Very few people could imagine the scenario that we are living in today in light of Corona virus. This is why not only the corporations but also the governments were taken by surprise.
Lack of simple hardware – disinfection materials, masks and ventilators costed us lives.
Lack of fast and bold decisions – resulted in very high pressure on the health care system.
One area where we didn’t fail and the area that allowed us to carry on is digital resilience.
The speed of the adoption of the digital solutions in all areas of human communication, data access and personal identification we were witnessing during March and April 2020 was outstanding. Even the most “rusty” co’workers that resisted the use of information technology are now on board and are surfing on the wave of the new discovery. We are witnessing the rapid mental and operational shift demonstrating us all how easy it is actually to work and communicate using modern digital communication and productivity tools.
It is very true that big corporations with operations in different geographies and time zones were used to this “normal”, however this self isolation was all new for local business, schools, teachers, students and many governments. To survive they had to catch up! And they did. Most of the businesses that can operate remotely are operational – they switched to alternative communication channels very fast.
Many were not that lucky. Many simply because their business model relies on human and not digital interaction. Can or will the pubs, cafes, clubs, restaurants, hotels and hair salons ….. shift to digital? Probably not.
What can we learn from this crisis:
“Digital” can save lives but we can not neglect the very basic “hardware” that is helping us survive. Food, water, medical protection and detection facilities and smooth operation of the critical infrastructure.
Accelerated use of “digital” and in many cases “digital dept” became a window of opportunity for cyber crime and cyber criminals who are targeting systems and users with simple and very sophisticated attacks.
We are sailing on the same boat and our planet is not so big after all. It took only a few weeks and we learned that the virus knows no borders.
What was left was a global, regional, country, company and personal crisis and risk management.
Organisations and governments have readjusted their strategic objectives based on the lessons learned from this crisis.
There are so many conflicting forces in this game and limited resources – as always. If not any time before now is the time for the risk management functions to excel to ensure resilient operation and the future!
We would be happy to work with your teams on the diagnostics or realignment of your risk management practices and your resiliency programs.