Thriving through disruptive change.
Creating new options from disruptive effects
2020 ends with the world looking forward to the end of the COVID-19 pandemic while still grappling with the disruptive changes the virus caused to all facets of society.
Businesses were forced to accelerate their digital transformation plans to maintain operations. The economic fallout of restrictive lockdown measures meant that the digital channel was the only customer touchpoint available. Organizations that couldn’t adapt either put operations on pause or shut their doors permanently.
Driven by demand, many technology trends accelerated. Machine learning algorithms continued to improve, Internet of Things (IoT) devices became more numerous, infrastructure needs shifted quickly, and data-driven business operations multiplied.
The rapid changes to the market environment following the World Health Organization’s declaration of a global pandemic illustrate how external events can disrupt business. Governments reacted by imposing lockdown measures that meant many businesses couldn’t open their physical locations, and even where they could, they still faced a situation in which consumer confidence was shaken. People either chose to avoid public places because of health concerns or restricted their spending due to an uncertain job market.
Many organizations responded by relying on technologically mediated environments to continue operations. Employees met from their homes via videoconference, students used online learning management systems to complete their school curriculum, and governments rushed to put more services online.
With technology playing a key role for all organizations just to maintain daily activities, IT was thrust into a critical function. No longer was the IT department supporting capabilities lower down the value stream – it was now core to delivering on the organization’s value proposition.
Given the transitional period that’s likely ahead, with the pandemic coming to an end and with all the other externalities that could disrupt operations, IT’s role remains critical. Organizations that want to avoid disruption from the next crisis will need IT to support capabilities to plan for change and learn quickly. IT must focus on accelerating speed to value and enable flexibility and rapid redeployment of resources.
We believe in listening to our clients and facilitating robust dialogue to learn the full picture of the project from multiple perspectives. We craft solutions that are tailored to our client’s needs, emphasizing a robust process that engages the correct stakeholders throughout the project so that once it’s complete, our clients can continue to manage it successfully.