The great pause

This is an extremely tough time for our country. We are faced with arguably one of the biggest health crises in the history of the United States, with broad global health and economic impacts. At this point in time, we are most keenly focused on the health of our friends, family and community.    

But as we work remotely and consider ways to learn from this experience, it is important to realize that this might be the right time to evaluate your organization and improve the ways you ensure business continuity. This could mean many things to different organizations. Our clients are taking this opportunity to weave these lessons learned into their current digital transformations and implementing Oracle Cloud software that will leave them more agile, mobile and well informed – all things organizations struggle with right now.

Some organizations have put off migrating to the cloud for a variety of reasons, but most often it is not cost. The cost of subscription and implementation builds a strong ROI. The return on investment in the cloud typically outweighs the cost of migration. It certainly is not the benefits. The new functionality and catalyst to redesign legacy processes has an amazing pay back. 

Benefits include:

• No capital expenditures
• Automatic software upgrades
• Configurable framework
• Purpose built for the business user
• Scalability
• Operational agility
• Increased collaboration
• Naturally a remote work tool
• Single version of the truth
• Competitive edge
• Heightened security

The reason often cited by organizations for not moving to the cloud is time – it’s not the right time, or there just isn’t enough time. Well, with the current unprecedented changes to our normal work routines, we now have a “pause.” A time to take a deep breath and ask, what can we do to maximize this time and position our organization for growth and success when this crisis passes?

This time can actually be viewed as a huge opportunity. When have you ever had a chance to invest in your business and move it forward without a concern of falling behind? Think about it, the pace of business has essentially stopped in place for you to get caught up. It’s perfect timing to “pause” and consider. Moving to the cloud is a cost-saver and strategic investment in the long-term viability of your company.  It is an investment in yourself, your team, your company and your stakeholders. 

We know there is never a perfect time, but maybe this is an opportune time to digitally transform your mission critical software and upgrade your legacy technology to the cloud.

Or perhaps, there is an opportunity right now to reevaluate what a digital transformation could mean for your organization. Given the potential changes to our economy and the way work will change after this crisis, the benefits are too great to ignore:

• A cloud implementation can be completed 100% remotely.
• The cloud ensures you are ready to take advantage of the new paradigm, the remote economy.
• Replacement of legacy systems and process with modern business practices and technology such as predictive analytics, strategic modeling, machine learning and big data.
• Your investment will unleash an agile organization prepared for the future.
• Create the opportunity to strategically reallocate resources to more opportunistic activities in order to capitalize on growth after the crisis.
• It is not just an investment in technology, but an investment in all stakeholders: your staff, your customers, your local economies and all interconnected constituents. 

You may hear some refer to this time as the next Great Recession or even the D word, Depression.  Wouldn’t it be better to look back on this time and say, this was “The Great Pause?” We took the right steps and can reflect on what we accomplished rather than what we lost.

For more information on this topic or to learn how Baker Tilly specialists can help, contact our team.