With December upon us, businessess are continuing to plan for next year amid an unfamiliar reality that 2020 has brought on. in our prevous post we talked about the importance and financial benefit that managed services providers (MSP) can bring to organizations large and small. So if you're at the point where you've taken the leap and decided to partner with an MSP - where do you start? 
 

2020 has undoubtedly been a year we won’t soon forget. From an IT perspective, it has been a year of significant digital transformation. The very core of how many businesses function has taken a dramatic shift. Many organizations have had to scale back on their resources and are struggling to efficiently operate while on a tight budget with stretched and over-worked staff.

Disaster Recovery for critical applications is an important part of any Business Continuity Plan. Most, if not all, IBM Power servers, host mission-critical applications and the need for a standby server at a secondary location is essential for an effective disaster recovery plan. With the introduction of cloud-based POWER servers it has become much easier and more cost effective to have a standby server at a remote location. The customer does not need to purchase a server with idle capacity and host it in a remote datacenter to achieve their DR goals.

As we inch closer to the end of 2020, we must take a moment to step back and reflect on the roller coaster of a year we have had. Disruption has been at the forefront of 2020 forcing businesses to quickly pivot and adapt to new and unfamiliar forms of normalcy. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic will not miraculous disappear once the clock strikes midnight on January 1st 2021. This new reality - this digital transformation - is for the long haul.

Well before the COVID-19 pandemic struck, cloud computing played an instrumental part in remote work procedures being carried out seamlessly. We are seeing more businesses turning to cloud-based infrastructure to remain operational and scalable within cost-effective boundaries. Businesses today largely depend on collaborative tools for group videoconferencing, eLearning and more, so the ability for the Cloud to sustain the traffic surge, prevent downtime and frustration among users makes it a highly-attractive platform to leverage.

Making the shift and moving your business to the cloud requires careful planning and expert assistance to ensure a smooth transition. With the continuous innovation in cloud technologies there are very few reasons why your business shouldn’t make the transition. However, if you’re still undecided about the benefits, here are 8 more reasons why it is a great idea.
 

During the pandemic, businesses were presented many uncertainties and had to make many abrupt changes to the way they work, testing their limits. Now, as the world begins to go back to work, it becomes clearer and clearer that business following the pandemic will not be business per usual. It is now for a shift towards quickly re-growing business post-pandemic.

Economists predict that businesses may have difficulty bouncing back after the pandemic. The new normal has changed, and so businesses should begin strategizing around this new normal to best reflect the needs of our changing world. Here are some measures your business can take to position your business to flourish post-pandemic. 

The ‘new normal’ is more than a catchphrase at this point. It's a whole new way of life. And the reality is that we really don’t know exactly how our businesses will be affected long-term. However, one thing we can predict is that staying flexible using scalable solutions and creating a solid online presence are two things that will help businesses navigate the current crisis and beyond.

IT organizations have been working hard for the last 20 years developing and updating their Disaster Recovery Plans.  An effective DR plan included strategy for remote working, oftentimes presumed to be caused by a local geographical constrained issue around an office or area. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has global impact and the most readily felt impact on many IT departments pertains to physical distancing.  This includes resources not able to travel to the office, supply chains being disrupted and business processes being changed.  IT departments and organizations that are further along the digital transformation journey are likely to be less negatively impacted by COVID-19.

With the drastic changes that our society has felt on a global scale since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, it's no secret that a 'new normal' is materializing in real time. Organizations have had to rapidly adapt to remote working models on a moment's notice. This change has also inadvertently created a haven for hackers to take full advantage of potentially vulnerabe systems and unsuspecting workers with a significant rise in phishing and ransomware attacks with rhetoric related to COVID-19 as the primary hook to lure people in. We published a post a few years on what to look out for in the event of a ransomware attack and the precautions are no different today.  

AI has evolved significantly in the last few years with many organizations already strategically integrating it into their business model. With AI being accessible to businesses of all sizes, how can organizations put it into practice?

In theory, the power of AI and machine learning (ML) can make great things possible, but theory is not enough. To learn and realize the full merit of these technologies, they need to be tried and tested in an actual production environment.

A November 2019 survey by Gartner suggests that more organizations are moving towards an adaptable, change-ready culture, which is a positive sign.