Resiliency: Surviving When New Normals are the New Normal

As every pundit would say, “these are unprecedented times” and “we live in a new normal.” While both are reasonably true statements, the business world has been experiencing a series of new normals for decades. Ecommerce? Not really a thing until the late 90s. Cell phones? Most of them had keyboards a decade ago. The cloud? Was still being denounced as a fringe technology as little as five years ago.

But as time moves on, we adjust and stop thinking of everything as a ‘new’ normal—they just become business as usual. Now, you can hop on your keyboardless device (unless you have a Key2), order catering for your return-to-work lunch, and send it for expense approval with a couple taps.

But in this world where everything becomes a new normal, the most important thing you need to focus on is resiliency. How do you intend to keep improving and adjusting to “unprecedented times”? How can you ensure you don’t become a victim of an economic downturn and how can you future-proof your business against threats?

Is the Cloud Your Path to Business Resiliency?

One of the many things that executives learned in the last couple months is that things can change in an instant. But the thing about this? In the words of Charles R. Swindoll, “Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.”

Do You Scramble or Pivot?

When change hits, some companies scramble—other companies pivot. For example, when work from home orders dropped, many large enterprises bought laptops, installed their legacy on-premises ERP systems onto the laptops, and then sent the devices to employees to use from home. Those are the scramblers.

The ones who pivot? The hardest thing they probably had to do was whitelist a couple IP addresses. That’s the difference between old-school thinking and business-resilient cloud applications.

Though the cloud has been around for a while, companies are starting to see the big picture—according to IDC's COVID-19 Impact on IT Spending Survey (conducted during the period of April 6–15, 2020):

• 27% of organizations worldwide are increasing their software-as-a-service (SaaS)investments compared with their original budgets.
• In North America, 38% of organizations are increasing their SaaS investments, with over 15% planning on double-digit SaaS spending increases.

But these are only the reactionary activities—these increases will only continue as companies see the benefits provided: 54% of enterprises expect that demand for cloud software will increase in the future.

Why IDC Sees the Cloud as the Permanent Solution for any New Normal

In their most recent report, Cloud ERP Enables Business Resiliency, this leading analyst firm explored why the cloud is getting reinforced in the brains of decision makers—and why it’s not just a trend.

“Cloud ERP changes the way a business utilizes its technology systems. Standardized processes, real-time information, and embedded analytics driving new business insights from massive amounts of data can help quickly steer a business to new pathways as it navigates changes in markets, competition, customer requirements, and supply chain issue resolution.”

Offering high availability and uptime, ease of use, ease of implementation, and robust data security, the cloud not only delivers on user needs, it facilitates larger digital transformation initiatives by helping companies pivot from a tool-based mentality to a betterment-focused one.

“IDC believes the cloud ERP market will continue to be significantly important to organizations, during and after the pandemic, so that they remain relevant and can compete in the digital world.”

Cloud 9 ERP Solutions: Gold Certified Acumatica Partner

At Cloud 9 ERP Solutions, a Gold Certified Acumatica Partner, we have customized and implemented this cloud ERP solution for companies like yours and understand the unique challenges that you face throughout the decision and implementation process. View our Acumatica demo videos to learn more.

Learn more in our article Collaboration in a Socially Distanced World.