Social Distancing and Options

Covid-19, no one knew this term until recently, and now it will probably characterize the entire decade. Major events such as Sapphire or Microsoft Build will only take place digitally, airplanes will be grounded, streetcars and cafés will be empty.

You only see your friends and colleagues in video chat, social distancing is the order of the day. Most of us have probably never experienced anything like it. By the time this article appears, everything we know today about this unprecedented situation will probably already be outdated, obsolete, or just a mild impression of the current situation.

We are experiencing special times that are profoundly changing our everyday lives. Many simple and self-evident processes no longer exist. The morning drive to the office and the long traffic jams, the stopover at the daycare center or the chat with colleagues at the coffee machine to then start a packed day together. Meeting customers and having a beer with acquaintances in the evening used to be a matter of course. Today, companies and friends fear for their existence.

Where is there still room to think about business and even to tackle innovations or lay foundations for the future? Who is thinking today about a foundation for the coming challenge?

But every special situation also brings opportunities. Currently, we are also experiencing customers who are making a virtue out of necessity. Projects that have been planned and prepared for a long time now receive the necessary attention and can be carried out in record time with optimum concentration.

Sometimes even from the home office. What always had to wait in the days of busy schedules, ongoing daily business and 24×7 production may now be possible.

Thus, some of our customers are taking advantage of the idle production to finally carry out their migrations now. My respect for this courageous approach! At the same time, this requires a partner who can also act with the required agility and brings along the skills.

Speaking of skills, there are also opportunities for this in difficult times. At the moment, many of our partners, and we ourselves, are using the time for technical training.

For example, our sales and technical teams are keeping up to date with the latest information about the Embrace partnership, certifying on our cloud products, and learning the increasingly impressive capabilities of our ever-growing Embrace partner ecosystem.

At the same time, you can use the current situation to better position yourself for the future. Some of our customers are now getting the extra flexibility by moving their systems to Microsoft Azure. This way, ongoing "eh da" costs that arise with pre-funded on-premises systems are exchanged for flexible "pay as you go" environments.

These can be shut down, expanded, or scaled differently as needed. This is the easiest way to reduce fixed costs while positioning for the future and providing easier access to innovation.

What particularly impresses me these days are the many free offers to support fellow citizens and companies in these difficult times. From neighborly shopping assistance to free collaboration offers for companies and support for the urgently needed digitization of our schools.

The 1,500 projects that emerged from the German government's 48-hour #WirVsVirus hackathon are also unique. If you want to look at the positive sides of the situation, these are: the noticeably increased social cohesion and the sustainable achievements in the digitization of our society.

And what does Embrace have to do with it? We use disruptive ideas to motivate customers to break new ground. So stay healthy and get bold!