been in place, may have had some gaps when rolled out to deal with COVID-19.

In the event, it has not yet been done, the organisation’s business continuity plan should be carefully re-examined, and uncovered deficiencies addressed. It may also be worthwhile to test the plan, to ensure that it functions well, and to identify whether any new gaps have emerged, which can also be remedied.

 

2.  Prepare your staff

Across many organisations, the transition to work-from-home, and other remote working arrangements, was not without hiccups. It may have taken employees a few weeks to settle in, and for new ways of working to emerge.

Initially, people might have thought remote work would be easy – perhaps even more relaxing – but it can actually be more stressful than working out of an office, especially if children (and other dependents) are also at home. It may thus be prudent to assist team members in becoming mentally ready, should another round of lockdowns occur. Group, or even one-on-one, discussions could be useful to check in with employees, and to ensure that they feel supported, and not as isolated when out of office.

 

3.  Stress test systems

In relying considerably more on technology and IT systems that ever before, it is crucial to ensure the current resources are adequate for the job at hand, and are in good working order. It is also important to check that the systems that have been established are working seamlessly together, with little or no conflict. Additionally, for any remote resources that have been secured, such as cloud services, it ought to be verified that the provisions satisfy the organisation’s needs, and can accommodate the changes in demand and in operations that are likely to occur, if the organisation must go into lockdown mode.

Now would also be the time to ensure that key spare parts and extra equipment are at hand, should they be needed, and that software and the corresponding licences are up to date. In the event hardware has to be imported, it can sourced and be In the organisation’s possession within the shortest possible time.

 

4. Optimise organisational processes

When virtually all interaction among employees and with customers and other clients were face-to-face, it would be easy for a lot of steps in the processes that were being implemented, to be taken for granted. For example, and depending on the business, it might be assumed that it would be the norm to physically verify a customer’s identification, and to complete electronic transactions via point-of sale machines. However, if either the supplier or the customer are not present in person, can’t a sale not be successful?

Further, with remote working arrangements officially relaxed in many countries, especially those in the Caribbean region, work flows might be a mishmash of in-office and remote work. Should that be the case, it is likely that some things are falling through the cracks, or processes are not as efficient as they could be. Now would be an opportune time to re-examine business processes and work flows, to ensure that they not only are efficient, but also are effective and sufficiently customer-centric.

It ought to be noted that with regard to documented processes, many organisations tend to ensure that they have administrative procedures, such are for the accounts department, and for personnel matters (such as having staff rules). However, it would also be prudent to more closely examine the processes that are being implemented in other areas of the organisation, especially with regard to work flow and accountability.

 

5.  Continue to aggressively leverage technology

Following from the previous point, it is likely that processes that could be improved if they better leveraged technology, would be identified. Many of them might already have been earmarked as projects under the organisation’s digital transformation effort, whilst others might have emerged, due to the constraints that became evident when lockdowns and other interventions were instituted.

Now would be an excellent time to examine the organisation and its processes through the lens of ‘thinking digital’. In order to achieve effective and relevant results, cross-functional teams ought to be convened to help identify and prioritise processes that ought to be tackled, and to ensure that the results are marked improvement for both the staff and for customers/clients as appropriate.

 

In summary, although many medical and research teams worldwide are working assiduously to develop effective and safe vaccines, as the northern hemisphere moves towards winter and the flu season, COVID-19 infections are expected to increase, potentially overwhelming national healthcare systems. It is thus prudent to be prepared.

 

 

Image credit:  Mihai Surdu (Pixabay)

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