The COVID-19 global pandemic has accelerated the need for companies to be agile, regardless of whether they are prepared for it. Enormous numbers of people now work from home, forcing companies to adapt and accelerate the implementation of new technologies and services. How to treat your approach to technology implementation conceptually? Here are some principles you can work with.

1. Technology must be strategic

In order for technology to play a critical role in a company's efforts to achieve strategic business goals, it needs someone who will be working on it full-time. Regardless of the job title (CIO, IT director), this person should be part of the senior executive team.

2. Technology must be disruptive

The only constant in life is change. Advances in machine learning, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things and robotics are rapidly changing established businesses. In order for an agile company to survive and succeed in turbulent times, it must constantly examine how these technologies will affect its business and how to use them to gain a competitive advantage. You can't just wait for others on the market to adopt new technological tools: you need to become a pioneer.

3. Accept digitisation and democratisation of information as the new reality

The pandemic has revealed that any company still keeping paper records in filing cabinets is anything but agile. Try to digitise all files, including highly sensitive information that must be stored locally. Scary and controversial as this may sound, it is necessary to allow access to information as required to everyone within the organisation. Only the most confidential information, such as salaries or patient records, should be restricted. The more information employees have at their fingertips, the better and faster they will be able to make decisions.

4. Allow access to information from anywhere

Agile companies believe in democratising information. So use the cloud as a new platform and give employees access to the information they need 24/7, on laptops, smartphones, tablets and all other mobile devices.

5. Standardisation across the company

The implementation of enterprise-wide standards governing the use of such technologies as cloud storage or communication platforms may seem slightly at odds with the third principle. However, agile organisations use standardised ways of working to facilitate interaction and communication between teams. This includes using a common language, processes, meeting formats, social networks and digital technologies.

6. Available data in real time

It is not possible to check reports based on information from a week or a month ago, especially in times of crisis when things can change every hour. Without the availability of up-to-date data, an agile company cannot address needs in real time.

7. Automatic update

Make sure any technology you implement today will work smoothly in the future. Ideally, each update should occur automatically without significant effort and monitoring by the IT department.

8. Agile development is a new mantra

This applies to the entire organisation, not just the IT team. Agile methodology emphasises timely and continuous distribution of work, dividing large projects into smaller tasks that can be completed quickly - so-called "sprints", in the language of the developers. This allows teams to adapt to changing requirements at later stages in the project.

IT professionals usually already have an overview of the methodology of agile development. It is therefore an opportunity to show colleagues in other departments how to grasp technologies strategically and use them to achieve agile goals of the company.

-bb-