The fight against Covid-19’s spread prompted an unprecedented global shutdown as people across the world heeded the call to stay home. From an economic perspective, this led organisations to explore different ways of ensuring continued business activity amid uncertainty. Be it providing goods and services, maintaining customer support or facilitating employees working from home, business entities adapted to the changed circumstances.
Just as organisations adjusted to a remote working model, consumers adopted a lifestyle change which has resulted in a higher online shopping volume for goods and services, greater social media usage and increased online surfing as consumers adapted their habits and entertained themselves at home. These changes have opened up new business opportunities.
The upurge in online activities has forced businesses to test avenues which they may not have considered earlier, or expedited changes that were already planned. Businesses and governments are employing new generation technologies such as 5G, big data, cloud computing and artificial intelligence as they navigate fluid conditions.
The importance of such technology in driving business connectivity is magnified when it comes to China. The China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) reported that the number of internet users in China had reached 900 million in March 2020. Since the onset of the pandemic, Chinese entities have used new technology to help contain Covid-19’s spread through contract tracing, information monitoring and trend analysis. For example, Hangzhou City has integrated more than 80 dimensions of cross-departmental big data to establish models which assess risk and susceptibility as well as enable research.
At the heart of these activities is the ability to connect effectively. Thus, for organisations looking to not only survive in China but to thrive as some return to normalcy happens, deciding how to make the best of their network connectivity options – cloud connectivity in particular – is imperative.
What do you want from your network?
An evaluation of organisations’ business continuity plans (BCP) which kicked into action during the Covid-19 lockdown will provide them with an idea of how well these plans actually worked. Such assessment will reveal their BCP strengths and weaknesses and indicate the infrastructure and resources they will require to support a productive remote workforce – including IT personnel – as they move forward.
Some network needs are constant regardless of the geographical location. Performance, reliability, security and compliance are prime concerns. Wide coverage, low latency and speed would be added to the requirements list.
China’s ambitions to be the leading global infrastructure leader has seen heavy public and private investment in connectivity initiatives. Therefore, its network connectivity groundwork and access to the latest network technology are in place. In fact, the pandemic has accelerated rather than delayed the country’s 5G infrastructure investments as it witnessed extensive use of 5G in key sectors such as health care, education and logistics.
However, there are unique network connectivity challenges for businesses operating in China. This includes strict regulations and the ability to access public clouds based in China from outside the country. In addition, China’s internet infrastructure set-up with tight controls and limited peering points affect delivery, particular to areas outside the major cities.
Businesses operating in China will have to ascertain their own network connectivity requirements within this environment. As organisations hit the reset button on business resumption, they also need to factor in their network investment priorities. Many businesses will want a secure sockets layer virtual private network (SSL VPN) with the latest security features. The primary concern for others may be the scope, speed and scalability of network coverage. Whether it be better security, bandwidth resilience, or a combination of these features, organisations will have to work closely with their network providers in ensuring their network set-up is flexible enough to adjust, upgrade or scale rapidly when necessary.
Be it cloud or physical infrastructure, China’s stringent regulatory conditions on data movement and storage as well as infrastructure set-up also place a higher emphasis on the role network providers play in an organisation’s connectivity success. Some service providers have an extensive network footprint connecting over 90% of major business regions on the mainland. Working with these providers will significantly boost the resilience of corporate networks during an unexpected upsurge of online activity.
Meeting the challenges of the New Normal
Covid-19 has challenged organisations to understand how connectivity works best for their individual company. In addition to infrastructure needs, establishing secure channels of communications and online tools which serve their customers and employees effectively have been vital for business continuity.
Businesses have learned to tap into different channels to suit their specific purposes. Working out of office has highlighted the advantages of Software as a Service (SaaS) technology tools as they enable collaborative efforts in communicating, creating and sharing documents. Zoom has become ubiquitous for face-to-face discussions globally, but Chinese users have also opted for a variety of productivity solutions such as Tencent’s Tencent VooV Meeting and WeChat Work, Huawei’s WeLink, ByteDance’s Lark (or Feishu) and Microsoft Teams. Alibaba’s productivity app DingTalk saw its number of users increase 66% to 125 million. Local messaging and video conferencing providers such as 263 and G-Net have also seen an upturn in usage.
A framework which clarifies procedures and processes will help employees settle into their new work routine as the use of online platforms and tools increase. Working from scattered locations will necessitate extra efforts in guiding and helping employees to stay in touch, stay on-point and stay well-informed to ensure that business goals remain aligned.
As with their infrastructure, businesses will need to review the use of current communication tools to ensure these are secure and stable yet flexible enough to adjust quickly and scale according to their needs. At the same time, organisations will need to swiftly assess new business communication tools being developed to meet changing work models
The full impact of COVID-19 has yet to be determined. As businesses evaluate, learn and refine their BCP to meet oncoming changes, it is evident that connectivity, clear communication and flexibility are important aspects of business continuity. Now is the time to prepare your organisation to meet these changes as we head into an uncertain future filled with challenges and opportunities.
