QuoVadis recently published a report that takes a look at how Bermuda’s IT industry has responded to the Covid-19 pandemic in order to support local and international business.
Entitled ‘Thinking Fast: How Bermuda’s IT Leaders Are Responding to Covid-19,’ the report is available to download here.
A spokesperson said, “Bermuda’s economy relies heavily on the ability for international and local businesses to remain viable during disruption. Where Bermuda has been criticised in the past for being slow to adopt technology, Covid-19 has shifted our IT sector’s focus.
“Tech is now being used at a rapid pace to bring stability. Investments in data analytics, communications, cloud storage and customer interfaces are preventing serious financial losses and protecting jobs. In this latest industry report from data centre & cloud computing specialists QuoVadis, Bermuda’s IT leaders offer their insights and recommendations on what to do now and next as a result of the pandemic.
“The report contains insights and recommendations from IT leaders across a range of local and international businesses including:
- Bank of Butterfield
- Bermuda Civil Aviation Authority
- Bermuda Hospitals Board
- The Argus Group
QuoVadis CEO Gavin Dent said, “Bermuda was once behind the curve, but today we have world-class ability. The sudden shift to widespread remote working and digitised customer services was only possible because we had companies investing in the cloud to protect jobs and prevent serious financial losses. I’m positive that this kind of forward thinking will continue to serve businesses as we emerge from the pandemic.”
Andrew Woodworth, Vice President, Group Technology, Bank Of Butterfield, said, “While we already had adequate remote capability, I don’t think many companies were prepared for the logistical challenges of a nearly overnight shift to a remote workforce. We scaled up, we scaled down and we kept in line with government guidance.”
Nik Smale, Chief Digital Officer, The Argus Group, said, “We’ve learnt to become more comfortable with virtual interactions. We were able to continue and it didn’t come without adjustments but there wasn’t a fundamental stop and restart. This is largely because we were taking proactive steps anyway.
“Where Bermuda has historically been slower to embrace digital change, there’s now a better understanding of the benefits of transacting online, which gives us a greater opportunity to enhance and improve the customer experience. For us, it’s been about acceleration rather than dramatic change to do something different, and we aren’t slowing down anytime soon.”
Gina Benjamin, Director of IT, Bermuda Hospitals Board, said, “Change is always going to be a fear factor for people. They’re used to putting their left shoe on first, and then their right. But now we’re saying put both shoes on at the same time and run. It continues to be a learning curve but people working here understand the importance of technology and being adaptable, and that’s what matters.”
The spokesperson said, “An accelerated shift to the cloud in the lead up to Covid has been essential. It provided the agility and scalability for many businesses to weather this crisis more effectively.
“Large or small, local or international – it was clear that businesses which responded well to Covid were:
- invested in the cloud,
- quick to embrace remote working as a long-term solution,
- focused on digitisation of their service offerings and,
- operating with robust cybersecurity policies and processes in place.
“For these organisations, the pandemic was the real-life test to see how they could operate while leaning on their IT infrastructure. Often the challenges came from dealing with human changes to using these technologies [working faster, remotely and without the same processes].
“For businesses that couldn’t respond in these ways, the pandemic has been a disruptive force that will have long term consequences as we head into further economic downturn.”
