The COVID-19 pandemic will forever impact the way that our society operates. Although there were great periods of grief that for some still extend into the present, we as a society are slowly starting to adjust to the new normal. Part of this adjustment is figuring out how you’re going to reintegrate your organization back into society.
Today, we’re going to go over how you can prepare your infrastructure for normalcy after the pandemic.
Make optimization a permanent part of your business plan
The pandemic may have forced many businesses to optimize the different components of their infrastructure, but those best practices should not stop with the lift of quarantine! Your DevOps team should aim to permanently implement these optimization best practices from this time into your process.
For instance, it is a best practice to include an optimization audit as a part of your monthly, quarterly, or yearly infrastructure review process. This audit should include components such as cost, performance, and security.
Embrace the cloud
Social distancing as a result of COVID-19 has undoubtedly demonstrated the need for organizations to do business online as well as the effectiveness of scalability on the cloud. There is and will continue to be an apparent need for organizations to handle surges or lulls in their business in the foreseeable future.
If you’re already on the cloud, great! Having a cloud infrastructure in place will help prepare your web application for the future demands for online business; the world is likely going to transition to a more remote culture post-COVID-19. As a society, there is likely going to be an increase in the need for online services even after we return to “business as usual.” Now is the time for you to keep optimizing your setup and look for areas for continuous transformation.
If you’re not yet on the cloud, consider cloud adoption! The number of available cloud providers means there’s almost certainly a solution that is appropriate for your web application needs. Now is the time for you to explore cloud design and architecture, and explore which cloud solutions are the best fit for your infrastructure.
Our DevOps experts are happy to assist you with whatever stage of your cloud journey you’re currently at!
Talent strategy
Disastrous—and sometimes hilarious—video conferences aside, many organizations will inevitably see the benefits of increasing their amount of remote work. After months of working at home, everyone has undoubtedly developed much-needed remote working skills. It’ll be a hard sell for any company that’s looking to go back to full in-office operations. The demand for remote work will likely continue to rise.
As such, your organization wants to make sure that you have a flexible strategy to deal with lulls (and peaks) for your business. You don’t want to hire every time you need more people and fire every time you’re less busy! This isn’t sustainable, nor is it good for your company's health and reputation.
Consider a fractional strategy, especially for areas of talent that don’t need attention at all times. DevOps and infrastructure are great examples to lead with as depending on the complexity of your web application, you may not need someone to be working on your infrastructure every day of the week.
Outsourcing DevOps and adopting fractional ops has benefits such as:
Accessing the knowledge and expertise of an entire team of DevOps.
Choosing when you want to pursue projects based on your convenience.
Only paying for hours that you need instead of hiring someone full-time who may not always have work to do.
Letting your developers develop: the fractional ops will focus on your infrastructure, so you can focus on your web application.
Conclusion
Digital transformation after COVID-19 will be inevitable. Paying attention to optimization, the cloud, and a talent strategy are only some of the ways for you to reintegrate your infrastructure and web application into society.
What are your plans for reintegration? Let us know.