Executive Summary
The recent Covid-19 pandemic has brought a number of challenges to light for individuals and businesses alike, and has done so on a global scale. Among these challenges are financial and technical hurdles that may lead to organizations re-evaluating their information technology strategies to find new efficiencies in data storage, data protection, and global collaboration. This paper proposes Global File System technologies as a potential solution for the challenges IT organizations may face in a post-Covid world.
Challenging Times – In IT and the World
The whole world has been affected in some way by Covid-19 and IT organizations are no exception. While organizations may not be rushing to make any drastic changes in the midst of a pandemic, the challenges faced and lessons learned during this time will certainly play a role in shaping future strategies.
Top of mind may be a conscious effort to save money as many organizations have felt an economic impact or are preparing to proceed with caution as they enter into uncertain times ahead. 50% of respondents participating in a recent Evaluator Group survey stated that they expect IT budgetary cuts due to Covid-19. While in some cases, this may mean avoiding any significant IT spending all together, this may not be feasible when looking to address some of the other concerns that have arisen due to the recent pandemic.
Perhaps the most obvious change for many with regards to Covid-19, has been an adjustment to remote work. The trend of working from home and flexible working environments was already growing, but large-scale quarantines saw the trend accelerate to a massive scale. Even as workplaces re-open, many are doing so in a staggered format, or continuing to offer remote work options, with some offering the choice as a permanent transition. With this in mind, IT organizations will need solutions that support data access and collaboration in this new work dynamic for the long term.
Other key challenges brought to light by recent events include the areas of data protection, security, and ransomware recovery. While certainly areas of focus in the pre-Covid world, their importance has been further magnified recently as bad actors have used the chaos of the pandemic as an opportunity to exploit organizations with inadequate data practices.
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