Today’s consumers want a smooth, anytime business experience. System disruptions and the downtime it causes can ruin the experience for consumers and staff alike. An Always-On model of operations ensures resilience and business continuity so that your operations keep going no matter what.
Continuous Operations- The Cornerstone of Modern Business Operations
In this fast-paced, cloud- first and demand-driven economy, customers want to be able to conduct business, not just anywhere, but at any time. The increasingly dominant role of the internet and technology in business, means businesses need to be always on in order to serve their clients. We have long evolved past the city that never sleeps, nowadays it is the whole world that runs on the 24/7 model.
The raison d’être of every business is to satisfy the demands and expectations of their users, both internal and external. Businesses must pivot in order to meet these demands. They no longer fit the traditional, 9-5, Monday to Friday model. Customers expect to be able to access goods, services and information instantaneously, this means that downtime can cost businesses money and more importantly clients.
What Are Continuous Operations?
In this new 24/7 model, continuous operations are a necessity for survival for most businesses. But what exactly does continuous operations mean? We all know that there will be disruptions in business, some planned, others not so. What is important is the way in which business respond to these disruptions. The old school approach of backup & recovery, even when done as efficiently as possible, very often means that business activities come to a halt.
On the flipside, continuous operations means that the end-user remains blissfully unaware that these disruptions. System upgrades can be carried out with users none the wiser until they are able to enjoy the benefit of additional functionality and improved user experience that come as a result.
Continuous Operations Require Resilience
That is IT Resilience– core operations of a business continuing to run even in the event of a disruption. Being IT resilient means being prepared for any type of disruption – planned or unplanned – to mitigate the risk of downtime so your focus remains on projects that drive productivity and business transformation.
As harsh as it seems, consumers don’t care that you are experiencing a business disruption, they don’t care that your system is down. Businesses are expected to run, no matter what. And if they can’t get service from you, they will move on to your competitors. Consumer demand is what drives the economy and businesses must meet this expectation. They must be resilient. An Always-On environment requires businesses to adopt modern systems and technologies to ensure that they stay in the game.
Can your IT systems withstand a disruption? Do you have the systems in place to be Always On?
