Digicel Report
Introduction
It’s no secret that Covid-19 is not only a health issue; it’s a business issue too, and we’ve all had to make some pretty significant alterations to how we conduct business and serve our customers. If you’ve found it challenging to adapt to this new reality, you’re not alone.
Digicel Business conducted an anonymous survey of over 3000 business located across our markets, across multiple sectors with the objectives to understand:
Covid-19 impact on business performance
Current concerns and future outlook
System improvements made since Covid-19 restrictions
Priorities moving forward to improve system resilience
Day-to-Day Business Impact
The research found that 20% of businesses are struggling to pay their suppliers, and a staggering 29% of businesses are facing difficulties when requesting payment from their customers. On average, more than a third of businesses are looking at a 40%+ hit on revenue, while 74% are seeing a negative impact on turnover rates.
Businesses taking action System Improvements
Disruption resulting from Covid-19 has tested system resilience at an unprecedented level and highlighted key short-comings forcing businesses to act. Since the onset of Covid-19 businesses have been focused on making improvements, specifically around areas concerned with remote working and process automation.
Despite these efforts to improve systems, on average a third of businesses are not satisfied with their existing technologies. Considering that 34% decision-makers believe that the worst of Covid-19 impact is still to come, strengthening the resilience of IT infrastructure is a crucial step for businesses.
Planning for the Future
Long-term business resilience relies on five key building blocks to ensure your business continuity remains robust in the face of disruption
1. Flexible Workplace
Promotes workforce productivity, provides a safety net for employees in regard to social distancing, and secures your ability to continue providing service to your customers
2. Collaborate & Communicate
The ability to seamlessly communicate and collaborate with your teams is an essential aspect of maintaining productivity levels
3. Business Continuity
To ensure your ability to manage risks and enable reliable disaster recovery for business continuity
4. Staying Secure
Optimal security of your business data and protection against increasing numbers of cyber threats
5. Smart Technologies
Optimize operational efficiencies to better protect your business against the impacts of Covid-19 on employees, revenue, and continued operations
Flexible Workplace
58% of businesses are concerned about their workforce productivity, but a solution does exist: a flexible workplace. An on-premises workforce ecosystem is simply not beneficial for productivity, will inflate your risk of revenue loss, and will fail to positively impact your business’s resilience to the pandemic. A remote workplace promotes productivity, provides a safety net for employees in regard to social distancing and financial stability, and secures your ability to continue providing service to your customers.
A flexible workplace includes:
Dedicated internet access
Security of all endpoint devices
Backup internet devices
Microsoft Teams/M365 or Cisco Webex
Mobile Device Management
Personal Wi-Fi hotspots
And a regional secure network
Despite these efforts to improve systems, on average a third of businesses are not satisfied with their existing technologies. Considering that 34% decision-makers believe that the worst of Covid-19 impact is still to come, strengthening the resilience of IT infrastructure is a crucial step for businesses.
Collaborate and Communicate
The ability to seamlessly communicate and collaborate with your teams is an essential aspect of maintaining productivity levels consistent with that of normal business operations.
64% of businesses surveyed have already made improvements to their remote working capabilities since the start of Covid-19, and 23% are still not satisfied with the state of their remote working technologies. If you’re part of this 23%, you can easily overhaul your remote ecosystem to afford seamless communication and collaboration to employees and colleagues working from home, on the road, or anywhere else.
To do so, you need to think about:
Virtual PBX
Video conferencing
Dedicated internet access
Call center services
Regional secure networks
Regional secure networks
Collaboration tools like Microsoft Teams or Cisco WebEx
Streamlined communication tools are essential for the optimal remote operations of your business, no matter how large or small it may be. Using advanced tooling is also essential for maintaining optimal cybersecurity measures against threats and risks.
Business Continuity
Since Covid-19 has changed the way we work so drastically, IT infrastructure has become a key priority for 60% of businesses looking to boost their resilience to the pandemic. Considering that 34% of businesses believe that we are yet to face the worst of the impact generated by Covid-19, strengthening the resilience of IT infrastructure is a crucial step for businesses.
To ensure your ability to manage risks and enable reliable disaster recovery for business continuity, you need to consider tools like:
Dedicated internet access
Public and private cloud access
Accelerated managed private connectivity to Microsoft
A modern workplace and productivity suite like Microsoft 365
Migration to Data Centre Services where your data is fully secured and managed
If you are one of the many businesses worried about their continuity, the resilience of your IT infrastructure should become one of your top priorities during your response to Covid-19. Upgrading your IT infrastructure, especially when done through a proven cloud provider like Digicel Business, allows you to significantly increase the protection and security of your data with 24/7 support and management of your cloud.
Staying Secure
With the advent of working from home for businesses who have never done so before, digital risks are probably top-of-mind for you right now. Cybersecurity is a concern for 65% of businesses and should remain a top priority throughout, and after, the Covid-19 pandemic.
Increased awareness of network security threats is essential for protecting your critical business data. With a large proportion of businesses moving to remote working environments, the ability to detect, identify, remove, and prevent cyber threats and abnormalities has become an essential priority for 59% of businesses.
For optimal security of your business data and protection against cyber threats, you should look at:
End-point security
Virtual private networks (VPNs)
Secure Wi-Fi
Secure LAN
And a managed firewall
These cost-effective and proven tools will protect your network and crucial business data against hacking, viruses, misuse, accidental deletion, and unauthorized changes to the system.
You’ll also be able to monitor the security of your network across all active devices, ensuring that your data, and your business, is protected.
Rethinking your cybersecurity measures should be a critical part of your Covid-19 response since every aspect of your business is open to new risks and threats due to the operational changes and remote workplace in effect.
Smart Technologies
If you’re part of the 56% of businesses concerned about productivity or the 23% not satisfied with their current technologies, you’ll be interested in these smart technologies during Covid-19.
Protecting your staff and your customers becomes much easier when you use biometric recognition, SIM management & tracking, and geo ring-fencing. IoT data analysis enhances your monitoring capabilities and enables you to improve your process automation.
Helpful, real-time smart surveillance solutions include:
Telemetry data storage services
IoT devices and sensors
Smart connectivity management
Data SIM management and monitoring
Smart infrastructure resource monitoring
These tools and solutions enable the optimization of operational efficiencies to better protect your business against the impacts of Covid-19 on employees, revenue, and continued operations.
Next Steps
Are you one of the 44% of businesses who believe they can recover with a return to normal business operations within 12 months? Or do you belong to the 40% that suspect it will take upwards of a year or two?
Either way, Digicel Business Hub can help your business conquer the new normal.