How ThinkSys Is Ensuring It's As Close As Possible To Business As Usual For Our Customers
Summarize With:
Dear ThinkSys Customer,
My heart goes to all affected by COVID — 19. I hope you are safe at home with your family.
These weeks have been challenging and inspiring for all of us at ThinkSys.
Challenging, as we had to completely change our way of working within a week.
Inspiring, because never in human history have we all collectively been asked to show so much resilience and tenacity in the common interest.
The COVID — 19 pandemic may have caused mayhem throughout the globe, but work carries on. We know that companies depend on the work we do so this cannot stop us from delivering on our promise of serving and supporting our customers.
In the 2nd week of March, as the news flow about the potential impact of the virus grew, we started to worry about our employees' well-being. First, to ensure their safety, we sanitized our entire campus and premises. We provided sanitizers at all locations. We even provided masks to people who came from outside the campus for interviews. It soon became apparent that the situation called for even more drastic measures.
Although none of our employees were detected with COVID - 19, and even before any of the local authorities had mandated it, we started thinking that it would be prudent to maintain social isolation. It seemed apparent that our employees would be safer in their homes.
But that could have led to an interruption in our service.
That's why we took a few strategic decisions to ensure business continuity throughout the lockdown.
How Are We Ensuring Business Continuity For Our Customers?
1. We created Workplaces at our Employees' Homes in Just Two Days
A week before India went into a 21-day lockdown, we, more or less, had decided to let our employees work from home. Rajiv Jha, the CFO of ThinkSys and I, had a strategic operational call with our HR, Development, and Q&A team heads. We had a meeting with our team leads and reached a consensus that work from home was the best solution to keep our employees safe and our customer's business going.
However, we had a challenge. Over 60% of our employees were using desktops in the office for their work. So, we had to get the infrastructure in place for smooth business functioning. We handed over an asset audit form to each of our employees to get a clear picture of the infrastructure like computing hardware, laptop, and internet connection available to them at home. It emerged that over 70% of our employees had the required infrastructure in place. Over the next few hours, we filled the infrastructural gaps. We had some available laptops that we provisioned for usage. We started shifting some desktops to other employees' homes.
On 18th March, just a few days before the official lockdown began, we informed our employees to start working from home. Over the first couple of days, a very small number of employees came to the office to address backend issues, fix payroll, and some compliance tasks. Today, 100% of Thinksys is working from home.
2. We did a thorough Analysis of Business impact before taking the Decision
Before shifting the office into our employees' homes, we wanted to get a complete idea of project complexity, client situations, and other unique challenges. Our CEO had a one-to-one discussion with each of our 25 team leads and managers. All potential problems were identified, and we worked to create solutions. Our team leads took the responsibility (as always) of continuing project deliveries.
3. We even did the Unthinkable — we set Testing Labs at Homes
Some of our projects need multiple OS' and devices and require our employees to work within a testing lab. We carefully provisioned that infrastructure at our employees' homes so they can continue working on those projects.
4. All Data is 100% Secure
We have ensured that all confidential data is 100% secure. Our remote access is securely provisioned using VPN, and our network and security teams are monitoring the situation constantly to ensure that there are no data or security breaches from any of our employees. Rajiv Jha and I have also constituted a task force to monitor potential threats and eliminate them before they escalate.
5. We Continue to Maintain Operational Excellence
Our support teams and IT teams are working in planned shifts to troubleshoot issues that the remote employees might face while working. Our teams are working tirelessly to provide continuous support to our customers. We are doing everything within our power to maintain our operational excellence consistently.
6. We are always there for our Customers
Our customer's business is as valuable to us as it is for them. I am available for our customers 24/7. We are continually monitoring the situation to ensure that there is no impact on the customer's business. In case of any complaints or issues with our new work model, I can be reached at jain.rajiv@thinksys.com. I will ensure that we solve the problem within the stipulated SLA duration.
7. We Care for our Employees as much as we do for our Customers
Our employees' well-being is of paramount importance to me. Hence, we are constantly ensuring that our teams stay connected amidst isolation. It is heartening to see how our employees are managing their work and family with equal efficiency. We are grateful to them for their tireless contribution to keeping our customer's business up and running.
We would also like to thank all our customers for trusting us and staying with us through these tough times.
I know it is a tough time for you as much as it is for us! But, The Show Must Go On!
We promise to stay with you in these trying times and continue to serve you always!
Stay Safe!
Regards,
CEO of ThinkSys