SaaS Notes

Business Value of Virtualization

Invention, creativity, ingenuity, risk and opportunism have always thrived during times of strife and crisis. It is safe to say that the wild financial market fluctuations over the past weeks define strife and crisis. How does a company overcome the hurdles it is facing in the near term as well as put a solid foundation in place for the long run? In a word, virtualize.

 

Virtual business processes allow a company to be extremely flexible in all economic environments. It is the elasticity of virtualization that enables a firm to respond to changing business conditions quickly, much faster than in a quarter or a half-year timeline.

 

A virtual business takes advantage of the Internet, leveraging its global reach and reliable infrastructure.  In a recent study of 212 respondents, the Computing Technology Industry Association identified numerous business advantages to utilizing teleworkers. The study showed that incorporating telecommuting in to the business model:

- improves productivity (67%)

- reduces costs (59%)

- provides access to more and qualified staff (39%)

- and improves employee retention as well as health (37%, 25%, respectively).

 

I'm advocating major real estate reductions, not a complete shutdown of the facilities. There are times when teams need to meet, or customers are being hosted.  Having some nominal amount of office space supports the business needs.

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