How companies are coping at the time of COVID-19?

Besides hindsight, one of the greatest advantages that we possess over our predecessors is that of technological advancements. Drawing from historical experience and leveraging modern technology, individuals, organisations, and nations alike are doing their best to tide over the pandemic and emerge on the other side of the storm healthier, stronger, and wiser.

The COVID-19 crisis will be remembered as one of the epochal, era-defining periods in human history. Not only has it disrupted the “normal” order of things across all domains but also, as a result, sent global economies tumbling in its wake. However, in the 21st century, we are relatively better prepared to manage a pandemic than people were, for instance,in the preceding century when they had to deal with the Spanish flu. Or, going even further back in the Late Middle Ages, when “Black Death” had taken Eurasia and North Africa by storm.

Let us take a look at some of the key measures businesses worldwide have enforced to deal with this extraordinary situation:

Invoking business continuity plans

Unusual problems require unusual solutions. Business continuity plans (BCPs) comprise a set of procedures and instructions that enterprises implement in case of unplanned disruption in the normal state of things, such as the incumbent crisis. According to IBM, “It’s more comprehensive than a disaster recovery plan and contains contingencies for business processes, assets, human resources and business partners – every aspect of the business that might be affected.”

The underlying principle is to enable the business to sustain itself in the face of a strangulated activity landscape. In the wake of the pandemic, nearly every nation on this planet has put its territories under lockdown, effectively disrupting the global supply chains and bringing business and trade to a standstill. Against this backdrop, businesses the world over invoked their business continuity plans to ensure the well-being of their internal as well as external stakeholders.

Limiting social contact environment

Since the onset of the viral outbreak, global corporates including Facebook, Amazon, Twitter, etc. took the lead in enacting work from home (WFH) policies. This decision was taken in light of the fact that the spread of COVID-19 can be curbed by minimising physical interactions and observing self-quarantine. Shortly, businesses across the world followed suit. Apart from implementing WFH policies, companies across sectors have also either postponed or either cancelled the events including conferences, expos, trade shows, etc. that necessitate people to come together at a particular location. The mandated lockdown and resulting travel bans in countries such as India have also incentivized companies to adjourn social events and contribute towards flattening the curve.

Embracing cutting-edge technology to maintain business as usual

This aforementioned situation meant that business operations that relied on physical interactions would have to be reengineered to fit in the new normal for which many private sector companies and corporates decided to shift their playground to the virtual domain. Now, organisations across sectors are actively leveraging the online ecosystem to conduct their daily operations, connect with stakeholders, and maintain business as usual.

Here, cutting-edge tech tools have come to the aid of enterprises as they endeavour to meet their deliverables amid the lockdown. For instance, companies are depending upon state-of-the-art digital printing tools that leverage cloud connectivity and automation to seamlessly receive commands and deliver the desired output.

Besides ensuring seamless mobile and cloud connectivity, innovative multi-function printers (MFPs) are compatible with multiple print environments such as AirPrint, Mopria, Google Cloud Print, Bluetooth, Near Field Communication (NFC), Integrated Wireless Solutions (IWS), and web browsers. Moreover, such printers have in-built pull printing and storage capabilities eliminates the need for a server to manage multiple print requests. All of these features enable such devices to fully support a wide range of workflows as the central machine, whilst ensuring superior user productivity, even amid the lockdown.

Enterprises are also leveraging advanced workflow management solutions to optimise business workflows and making processes smarter by automating document capture and streamlining routing/image processing. Such tools enhance collaboration and information sharing on the back of their ability to allow users to access and use cloud services like DropBox, OneDrive, Google Drive, Sharepoint and Box. The key benefit offered by such tools is that they allow employees to remotely manage their functions, thereby comprising the perfect solution for modern-age companies in humanity’s collective struggle against the virus.

Enhanced focus on hygiene

The ongoing pandemic will have a lasting impact on how the world functions even after normalcy returns. Hence, the “normal” of the post-COVID-19 economy will be significantly different from that of the pre-coronavirus world. One such impact will involve a greater focus on maintaining hygiene – not only personal but also of one’s immediate surroundings. As a result, companies will need to implement the necessary reforms to ensure that COVID-19 or similar infections do not pose risk to the health and well-being of their employees in the future.

Even though everybody is currently observing the lockdown, business leaders and management are thinking ahead of time. Their aim is to not only help their organisation make through the incumbent crisis but to also prepare it for future emergencies. Against this backdrop, technologies, both existing and emerging, will definitely form a key component of their strategies. Even now, researchers, scientists, and front-line healthcare workers are using technological aid to fast-track the world’s journey towards recovery and resuscitation. And that it will happen is not a matter of possibility but merely that of time.