By Aaron Shaver, Ph.D. | CISSP, Field CTO
In the last blog we looked at how the COVID-19 crisis has affected industries based on consumer demand and workforce disruption; the subsequent impacts to IT budgets and the need for new, high-velocity strategies and tactics for IT leadership. Through many recent client interviews, we drill into the activities of IT organizations and identify successful adaptations to address changing IT priorities. Now that we are moving through the initial reaction and shock of the crisis, finding mid and long-term solutions is the focus.
Top re-prioritized IT initiatives:
- Remote Working: Continue the implementation of remote working platforms such as collaboration, file sync and share, video and chat. Mature practices around employee engagement, digitizing processes, training and productivity.
- Cost Optimization: Implement new tactics for log aggregation, Cloud/DC optimization tools and telco/app rationalization. Tune applications and infrastructure to meet the current demand mix and reducing costs by decreasing storage consumption and retiring workloads.
- Automation and Orchestration: Develop an organizational practice to identify, document, digitize and automate processes. Invest in automation beyond Robotic Process Automation to further reduce disruption. Include digital pattern analysis, digitize workflows and automate ITOps, Dev/Ops and SecOps.
- Security: Mature traditional collaboration tools (Client VPN) with new Secure Access Service Edge architectures (SASE), Identity and Access Management (IAM), Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) and cloud platforms (App Streaming). Ensure that DevOps activities build in Site Reliability Engineering principles and leverage public cloud capabilities.
- Digital Transformation: Differentiate your corporation by aggressively accelerating strategic initiatives such Omni-channel digital customer engagement, digital marketplaces, Industry 4.0 programs and real-time data analytics focus on specific business units.
Successful leaders are responsive to tactical changes with an eye on a strategic refocus for tomorrow that differentiates their organization within their industry and takes advantage of immediate market opportunities.
