COVID-19 has forced many organizations to embrace digital transformation to accommodate dramatic and sudden changes in their business models. Almost every industry has been affected: Healthcare had to expand telehealth services, retail had to move to online, and education had to shift to remote teaching and learning—all at a rapidly accelerated pace.
For many companies, the changes necessitated by COVID-19 are serving as a catalyst to not only meet today’s needs but also support long-term transformation. Many of the new business models being put in place now—such as telehealth, digital supply chain, remote work and remote learning—will become permanent fixtures in shaping the future of their organizations.
This article examines three examples of innovative organizations that have modernized their IT environments to digitalize and improve their ways of doing business while improving customer relationships and powering workplace transformation during the pandemic.
Digital Game Changers in Business Transformation
Vancouver Clinic, a healthcare organization owned and governed by physicians in southwestern Washington, had to transform almost overnight when COVID-19 arrived. Two immediate initiatives were necessary: a shift to telemedicine and an expansion of the organization’s virtual call center for critical frontline employees.
During normal operations, the clinic would expect 50,000 to 100,000 patient encounters a month. Virtually overnight, it had to create a telemedicine program. Built on solutions from Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company, the clinic moved approximately 40% of appointments from physical to video in less than a week—starting from scratch.
The call center’s pandemic-related effort involved expanding a pilot deployment to one that would move approximately 80% of patient service specialists to work from home. HIPAA regulations made secure connections back to the data center essential. With the addition of new remote access points from Aruba, the shift to work from home was seamless and the representatives were able to start taking calls within minutes.
Frigorizados la Huerta S.A. de C.V. is a Mexican agro-industrial enterprise specializing in the production of frozen foods and produce, with six brands sold in nearly a dozen countries. Given the company’s business model, its products and services are considered essential during COVID. The company not only had to respond to an increase in customer demand but at the same time shift about 50% of its staff to work from home.
Fortunately, the company had already migrated from five separate ERP systems to a single SAP HANA solution built on an always-on platform powered by HPE Synergy and HPE 3PAR technologies. The technology solution has provided a variety of transformational benefits, including the ability to:
- Run operations 24/7, while responding to time-sensitive needs with no gaps in business continuity.
- Trace all frozen product through planting, processing, packaging, delivery and sales.
- Enable all administrative staff to work from home during the pandemic.
- Respond seamlessly to organic company growth and sudden increases in demand.
The GNV Splendid, a passenger ferry based in Genoa, Italy, had a very specific transformation initiative during the pandemic: In just five days, the ship was transformed into a floating hospital for COVID-19 patients.
To accelerate the transition, the ship was modified with a modern Wi-Fi network consisting of 70 access points from Aruba to deliver guaranteed online access and information sharing with hospitals and doctors on land.
The infrastructure was also used to improve the day-to-day experience for patients, giving them full Internet connectivity during their stay. In addition, the network allowed ambulance crews to provide real-time updates on the status of patients as they arrived, allowing clinicians to anticipate their individual needs before they boarded the ship-turned-hospital.
Taking the Next Step
Often, business transformation is the result of long-term planning, voluminous research, strategic reactions to competitive threats and new market opportunities. But there are times when transformation must happen suddenly, as has been the case with COVID-19.
Modern IT solutions give organizations an advantage in adopting business transformation, whether it is the result of long-term strategy or immediate, unexpected challenges.
To learn more about how your organization can become a leader when it comes to business transformation, visit HPE.
