As nations begin to start emerging from COVID-19 induced lockdowns, businesses are beginning to resume in a new normal; one where remote work and social distancing are the status quo. These new work realities are creating new demands on businesses to adapt. One of the many ways they can, is by adopting new or pre-existing technologies that enable remote work in a secured, business friendly environment.
Nutanix, one of the larger cloud software and hyperconverged solutions providers, has created a solution which allows businesses to quickly adapt to the growing demands of remote work. Their new “FastTrack for VDI” service allows businesses to pivot to remote work realities quickly and reduce the time needed to onboard employees working remotely. VDI – Virtual Desktop Infrastructure – allows employees to access sensitive documents from a remote machine while keeping documents within a secured environment. This opens doors to businesses dealing with sensitive data to enable remote work and put their employees health and safety first.
The new initiative by Nutanix also allows businesses to quickly acquire and provision desktops within five business days. These desktops will come with configurations predefined by Nutanix enabling secure access for remote work employees. The service also gives businesses the flexibility to leverage existing hardware, select predefined Nutanix hardware or leverage managed cloud infrastructure from the company’s partners.
“In 2020, remote working has become our new normal. It is time for businesses to start planning for the long term and leverage technologies for a new business reality. Nutanix is committed to ensuring that Malaysian businesses have quick and easy access to the right solutions and technology to keep their staff engaged, efficient and productive throughout these unprecedented disruptions,”
Avinash Gowda, Malaysia’s Country Manager for Nutanix
With the new service, businesses who were already in the midst of their digitization journey will be able to continue and accelerate their efforts while those yet to begin are provided with a fast track.
Small businesses are some of the most represented in many countries, employing millions of workers and making a huge contribution to the global economy. In fact, they represent around 90% of the business population and more than 50% of employment worldwide. In recognition of the sector, the General Assembly of United Nations declared June 27 a Micro-, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Day to “raise public awareness of their contribution to sustainable development”. Such initiatives become even more relevant today, when many small companies face challenging times due to the pandemic. With small businesses looking to get going again, now is the time to take on board lessons learned and improvements that can help organizations move forward.
Technology as one of the key factors for survival
To adapt to the new reality, businesses have been strongly advised to adopt and embrace new technologies so they can continue to operating effectively during the COVID-19 lockdown. That meant introducing new digital tools for collaborative working or specific ones for online sales for example, to enable effective remote working while maximizing productivity. Indeed, according to a survey from the Connected Commerce Council, 76% of small enterprises in the US said they rely more on digital tools than before the pandemic and that without their use, a third would have had to close part or all of their business.
However, the attitude towards technology implementation is not uniform: some companies do not feel ready to adopt digital services and are reluctant to accept changes, even when operating under normal circumstances. Any halt to normality, or a crisis, can highlight the value of deploying new technology. I don’t mean dramatic innovations like the implementation of artificial intelligence or the Internet of Things. I’m talking about using technologies that facilitate operations, such as cloud-based or more convenient software.
Expectation of cloud adoption versus reality
Although cloud and SaaS are still buzzwords and their adoption rates considered high, many small businesses of up to 250 employees still use on-premise solutions. According to a survey from Analysys Mason, cloud-based applications are the top priority for these businesses, and 60% of them are planning to increase spending on cloud services. However, the survey also revealed that on-premise solutions still dominate in all types of services – including productivity, procurement, and business management software, among others.
The COVID-19 lockdown revealed the extent to which companies are ready to move the entire office to work remotely. Those that only have on-premises infrastructure may have struggled, as their IT administrators would not have had the tools or knowledge to manage employees’ desktops remotely.
Uncertainty, risks and compliance issues, and a lack of resources are all common reasons to resist making the move to cloud solutions. Lack of resources in particular is cited time and again, with IT managers of small and medium companies often having to maintain their infrastructures on a very limited budget or without any at all. With many businesses currently more focused on meeting immediate demands, it is understandable for strategic visions to be put on hold. But, as soon as the crisis is over, it will be important to bring back priorities and make adjustments to IT operations according to lessons learned.
Resistance to change
Sometimes, even small changes – such as software improvements that are designed to simplify usage – are met with mistrust.
Let me give you an example from our experience at Kaspersky. We regularly update our product features and functionality to enhance the user experience, such as, turning processes from manual to automatic to simplify security management. However, customers get used to manual actions and our support team often receives feedback asking for features to return to the previous way of working.
For example, in older versions of our endpoint security product for Windows, there was an option to manually manage a security application update, run and stop it. In later versions, a seamless upgrade was introduced to reduce the number of manual operations for IT administrators, meaning there was no ‘update’ button any more. The updates rolled out automatically when it was necessary, even when no one was working on a device.
Our product support team received dozens of requests from customers about this update, as they believed the product worked incorrectly. Most of the requests included questions like where to find the manual function, how to use it in the new version, why it has disappeared, and how to bring it back. As well as a reluctance to change, this reaction also highlights a key lesson for us as a vendor: all improvements should be explained to customers very carefully so they understand and buy into the benefits.
Change is scary but inevitable
COVID-19 has brought huge challenges for many small businesses. But if there is one positive to take from the situation is has to be the readiness for changes. All of the examples highlighted above are not only about taking a conscious decision to move to the cloud or a new way of working. It is about making a change to your overall mindset. Businesses should be open to new ways of doing things, especially if it simplifies their work. Changes don’t need to be wholesale, but small ones that make daily routines that little bit easier. During challenging times – like the one we are experiencing – when businesses have to transform on the fly in order to survive, this mindset will serve them well. I personally hope that the current crisis will never be repeated, but it’s always better to be prepared for anything that might come your way.
The
world is abuzz with a massive change in the way things are working when it
comes to companies. This change is spurred by the introduction of many
technologies which have revolutionised and fundamentally changed how things are
done. Perhaps the biggest observable change so far is that start ups have
become the new normal. The simple reason behind this is that there has been a
fundamental change in paradigm when it comes to product development and the
duration is takes for an industry-wide disruption to occur. What once took
decades is now happening at a near daily pace. The reality of the nature of
disruption today is that you don’t have to be a large corporation to disrupt
nor do you have to be a digital native. You simply have to be able to impact
the way things are done and fundamentally change a preset mindset.
Being
Digital Simply Means Adopting A New Mindset
Looking back at disruptors such as Grab or Uber, this statement couldn’t be more true. Even in our sit down with Mr Santanu Dutt, Chieft Technology Officer and Head of Technology (ASEAN) at Amazon Web Services, this point was stressed upon. The world has changed from an industry-first paradigm to one where customers are placed front and center. Development starts with the identification of a gap in services or a new way of offering the service which would cater to better customer experience. From there, companies need to address the constantly changing demands of the customer with quick iterations. The harsh reality is, when it comes to competing in Industry 4.0, companies are now vying for a very limited commodity: customer attention. The days in which customers have a sense of loyalty are quickly fading. Instead, they look to new experiences and features which make their life easier.
Santanu Dutt, Chief Technology Officer and Head of Technology (ASEAN) at Amazon Web Services (AWS)
So the big question is: How can companies have a competitive edge in this marketplace? As Mr Santanu put it, “Being digital is also largely a cultural change. Yes, it is about technology but [also] a cultural change of a company to have their product and services digitally [and] expand their reach.”. He stresses that the fundamental cultural change is for companies and their employees to understand the needs of their customer, listen to their feedback and to iterate quickly to address them. In fact, in recent years, we’ve seen companies die because of this. One of the best examples of this on a international scale is Blockbuster and other video rental services. With the advent of fast, broadband internet, their customers started expecting videos and movies to be immediately available for on demand viewing. The only company to capitalise on this fundamental change was Netflix. Netflix changed from an overnight DVD and Blu-ray courier and rental service into a platform which allowed users to stream video on demand. This was, of course, followed closely by Amazon Prime Video and other companies. Another example is that of Grab which started off as an app to making hailing a taxi easier and safer. It is today, Southeast Asia’s largest ride-hailing application and e-Wallet.
Learning and Unlearning to Compete in Industry 4.0
There
is a misconception that comes with companies going digital and that’s the
assumption that going digital simply means that companies need to adopt new
technologies to streamline processes. Truth be told, going digital entails more
than just adopting new technologies; it involves the learning of new approaches
and technologies and the unlearning of old approaches which are holding the
company back. However, in adopting new technologies such as Amazon Web Services
(AWS) cloud based services, companies cannot simply be looking at a “lift and
shift” approach where they simply take their pre-existing architecture and
shift it to platforms such as AWS. Instead, SMEs need to look at learning new
the technology and implementing them in such a way that they are maximising
their potential. In essence, unlearning the old and optimising essential
processes and architecture using new technologies such as Machine Learning (ML)
and Data Lakes.
To
be agile and effective, SMEs must look to the most effective approach to their
needs. Certain industries may not permit the complete migration of on premises
infrastructure to one that is purely cloud based. In cases such as these, Mr
Santanu says that there is no harm in keeping core services on premise with
permitted peripheral services being moved to the cloud. This approach allows
SMEs to benefit from an agile workflow whilst keeping inline with regulations.
When it comes to regulated industries, certification is essential. This is why
SMEs looking to take advantage of Industry 4.0 should look to partners who
share the burden of getting industry certifications. Companies such as AWS
share this burden with their clients and ensure that any certification
necessary for relevant industries is met on a regular basis.
With
these worries aside, SMEs can focus on learning new approaches such as
implementing DevOps in a leaner, more efficient manner. This will, over time,
lead to better processes which allow for greater profits while minimizing cost.
With partners such as AWS, SMEs can focus on servicing their clients while
leaving infrastructure maintenance to their partner.
Planning For Scale from the Beginning
To
keep up with the demands of the rapidly changing landscape in Industry 4.0,
companies need to have the foresight to plan for scale from the get-go. While
AWS acknowledges that know-how and skill set may continue to be a gap in the
near future, the company is working with Universities to train the future. In
Malaysia alone, AWS is training over 100,000 students who will soon enter the
work force ready with the skills and knowledge required to take advantage of
Cloud Computing.
That
said, companies have to look to scale dynamically. As businesses continue to
grow rapidly thanks to the internet, they need to be ready, from the beginning,
to cope with scale. At a moment’s notice, they may be required to adapt from
thousands to hundreds of thousands of transactions. This can only be achieved
when infrastructure is able to scale as such. With Cloud computing platforms
such as AWS, SMEs need not worry about new infrastructure acquisition. Instead,
they are able to accommodate with simple automation the increased scale.
Malaysia is already moving towards industry 4.0 with the push from the government as well as industry. More importantly, SMEs need to learn to iterate – at scale – to accommodate the needs and demands of their customers. That said, it is still early days in Malaysia. The change in mindset needed for the country and its industries to fully appreciate and benefit the potential of Industry 4.0 is still in its growing stages. Mr Santanu stresses that with the passage of time and the willingness of Malaysian SMEs in adopting new technologies and approaches, there is no doubt that the country will be able to reap the many benefits of Industry 4.0.
