Digicel Report

Digicel Report

A Discussion on Covid-19 and the workplace
Picture of laptop working from home

Introduction

It’s no secret that Covid-19 is not only a health issue; it’s a business issue too, and we’ve all had to make some pretty significant alterations to how we conduct business and serve our customers. If you’ve found it challenging to adapt to this new reality, you’re not alone.

Digicel Business conducted an anonymous survey of over 3000 business located across our markets, across multiple sectors with the objectives to understand:

  1. Covid-19 impact on business performance 

  2. Current concerns and future outlook

  3. System improvements made since Covid-19 restrictions

  4. Priorities moving forward to improve system resilience

Day-to-Day Business Impact

The research found that 20% of businesses are struggling to pay their suppliers, and a staggering 29% of businesses are facing difficulties when requesting payment from their customers. On average, more than a third of businesses are looking at a 40%+ hit on revenue, while 74% are seeing a negative impact on turnover rates. 

Businesses taking action System Improvements

Disruption resulting from Covid-19 has tested system resilience at an unprecedented level and highlighted key short-comings forcing businesses to act. Since the onset of Covid-19 businesses have been focused on making improvements, specifically around areas concerned with remote working and process automation.

Despite these efforts to improve systems, on average a third of businesses are not satisfied with their existing technologies. Considering that 34% decision-makers believe that the worst of Covid-19 impact is still to come, strengthening the resilience of IT infrastructure is a crucial step for businesses.

Planning for the Future

Long-term business resilience relies on five key building blocks to ensure your business continuity remains robust in the face of disruption

1. Flexible Workplace 

Promotes workforce productivity, provides a safety net for employees in regard to social distancing, and secures your ability to continue providing service to your customers

2. Collaborate & Communicate

The ability to seamlessly communicate and collaborate with your teams is an essential aspect of maintaining productivity levels 

3. Business Continuity

To ensure your ability to manage risks and enable reliable disaster recovery for business continuity

4. Staying Secure

Optimal security of your business data and protection against increasing numbers of cyber threats

5. Smart Technologies

Optimize operational efficiencies to better protect your business against the impacts of Covid-19 on employees, revenue, and continued operations

Flexible Workplace

58% of businesses are concerned about their workforce productivity, but a solution does exist: a flexible workplace. An on-premises workforce ecosystem is simply not beneficial for productivity, will inflate your risk of revenue loss, and will fail to positively impact your business’s resilience to the pandemic. A remote workplace promotes productivity, provides a safety net for employees in regard to social distancing and financial stability, and secures your ability to continue providing service to your customers.

A flexible workplace includes:

  • Dedicated internet access

  • Security of all endpoint devices 

  • Backup internet devices

  • Microsoft Teams/M365 or Cisco Webex

  • Mobile Device Management

  • Personal Wi-Fi hotspots

  • And a regional secure network

Despite these efforts to improve systems, on average a third of businesses are not satisfied with their existing technologies. Considering that 34% decision-makers believe that the worst of Covid-19 impact is still to come, strengthening the resilience of IT infrastructure is a crucial step for businesses.

Collaborate and Communicate

The ability to seamlessly communicate and collaborate with your teams is an essential aspect of maintaining productivity levels consistent with that of normal business operations.

64% of businesses surveyed have already made improvements to their remote working capabilities since the start of Covid-19, and 23% are still not satisfied with the state of their remote working technologies. If you’re part of this 23%, you can easily overhaul your remote ecosystem to afford seamless communication and collaboration to employees and colleagues working from home, on the road, or anywhere else.

To do so, you need to think about:

  • Virtual PBX

  • Video conferencing

  • Dedicated internet access 

  • Call center services

  • Regional secure networks

  • Regional secure networks

  • Collaboration tools like Microsoft Teams or Cisco WebEx

Streamlined communication tools are essential for the optimal remote operations of your business, no matter how large or small it may be. Using advanced tooling is also essential for maintaining optimal cybersecurity measures against threats and risks.

Business Continuity

Since Covid-19 has changed the way we work so drastically, IT infrastructure has become a key priority for 60% of businesses looking to boost their resilience to the pandemic. Considering that 34% of businesses believe that we are yet to face the worst of the impact generated by Covid-19, strengthening the resilience of IT infrastructure is a crucial step for businesses.

To ensure your ability to manage risks and enable reliable disaster recovery for business continuity, you need to consider tools like:

  • Dedicated internet access

  • Public and private cloud access

  • Accelerated managed private connectivity to Microsoft

  • A modern workplace and productivity suite like Microsoft 365

  • Migration to Data Centre Services where your data is fully secured and managed

If you are one of the many businesses worried about their continuity, the resilience of your IT infrastructure should become one of your top priorities during your response to Covid-19. Upgrading your IT infrastructure, especially when done through a proven cloud provider like Digicel Business, allows you to significantly increase the protection and security of your data with 24/7 support and management of your cloud.

Staying Secure

With the advent of working from home for businesses who have never done so before, digital risks are probably top-of-mind for you right now. Cybersecurity is a concern for 65% of businesses and should remain a top priority throughout, and after, the Covid-19 pandemic.

Increased awareness of network security threats is essential for protecting your critical business data. With a large proportion of businesses moving to remote working environments, the ability to detect, identify, remove, and prevent cyber threats and abnormalities has become an essential priority for 59% of businesses.

For optimal security of your business data and protection against cyber threats, you should look at:

  • End-point security

  • Virtual private networks (VPNs)

  • Secure Wi-Fi

  • Secure LAN

  • And a managed firewall

These cost-effective and proven tools will protect your network and crucial business data against hacking, viruses, misuse, accidental deletion, and unauthorized changes to the system.

You’ll also be able to monitor the security of your network across all active devices, ensuring that your data, and your business, is protected.

Rethinking your cybersecurity measures should be a critical part of your Covid-19 response since every aspect of your business is open to new risks and threats due to the operational changes and remote workplace in effect.

Smart Technologies

If you’re part of the 56% of businesses concerned about productivity or the 23% not satisfied with their current technologies, you’ll be interested in these smart technologies during Covid-19.

Protecting your staff and your customers becomes much easier when you use biometric recognition, SIM management & tracking, and geo ring-fencing. IoT data analysis enhances your monitoring capabilities and enables you to improve your process automation.

Helpful, real-time smart surveillance solutions include:

  • Telemetry data storage services

  • IoT devices and sensors

  • Smart connectivity management

  • Data SIM management and monitoring

  • Smart infrastructure resource monitoring

These tools and solutions enable the optimization of operational efficiencies to better protect your business against the impacts of Covid-19 on employees, revenue, and continued operations.

Next Steps

Are you one of the 44% of businesses who believe they can recover with a return to normal business operations within 12 months? Or do you belong to the 40% that suspect it will take upwards of a year or two?

Either way, Digicel Business Hub can help your business conquer the new normal.