For what seems like an age now, Australians and the wider world have been living and acclimatising to a new normal. We’ve learnt in recent weeks the unpredictable nature of the world. At any moment things can change. You may have been planning for something for 6 months to a year, maybe even longer, and with one fell swoop of government regulations those plans can be placed into disarray.

Here at Honeylight, we’ve been working with new and existing customers on a host of projects across numerous focus areas. One thing that’s become increasingly evident is the need for organisations large and small to focus their energies on evaluating future contingency plans. Organisations can use this unprecedented event as a trigger to evaluate their business model, their IT infrastructure, and identify areas for improvement so in the event of future disruption, they’re better prepared to diversify operations in an agile manner that maintains business continuity.

We’ve been assisting organisations implement the right infrastructure and solutions to effectively conduct remote work, and across the board there’s been a recurring theme in terms of the challenges that they’ve had to face.

1. Agility – Speed is everything during times of crisis. How quickly have they been able to deploy new technology for staff to work remotely?
2. Balance – For remote solutions, access capabilities are key. But what is the right amount of security to have (password management, multifactor authentication, SMS access etc.) to ensure there’s an even balance between user capabilities and security. Secure enough to not compromise critical data, but at the same time streamlined enough to not compromise business efficiency.

It’s been a real test, seeing how well organisations have responded to working remotely and evoking a business continuity plan. Some have excelled, and some have struggled. But without a shadow of a doubt, irrespective of how they’ve responded, it’s highlighted the incredible importance of business contingency plans when considering IT environments moving forward. If you should learn anything from current circumstances, it’s to hope for the best but plan for the worst. Focus needs to be placed on having the right policies and procedures in place to stand up in the face of disruption.

To assist our customers as best we can, we’ve been living by the three R’s approach of response, recovery and resilience.

• Response – Having the right tools in place to diversify operations quickly and efficiently. In response the recent events that has meant implementing remote tools like Microsoft Remote Desktop Services for collaboration and communication, as well VPN tools and the like to maintain secure access to corporate resources from beyond the company firewall.
• Recovery – Having the right systems and procedures in place to recover business critical data and resources in the event of a disaster. Backup and disaster recovery plans are critical for maintaining business continuity.
• Resilience – Having the right approach to disruption. It starts from the top and filters down the chain of command. Being resilient is more than just having the right infrastructure and systems in place. There needs to a collective effort from each member of an organisation to do their part, remain level headed and control what they can control.

There’s no silver bullet to dealing with disruption. Every organisation is different, with different services to deliver, different goals to achieve, and different requirements to accommodate.

At Honeylight, the safety and welfare of our staff and customers is always paramount. These are challenging times for us all, and will continue to be for the foreseeable future. But there are key learnings that all of us can take from what’s transpired in recent weeks – business contingency being a big one.

Our highly skilled consultants provide comprehensive support across a diverse spectrum of services from digital transformation through to business continuity solutions. Talk to us about how you’ve been coping recently, your wins and your losses, and together let’s forge a resilient path into the future.