As COVID-19 has rapidly destabilized businesses across the nation, business leaders are questioning how they can ensure resilience in the face of continuing uncertainty to protect the business they've worked so hard to build.
While it may not be the first strategy that comes to mind, lowering operational and IT costs is a crucial aspect of any business resilience strategy right now. Here's what you need to know about the outcomes of outsourcing cloud operations.
Remote workforce enablement
The COVID-19 pandemic revealed one of the most catastrophic outcomes for any business: employees are suddenly stuck at home without important files or access to resources.
Essentially, workers are nonproductive, not because they lack interest, but because they do not have the tools needed to complete work projects.
The first step in lowering operational costs is implementing systems that support remote work. Specifically, this includes Remote Desktop Service or virtual desktop and cloud-based productivity suites, such as G Suite or Office 365.
Remote Desktop Service
Remote Desktop Service allows employees to access the server, critical applications, and files quickly and easily from home.
In times like these, the ability to work remotely through a virtual desktop supports unexpected interruptions or longer-than-anticipated departures from the office environment. These technologies are critical in the event of a disaster, chronic health conditions, or other interruptions that would keep team members working from home.
Cloud-based productivity suites
Introducing Office 365 or G Suite not only allows for cross-collaboration of teams, but it also improves general communication and IT. Depending on the size of the organization, there may be lower IT costs associated with licensing cloud software over choosing a desktop version.
The cloud-based productivity software allows employees to easily chat or message about shared projects, increasing productivity across distance. Since groups can collaborate on one shared file, the software supports document version control. Lastly, since everything is stored in the cloud, data backup is always ensured.
Cloud cost control and governance
Many companies that have migrated applications to the cloud do not experience the expected costs savings. Why, because they move applications and data without applying cost governance.
A managed service provider (MSP) will apply cost governance best practices to keep your expenses on budget. Additionally, periodic utilization reviews will yield opportunities to optimize resource utilization. Over time, the savings from reduced operational expenses can be substantial to your bottom line.
Working with MSPs
There are many benefits to working with an MSP. MSPs deal with a host of potential issues and have experience planning for the unplannable, such as security breaches, data loss, or responding to a disaster.
An MSP can proactively implement plans and systems to reduce business interruption and promote continuity. When a crisis hits, they will actually keep IT services up and do everything on the back end to allow team members to access mission critical resources as needed.
Automating business processes
Companies that have automated their business processes enjoy greater stability in times of chaos.
The more things are automated, the less chance there is for human interaction to cause disruption. It can bring peace of mind to know everything's working as intended, even when the world is uncertain.
Leveraging multi-cloud hosting
While the current crisis may affect all businesses, in some cases there's a specific event or situation, such as a hurricane, that affects one region or one service provider.
When it comes to localized disasters, the ability to leverage multi-cloud hosting and move workloads around through application modernization or container infrastructure ensures continued access to resources and reduces risk.
Keep your business moving forward in this new normal. Click here to read our complete guide to adapting to the new economy.
