How to thrive during a pandemic

There is no doubt that COVID-19 has been an incredible business change agent this year. Swift unplanned lockdowns, mask mandates, school closures, sick employees, the list goes on and on. How are you as a business leader supposed to keep things running smoothly when there are constant unplanned challenges? Fortunately, we have some of the greatest technology tools available to us for use in your business.  

It’s time to move to the cloud.  

We know, you are suspicious of the “cloud”.  What does it do? How does it work? How does it fit into my business? The “cloud” is nothing more than someone else’s computer that you rent space on. It works like a timeshare for software and files. The advantages of this are that you can utilize computing technology that is well outside of your price range and you still own everything that you put there. Think of it like being able to drive a Lamborghini with the budget of a Ford Taurus. That’s great but the real advantage is flexibility. When you have centralized resources then your staff can access those resources from anywhere. Imagine being able to access your important spreadsheet on the go, from any location (even quarantine). 

What can be moved? In a traditional office environment, you will probably have a server with files, user accounts, emails, etc. We recommend moving everything that is supported by Microsoft365 and Azure. We utilize Microsoft365 to replace your existing onsite Windows, Exchange, SharePoint, and SQL (Azure) servers. This will give you maximum flexibility and save money by not replacing these servers at their end of life.  

How do I move? It’s time to take inventory of the applications, services, and files that you need to access remotely. Do you have a file server that allows your team to access some critical excel or word documents? A file server can be mostly replicated in SharePoint online. Are you using an onsite email or Exchange server? This can be migrated to Exchange online with little to no downtime. The advantage to these services is that you can access them from anywhere, which helps working from home. Every application has a different procedure for migrating to an online system and we can offer more guidance on this if you contact us directly. Please remember that moving to a cloud system requires just as much administration as having a server and applications on-site. Want to know more? Check out Microsoft365 from Waypoint Digital Networks.  

What are the risks? Moving to the cloud does have some inherent risks and requires some additional security measures to prevent unauthorized access. Fortunately, Microsoft365 includes security tools that are far greater than what you can access with traditional on-premise server technology. You can safely allow your employees to access the files that they need when they need them without compromising internal security or customer data.  

Rebuild your processes.  

Let’s be honest, there are aspects of your business that have been held together with duct tape and glue for a long time. Processes and process owners change, the documentation might be poor at best and you end up in a place where no one remembers why you are doing a certain task. Now is a great time to start over. Do you have multiple standalone systems that are not integrated? Do you have an antiquated customer account system, or do you have an account management system at all? It’s time to invest in a modern CRM and ERP platform that gives you full visibility into your customers, sales, finance, and inventory. We support, implement, and sell Dynamics365. When you have everything in one system then it is much easier to make business decisions quickly.   

Eliminate paper. Paper is used to transmit information from place to place but more often it’s used to make up for a system that is not integrated. How many times do you print something just to scan it back into a different system, file it away, or transport it to a new location?  Paper waste is hard to index, search, and nearly impossible to secure. Having a modern ERP / CRM platform like Dynamics365 can give you a single-window inside of your business.  Find out more about Dynamics365 from Waypoint Digital Networks 

Unified Communications. One of the biggest concerns with working from home is “Who will answer the phone at the office?” Unified Communications (UC) is an industry term for chat, voice, and video and our solution takes UC and moves it to the cloud. Usually, this is a replacement for an expensive and inflexible onsite phone system. The value is that it allows your main phone number to be answered from anywhere. If your front office needs to work from home because of quarantine, they can still answer the phone and access the systems that they need. Now you have a workforce that can do everything at home that they could at the office. Wow. Think about that for a minute. You and your employees can do the same job from the bedroom, beach, hot tub, or on the road. That’s a great employee perk and it helps keep everyone productive.  Find out more about Unified Communications from Waypoint Digital Networks 

Meet your customers where they are. 

Now that we have taken all the software and services to the cloud and empowered our employees to work remotely, what’s next? Your customers are the air supply of your business so what happens when that air supply is rapidly cut off. The pandemic is doing just that so how do we continue to serve them and keep the cash flow coming? It really depends on what you are selling to your customers. The key is availability and customer service. Make sure you are available when and where your customers are. How do we do that with limited staff and limited resources? Technology is here to help. If you followed some of the other recommendations above, then you should have a modern access system and a modern ERP / CRM platform like Microsoft365 and Dynamics365. This will ensure your products and services are readily available on the Web and Social Media and give you access to the powerful marketing and retargeting tools on those platforms. You can also follow up interactions with emails and chats that will automatically store in their account profile in Dynamics365, giving you full visibility into every client interaction for every employee. This will let you streamline the sale and service. Find out more about Dynamics365 from Waypoint Digital Networks. 

Ok great but how do we do this before an eventual lockdown? Waypoint Digital Networks specializes in rapid SMB cloud migrations. We can do a full assessment, cloud migration, and training in a short amount of time. This will allow you and your staff to keep working regardless of what happens with this pandemic or another catastrophic event. Contact us today.