It is time to Re-think, re-imagine, re-evaluate, re-define business strategy

S Mohini Ratna, Editor, VARINDIA

In recent months, there has been a significant increase in ransomware attacks, with Forbes reporting a 350% surge of phishing websites. Attackers have been exploiting the vulnerability of organisations with an increase of employees working remotely. Seems it is increasing on regularly as Work From Home continues due to the pandemic.

Technology is improving the speed and efficiency of delivery as well as relationships with customers. Members around the world embrace technology to restore their engagement with customers and indeed create new market activities using technology. The COVID-19 pandemic highlights the need to not only understand your business model but to adjust it to current circumstances. Overnight, every company has been thrust into a world in which digital channels become the primary, and, in some cases, sole, customer-engagement model. It's time to make bold moves forward with technology. Those digital dreams that have been simmering on the back burner need to be brought forward -- and IT professionals need to step up and lead the way.

The technology sector has had a stronger year than many would have expected at the start of the pandemic. Over the past three quarters, the tech industry as a whole has increased by 5%. Technology has won, the channel has won, distributors have won – it’s actually turned into a very good year and many couldn’t have predicted that. A number of factors have helped create that result, including higher revenues, but there has also been a focus on spending and costs.

Secondly, the most important thing is information which is needed on how customers’ demands and needs have changed and continue to change as lockdown restrictions are lifted. Using this business model framework, you can re-evaluate how to create value in this new business environment. A business model review is a chance to investigate your company’s desired outcomes and how to mitigate risks.

Many of us have realised that cybersecurity has become the enabling engine which permits businesses to accelerate their pivot to the cloud. Hence, it is time to re-define the business model. Organisations need to have a good understanding of stakeholder groups that includes customers, suppliers, employees and shareholders.

The coronavirus has created some winners and losers and the channel needs to make sure it is operating in areas that have accelerated through the pandemic. During the first and second quarters, when we were all worried about the future, you cut costs and you have been able to maintain many of those cost cuttings. As a result, your operating margin has gone up and your SG&A [selling, general and administrative expenses] has gone down. However, the channel could have done even better had there not been supply issues around some components and products. The shortage of air freight meant delays crept in and the demand was so strong that there was not the capacity in certain segments, like panels and processors.

It is a profitable year for the players in the PC industry, with Lenovo, HP and Dell in very strong positions. Home working has driven volume sales of products and that has translated into it being a positive year for the hardware players. A report shows that the demand will remain strong for at least the next 12 months in the PC market.”

Other winning areas of technology included collaboration tools, accessories, remote desktop solutions, home printers and public cloud. Whereas anything to do with an office has been hit hard, with networks, on-premise servers and storage, and printers all being victims of the pandemic. At the same time there were concerns about security, pointing out that the level of spending on remote tools had not been matched with the security needed around that. As a result, there has been a reported increase in the breaches and worrying increases in ransomware attacks. The duration of each phase varies by country, industry and enterprise and even by business unit, product or service.

It is time to explore newer avenues of doing business that is a composable business which is promised to create an organization made from interchangeable building blocks. It is the business which could naturally accelerate the digital business that you live every day with. It allows us to deliver resilience and agility in the interesting times ahead and to address the location independence of the technology shift to support this new version of business.

The operations from anywhere model will be vital for businesses to emerge successfully from COVID-19. At its core, this operating model allows businesses to be accessed, delivered and enabled anywhere - where customers, employers and business partners operate in physically remote environments.