Business Continuity during a Global Pandemic

While the COVID-19 pandemic unleashed indiscriminate chaos across the globe impacting lives and economies, it uncovered stark revelations on business resilience and readiness. A World Economic Forum survey found that at the end of 2020, there was an 8.6% productivity loss of the global workforce. And the International Labor Organization reported that by June 2020, more than half of enterprises globally could only operate partially, and the majority had no plan in place to effectively minimize the crisis disruption.

Organizations had to quickly react and implement radical changes to keep their businesses operational. Some were successful, but many were not. Companies that were prepared for a seamless and rapid transition to remote collaboration were able to weather the storm. But those with inadequate business infrastructures struggled to work efficiently and respond to drastic change with dire consequences.

Digital Agility is Key

The digital agility of a company is the difference between success and failure when faced with a crisis. While businesses may have contingencies to manage data recovery in the event of a natural disaster or cyberattack, the jolt of the global pandemic highlighted the importance of being able to mobilize a remote workforce for health and safety practices.

In an environment where a company has to manage a sudden onslaught of remote workers, clear, frequent, and consistent collaboration and reporting are essential for uninterrupted productivity. This is why the US government agency, FEMA, listed document and record management systems as one of the most important tools for managing your business during a crisis.

Accessibility

With lockdown regulations enforced, the majority of workers had to stay at home. Many were unable to continue working because of the lack of remote access to files and systems. There was little transparency and normal business operations came to an abrupt standstill.

A lot of businesses had to rely on a fragmented approach using a combination of technology platforms for emailing and file sharing, such as Google, Dropbox, and OneDrive. This compounded the risks for non-compliance, errors, data breaches, file losses, and daily processes that fell through the gaps. A central, secure, and accessible document management system mitigates these risks and enables continued business operations.

Communication

Communication is another challenge when it comes to keeping employees tethered to the organization during a global pandemic. Disparate systems become problematic for synchronicity and effective collaboration and increases misunderstandings and miscommunication, particularly in remote working situations.

Without the proper infrastructure, processes that require business decision-making, meeting deadlines, teamwork input, and maintaining contact points are obstructed. However, having a robust system that integrates communication tools with automated workflows keeps employees engaged with tasks and each other.

Security

While businesses were frantically trying to navigate their way through the COVID-19 pandemic, opportunistic cybercriminals were on the rise. Remote workers are more vulnerable as home offices and devices, as well as public internet connections don’t employ the same stringent security protocols as company offices and networks.

Without an encrypted file management system that uses authentication methods, an organization’s data can be easily compromised. Enhancing infrastructure and security for mass remote working is critical. Cyberattacks of any nature can disrupt business continuity to a much greater extent than the ongoing pandemic.

A Business Continuity Solution

KRIS Document Management System (DMS) helps companies sustain momentum. Our software defines governance, and enforces compliance and security for your valuable digital assets. Knowing where and how information is stored, who has access, as well as managing data retention and disposal policies, are fundamental to business continuity plans.

Investing in technology to manage business-critical processes and responsibilities are especially relevant in work-from-home scenarios. The key focus for business continuity is to ensure operations can adapt to both remote and on-site environments. The current pandemic remains in a continuum that is unpredictable. Before your company becomes another COVID statistic, consider an HR Document Management System as part of a structured and more refined approach to your business continuity plans.