A year of business resilience

December 8th, 2021 in  Blog

Five lessons learned in 2021

Intelliware navigated many challenges throughout the year with the support of our exceptional clients and employees. For many people, businesses, and sectors of the economy, 2021 was a difficult year, full of uncertainty and volatility. We commend each and every organization and their employees for their commitment, endurance, and perseverance during this challenging year.

The silver lining? The pandemic is teaching us lessons. Let’s share some of our learnings to help make 2022 a better year for everyone.

1. Build resilience as soon as possible

The pandemic caught most organizations and many industries off guard. They had to scramble to implement remote working and virtual services. And now they face employee turnover and supply chain issues.

In contrast, organizations and industries that focused on building resilience before and throughout the pandemic have managed without significant disruption. Power in Numbers, for example, explains how Intelliware helped All of Us Financial better protect its interests from volatility and uncertainty.

The lesson is to not wait until the next pandemic to build resilience. And once you start building it, don’t stop. Choose a software development partner with Agile expertise to create a strategy-first technology plan designed to help your organization anticipate, prepare for, and manage volatility.

2. Innovate in the cloud

Years in the making, cloud services have proven to be invaluable during the pandemic, enabling adopters to switch to remote work with less friction. This is true even in heavily regulated industries such as finance, where organizations have been slow to adopt cloud services out of security and data residency concerns.

The big cloud providers (Azure, AWS, Google) can deliver a level of security and operational redundancy in their datacentres and network infrastructure that few on-premises datacentres can achieve without investing millions. But securely storing data and applications is just the start of what cloud services offer.

Modern cloud providers deliver technologies-as-services, such as artificial intelligence and Internet of Things, that enable innovation and provide competitive advantages. Advanced cloud services give rise to intelligent solutions that leverage automation, machine learning and advanced analytics. Cloud providers also offer organizations valuable exposure to customers and other partners in their application marketplaces.

Every organization stands to benefit from developing a cloud strategy for all of these reasons. No matter when you may have migrated to the cloud, a cloud strategy enables your leadership and technical teams to confidently direct and deliver future development initiatives. Does your organization fully leverage their cloud services?

Take advantage of the scale and capabilities of your cloud services and improve your security posture in the process. Learn how Intelliware helped Clik2Play bring an innovative payment processing solution to market.

3. Replatform your legacy applications

Organizations that “sat on the sidelines” and put off modernization only fell further behind in 2021. But all is not lost. As enterprises learn more about replatforming, they inevitably migrate their legacy applications and systems.

Replatforming releases organizations from the resource drain of managing outdated software and applications. Moreover, modernizing your applications enriches the user experience and increases customer interactivity. And, by starting small and building on success, enterprises that adopt an Agile approach deliver innovation more quickly and frequently. The benefits of Agile to your organization add up quickly. Building incrementally mitigates risks, reduces impact on resources, and spreads the financial investment over a longer, more extended period.

Intelliware’s remote co-teaming approach teaches Agile to your developers. Your organization gains access to expert development assistance throughout your transformation journey. Learn how Intelliware helped Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan transform its technical culture by introducing Agile practices.

4. Culture matters more than ever

Does your company suffer from staff turnover? In the United States, where a reported 4.4 million employees quit in September alone, 2021 was the year of the “Great Resignation.” The same phenomenon has reached many shores.

No matter where you operate, hiring and retaining top talent has never been more difficult, especially in technical and engineering fields. More than ever, people choose the way they want to work and their organization based on values.

Successful employers cultivate vibrant, inclusive, and collaborative cultures. Intelliware advocates the importance of strong organizational values and excels in recruiting and retaining top talent. Organizations with forward-thinking cultures attract like-minded clients, vendors, and employees. Learn how Intelliware partnered with Genesis Global Trading to help their engineering team accelerate their mission.

5. The importance of relationships

In a year when virtual meeting platforms saw their most significant increase in usage, the pandemic underscored the importance of relationships and face-to-face interaction both personally and professionally.

Investing in employees, client partnerships, and our communities has served Intelliware well for over 30 years. Today, those relationships enable us to move our clients’ business forward, remotely and securely, as we have done for decades.

We face challenges the same way we create opportunities, together. It’s the source of Intelliware’s strength and one of our greatest differentiators.