Strengthening resilience with digitalisation, automation and cloudification
From the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine to the supply chain crisis and deglobalisation: economic systems are currently under great pressure. Rising inflation and the prevailing shortage of skilled workers are further tightening the situation. To keep their business going against this backdrop, companies need to rethink their communication processes accordingly. Munich-based enterprise cloud service provider Retarus has identified five trends that companies should keep in mind for their business communications in 2023.
1 Cyber resilience as part of the business strategy
In uncertain times, companies must reckon with increasingly perfidious attacks on their communications infrastructure. Ransomware is still considered the main threat, while email is the most common gateway. As cyber-attacks have a direct impact on business success, cyber resilience must be a topic at board level. To ensure that central processes and infrastructures function even under extraordinary circumstances, business continuity concepts should include strategies for emergencies in addition to comprehensive mechanisms for advanced threat protection. For example, an email continuity solution outside the company’s own infrastructure enables seamless communication via email even in emergency situations.
Geopolitical conflicts further increase the risk of cyberattacks from certain regions. With services such as Retarus Predelivery Logic https://tinyurl.com/3tyydk78, messages can be isolated based on their GeoIP as a precaution – whether for purely security reasons or due to internal compliance requirements.
2. sustainable cloudification of business models
Digital business models are catching on. The cloud forms the basis for this. At the latest since the COVID 19 pandemic and the associated home office regulations, digital offerings and virtual collaboration have become established. Cloud computing is now firmly established in IT departments. On the other hand, companies are facing considerable cost pressure. Budget managers are required to plan as cost-efficiently and sustainably as possible. Here, too, cloud services provide a remedy. They are flexible and scalable, so that the services can be adapted exactly to the current demand and over- or under-capacities can be avoided. As a result, innovative offers can be introduced to the market more quickly and costs can be better regulated.
Companies benefit from cloud service providers who relieve the burden on their own IT infrastructure with platform offers, managed services and innovative solutions. Companies are also optimally supported in introducing new business models, as a cloud service enables agile action and direct, fast communication to the market.
The Retarus Enterprise Cloud https://tinyurl.com/5hahp2z3, for example, provides a wide range of services that companies can use for various application scenarios in different industries. The services meet all common industry standards. Standard interfaces enable seamless integration into on-premises, cloud and hybrid infrastructures.
3 Increased automations in the supply chain
The past year has shown how susceptible supply chains are to disruption. In addition, companies are currently feeling the skills shortage more than ever before. In 2023, companies will therefore need to make their supply chains more resilient and rely more on automation technologies. This will help them address the growing skills gap and increase productivity in the supply chain.
For example, automating the capture and processing of incoming business documents eliminates the time-consuming manual data entry of goods orders and purchase orders. Companies benefit from more efficient process communication, smooth cash flow and cost reductions of around 60 per cent compared to manual order processing. Professionals can focus on innovation again, ideally giving the company a competitive edge.
4. Optimized customer journey
Not least because of the pandemic, customers have increased demands on digital offers. They are now used to digital interactions and touchpoints. A positive customer experience is a basic prerequisite for business success. Only reliable, secure, and individually designed business communication makes it possible to offer a wide range of touchpoints with customers, thereby creating customer satisfaction and loyalty. Companies that do not invest in their customer communication lose customers to their competitors. With digital communication platforms, companies serve digital touchpoints such as multi-factor authentication, email order confirmations, transactional emails such as newsletters, weather alerts via SMS or status messages. Ideally, the services can be seamlessly integrated into business applications or digital platforms via standardized APIs and quickly and flexibly adapted to new requirements at any time.
5 More complex data protection requirements
According to analyst firm Gartner, 75 per cent of the world’s population will have their personal data protected by data protection regulations by 2024. Legal requirements are playing an increasingly important role, as regulatory requirements are constantly evolving internationally and becoming more complex. Companies face heavy fines in the event of violations. When choosing an external service provider, it is therefore more important to ensure that the provider complies with all current data protection guidelines. Ideally, the service provider not only fulfils the GDPR requirements, but also industry-specific standards and individual compliance requirements. All data should be processed in local, auditable data centers. Some providers already contractually guarantee this to their customers via service level agreements.
