COVID-19 assessment

“Doing business in extreme conditions”

Business continuity of your operations

COVID-19 economic situation

Main topic of existing business continuity plans is to focus on vulnerability and the availability of IT systems in order to ensure that the banking operation is sustainable.

Quick decision has to be taken on how to ensure business continuity in a new, unknown situation where the capacity of technology and equipment is available, but the on-site availability of the colleagues is uncertain or fraught with risks.

In the current crisis, technological and technical aspects have come to the focus (how to ensure the conditions for home office operation, whether everyone has a VPN, whether there is a sufficient number of notebooks, whether everyone is accessing to the network, how to perform front-office functions without using the account network, etc.).

According to the pandemic it is not an option if someone wants a new operational scheme, as a regulatory decision has been taken to introduce emergency restrictions.

Actual government actions have been taken present new challenges and immediate tasks for both business and IT areas (introduction of a loan repayment moratorium, possible further tightening, etc.).

Effects of the crisis must be identified, but it is believed that the economy will decline in a large degree, which requires assessment of the situation, crisis management and replanning in all companies.

Business decisions on crisis management have to be made shortly, which will definitely include:

  • reassessment of development projects in terms of necessity, feasibility, business return, resource and cost demand
  • quick business decisions about which development projects can be formed in which direction (shutdown, offset, conversion, redesign, etc.)
  • quick implementation decisions in a changed work system (home office)
  • what new development projects are needed to ensure that operations in extreme conditions can be maintained or translated into a business advantage

Rapid assessment and planning

Rapid assessment of the situation, project overview

Based on our experiences we can support the tasks aimed at evaluating and reviewing current development and other IT projects from a business and IT decision-making perspective:

  • development of the evaluation criteria for projects, taking into consideration of the previous chapter points
  • assessment of the situation of projects (including a review of targets and expected business KPIs)
  • assessing the possibilities for stalling, time-shifting, modifying projects (scope change/modification) and presenting the likely impact of these measures
  • an overview of external and internal dependencies on projects, in particular supplier dependencies
  • contributing to the preparation of decision support materials

Scenario analysis

Presentation of possible solution options, according to scenario analysis, examining the edge conditions, impacts, and dependencies of each solution – primarily for business purposes.

Business and IT decision preparation

Situational assessment and scenario analysis will help you make the right business and IT decisions. In our opinion, in a very short period of time, shareholders of the companies expects from business and IT managers to evaluate and interpret business and IT-justified developments and changes that were launched before the crisis, to analyze and present projects under changed circumstances, to prioritize importance, necessity, expected business impact, resource needs and prepare decision-makers to make responsible decisions.

This responsibility is known to both business and IT leaders, but they do not yet have access to this information in this respect, and the criteria and questions on the basis of which they can carry out the above assessment and scenario analysis have not yet been identified. We would like to support the rapid and effective implementation of these activities by making our colleagues available.  

Change management based approach

If a decision is made on each project, we recommend contributing to its implementation due to the expected increasing workload, providing resources to business analysts, program managers, management consultants, in a form that customers require them. Since decision-making options include and are likely to be implemented project rescheduling, shutdown, modification, there is a high probability of a conflict of interest between the current project teams and decision-makers, so it is proposed that it will be necessary to strengthen the dedicated teams that want to make decisions and are able to implement them. We have significant experience in this area.      

In addition, organizations need to be prepared for a different type of operation because of the current changed circumstances and the current situation, which needs to be changed in terms of both efficient resource management and the calculation of economic returns in risk analysis, as well as the definition of business needs that can accommodate tighter and rapid changes due to dynamic market environments. In order to cushion the effects of the crisis, it is necessary to plan and implement them in the short term. We can also use our previous experiences in this area.

Creating an efficient Home Office environment

Companies can make the most of the current constraints if they are aware of the conditions and requirements for the design and operation of work at home. Our employees can help you identify, customize, and create organizational conditions that are essential for working effectively, such as:

  • task assignments and effective control of work at home
  • culture of working at home, rules of behavior and proposals, changed forms of cooperation
  • considerations for choosing devices that support working from home (email, telephone, phone conferencing, video chat, document management), where, for which tasks, which devices are effective, and how to use them correctly
  • monitoring the process of working from home and related satisfaction levels (managers and subordinates alike) and fine-tuning processes and tools

Ensuring the technological conditions of working from home is a minimum condition of effective work. Our staff will help you:

  • in the vendor-independent selection of the appropriate tools
  • identification and acquisition of physical ICT conditions
  • related educational and training activities
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