AOTMP® Insights: July 2020

AOTMP® Insights: July 2020

The Association of Telecom, Mobility, and IT Management Professionals

July 10, 2020

AOTMP ® Insights | a publication of the Association of Telecom, Mobility, and IT Management Professionals

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Table of Contents Leadership During the Pandemic Recovery IT Service Provider Contractions & Future Effects of the Coronavirus The 4-1-1 on RPA California Consumer Privacy Act: The Final Countdown AOTMP ® University Updates: July 2020 Five Tips to Save Money Introducing the Association of the Telecom, Mobility, and IT Management Professionals Finding Synergy, Opportunity, and Success with AOTMP ® Performance Trends for the Post-Pandemic World of Work The IT Finance Elephant in the Room

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Domo Arigato, No More Roboto? Member Spotlight of the Month Meet the TEM Maturity Levels Working Group AOTMP ® Event Calendar Benefits of Being an AOTMP ® Member

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July 10, 2020 Leadership during the Pandemic Recovery Disruption. Some revel in it, so e fear it. Diane Mack, Program Engagement Manager The Association of Telecom, Mobility, and IT Management Professionals

July Edition

The unmistakable truth is that leaders are defined by their vision, their ability to execute, and how they infuse the key ingredient of compassion. Never has such a leadership refinement been more true than in the midst of a global crisis. To be certain, this pandemic has highlighted business continuity, leadership, and authority in challenging but not unprecedented ways. The statements “life will never be the same” and “these are unprecedented times” reflect the emotion of current times, but we have plenty of pandemic precedents on which to draw for lessons that can be incorporated into modern times. We are moving through the deep waters of the response phase and on the precipice of a lengthy recovery. In this challenging season, what is the good news? Pandemics end 100% of the time. Leadership during a pandemic requires the formation of new habits. It requires recognizing old habits while charting a clear, honest path forward. The primary goal at this point in a crisis is to have a goal and keep working toward it. We all wish for a crystal ball that will tell us the future and whether or not our decisions are the correct ones. As with any disaster, the Incident Commander must make the best decisions with the information that he/she has at the time. In this case, every executive is involved with this decision-making. The picture of the future is fuzzy and incomplete, yet leadership must be bold. Take action. And above all, communicate.

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AOTMP ® Insights | a publication of the Association of Telecom, Mobility, and IT Management Professionals

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The Association of Telecom, Mobility, and IT Management Professionals

July Edition

July 10, 2020

As you look inward, look forward. Understanding and articulating your vision and goals to your staff and customers will engender a focus toward a common mission, regardless of how often the path may change. True honesty - with yourself, your employees, and your stakeholders - will enable leaders to stay the course, adjust when the inevitable mistakes happen, and allow action while engendering public support through compassion. Communicate with transparency. As the old adage in crisis communications goes, “Be first, be right, and be credible.” Good leaders act quickly and decisively, even with incomplete pictures from which to draw information. By combining goals and actions with honesty, kindness, and empathy, a

hopeful vision can be conveyed. Set clear guidelines, update stakeholders constantly, and help others understand what will be expected of them and how they fit into the company’s mission. Understand the risks going forward. The challenges provided by this pandemic suggest fundamental changes in how businesses and societies operate. Economic shifts have adjusted worldwide supply chains. Supplier closures/ restrictions/delays, transportation complications, and reduced or optimized customer support have forced a level of planning beyond the usual just-in- time deliveries. Workspaces have been redefined due to technological and coordination adjustments and the introduction of additional cyber risks. On the balance, the behavioral changes of society, along

Take advantage of this unique situation. Place a spotlight on those holes in the wall that are marring the whole paint job. Confront the truth about your policies and procedures, and how your systems work (or don’t). Look beyond traditional processes that create predictability, efficiency, and stability. Who imagined that almost all restaurants worldwide would suddenly be carryout only? Or that many restaurant employees would become carhops or drivers for delivery services? Creativity and flexibility are king during emergencies, and those lessons should be incorporated into future deliberate planning for pandemics and other hazards. Capitalize on the newfound ability to innovate, grow, and change.

The first step is to give yourself permission to grieve. You have suffered a loss, or more likely a number of losses, to varying degrees and with varying consequences. You have experienced a trauma, as have all of your employees. The most important recognition of trauma is not what it takes from you, but what it leaves with you. One residual that may be unprecedented in your company is the ability to take a step back, mid- stream, and take a hard look at your vulnerabilities, challenges, successes, and opportunities.

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The Association of Telecom, Mobility, and IT Management Professionals

July Edition

July 10, 2020

IT Service Provider Contractions & Future Effects of the Coronavirus The impact of the coronavirus pandemic is not limited to a single aspect of the economy. Stock markets are down, crude oil prices are down, and upcoming IT budgets are also down. It was not supposed to be this way. Brent Waltz, Sr. eLearning Curriculum Developer

not to waste it. Once things settle into the ‘new normal,’ your industry will react differently to those who were proactive versus those that isolated themselves and waited for opportunities to start coming their way again. You should use this time to update your networking and social media profiles. With people spending more time online, you want to ensure that your best self is represented. Time spent refreshing your profile picture, updating your professional accomplishments, and trying to connect (or reconnect) with others will eventually pay off. When connecting with former managers or coworkers, include a personal message with the request. Include something that inquires about them or their family. Ask that they connect with you and to send you a message if there is anything that you can do to assist them. Beyond looking for connections you may have previously missed, you can also participate in online forums. Your industry peers and the experts you look to are having conversations on a regular basis. Joining in will help you and your organization when business starts moving forward again. How you choose to use this time is almost secondary to the fact that you are productive. Staying active will alleviate anxiety. Without goals, our minds tend to wander and unhealthy thoughts creep in. Avoid this by making daily and weekly to-do lists and working to accomplish as many of the tasks on them as you can. Even if those accomplishments do not lead to new opportunities, strategic goals will better position you for success in the future.

refer to refer to AOTMP ® University’s Implementing a BYOD Program (IBP100) for more information on this process. What can I do to help our customers? One of the most important things you can do for your customers is to stay engaged with them. Your customers are dealing with their own uncertainties, both professionally and personally. Keep them informed of what you are doing to help them and try to manage their expectations if your organization is messaging options available to you but, if you are not able to be proactive with your customers, you need to at least be reactive if they contact you. If possible, update your Interactive Voice Response (IVR) to provide the status of outstanding issues. If a telephone conversation needs to be had, ensure everyone has the most up-to-date talking points about what is currently happening with your organization and with the services you provide. A centralized resource on your company’s intranet is invaluable when it comes to communicating consistently changing information to a larger internal audience. What can I do in the interim? Your time at work is just as valuable now as it was before the coronavirus – try experiencing its own difficulties. There are numerous outbound

When workers found themselves using their own devices to complete their job functions, it was not limited to just checking emails on their cell phones. Organizations, as part of their business continuity plan, asked employees to use their home computers to complete work in the same way as if they were physically present. The process of transitioning formerly office-bound employees to a remote environment involved remotely installing VPNs, increasing bandwidth on the external-facing servers, and training frontline IT help desk agents on how to best assist these employees. Beyond the technical considerations, there are privacy issues in play. Could protected personal information accidentally be retained on the personal device? Could the employee accidentally expose proprietary information to a roommate or some other unauthorized individual? It is in your best interest to confirm that these privacy-related issues are represented in your BYOD policy and, if not (or if you do not have a BYOD policy), to react accordingly. If you could use some pointers on creating/ improving/implementing BYOD where you work, I encourage you to

It is anticipated that this pandemic will cause a drop in consulting and systems integration services spending as great as four percent. IT service providers can expect their customers to either attempt a renegotiation of existing contracts or, in worst-case scenarios, a cancellation of previous agreements. Current events are changing daily, and it may be too soon to start predicting the future – but there are still questions that can be asked and answered today. How will this impact my supply chain? Organizations that tightly manage their supply chain and only order supplies a week before they are needed will feel the pain quicker than an organization that orders supplies months in advance. Although this short lead time made sense in the past, it quickly causes

problems today whenever there is a disruption in the supply chain. The Chinese government’s shutdown of factories in impacted areas has already caused a disruption in workflows. U.S. firms dependent upon these components have been unable to fulfill their previously accepted orders and have suffered a loss of business. How will this impact new contracts? The coronavirus will likely lengthen the lifecycle of any previously purchased equipment. Unavoidable IT budget cuts will force IT buyers to push back the purchase of any new enterprise servers, desktop computers, printers, etc. Because these new purchases are on hold, the service or maintenance contracts associated with them will also be on hold.

A temporary gain might be found as organizations purchase laptops, external monitors, and other work-from-home accessories for these newly relocated employees. Although these gains will offset the loss of enterprise spending normally associated with on-premise equipment, they will not completely close the gap. However, when coupled with an increased spend in cloud technologies needed by their now-remote workforce, Service providers must juggle their client support obligations and the managing of their own remote employees. Although many organizations already had a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy in place prior to the pandemic, not all did. Additionally, those that did limited their policy to personal cell phones. the loss is not insurmountable. What about our employees?

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AOTMP ® Insights | a publication of the Association of Telecom, Mobility, and IT Management Professionals

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AOTMP ® Insights | The 4-1-1 on RPA

The Association of Telecom, Mobility, and IT Management Professionals

July Edition

July 10, 2020

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