Following a truly unprecedented few months, life appears to be getting back to some semblance of normality. Shops and restaurants are reopening, offices are refilling, and business is picking up.

There’s no denying that technology has helped to ease the many burdens of lockdown, enabling remote working on a never-before-seen scale. But restrictions also curtailed many digital transformation projects which were previously in the pipeline. So, now that things are returning to usual standards, which projects should be prioritised?

Cybersecurity

We love a busy (socially-distanced) office, but remote working is definitely on the rise, with as many as 77 per cent of managers saying that they think the future will be more flexible. And as more workers access secure information from potentially insecure entry points, organisations need to make sure their systems are protected from data hacks and breaches.

Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, 91 per cent of firms have reported an increase in cyberattacks. Certain sectors saw a huge jump in numbers, with banks confirming a 238 per cent increase in hacking attempts. This isn’t a coincidence – many financial institutions use legacy technology that was never designed for remote access, and cyber criminals are aware of this.

Making your systems safe and secure, both from mistakes and malicious attacks, should be a top priority, not just for our current situation, but also for the future. Given that the average cost of a data breach in 2020 is $3.86 million, this is one digital project that will pay dividends.

Remote access

If your business is going to enable more remote working, then you need to find a way to replicate the benefits that an office environment offers, while working from home. Home-based workers shouldn’t find it any more difficult to log on, access information or communicate.

Alongside cybersecurity, businesses need to consider employee engagement, productivity and company culture. It’s likely that to properly facilitate remote working, organisations may need to undertake more than one digital transformation project.

Powerful website

With more time at home, we’ve all been spending more time online, causing an increase in demand for home delivery services, news sources and entertainment platforms. Not all websites were able to deal with this influx of visitors, with several supermarket sites and the Government’s own testing website folding under pressure.

If your website is a few years old and has not been regularly maintained, chances are that it could be sluggish when met with increased traffic. It doesn’t need to crash to fail your customers – poor loading times and difficulty navigating will also cause them to leave your site and opt for your competitor instead. 53 per cent of mobile searches are abandoned if the website fails to load within three seconds.

At a time when all of us are competing for business, and having to carefully allocate marketing budgets, don’t waste precious resources on directing traffic to a website that can’t handle it. Responsive websites also appear higher in search engine results pages, so this investment will likely yield an immediate increase in website visitors.

It’s a difficult time for many businesses, and budgets must be managed carefully, considering risk and ROI at a time when so much is uncertain. But there are some projects which should always be a priority, and this could be a case of fail to prepare, prepare to fail.

 

CPS Group can help you find the technical talent to digitally transform your business. For information and advice, get in touch.