IERP® Monthly Newsletter Issue 30 December 2021 | Page 36

But all the plans that are in place now were not designed to handle an event of the magnitude of the pandemic, partly because they were not developed comprehensively, and were developed in siloes. There is no “right” plan, as all plans basically address business continuity, IT disaster recovery, supply chain and crisis management – but none of them addresses all issues simultaneously.

Because of this, Covid-19 is not being effectively addressed as it involves all these issues, he remarked. Companies have a social responsibility to protect their staff, he pointed out, and one way of doing this is by digitising operations. “If you don’t digitise, you will die,” he said flatly, adding that if companies could afford it, they could spend on new equipment and improved Internet access, but if they were floundering, they had to improvise. Depending on the situation and the culture, different measures could be applied.

In Singapore, for instance, a “circuit breaker” was enforced to slow infections, while Malaysia had various Movement Control Orders (MCOs) that could be eased or tightened according to the severity of the situation. Dr Goh reiterated, however, that countries could move to endemic level only if a high percentage of the population was vaccinated. Upgrading or tightening (of processes and procedures) in other areas needed to be considered. Upgrading or tightening (of processes and procedures) in other areas needed to be considered. This was necessary for the move towards operational, business and organisational resiliency.

 

He projected that disruptions will continue for another 18 months at least; in addition to which, most companies which have not digitised their operations appropriately will still need staff to come into the office. To help gauge the situation, he advised businesses to keep a close watch on what the government does, on a weekly, fortnightly or monthly basis, in order to orient their recovery accordingly. Agreeing that it was a challenging time, Dr Dass added that businesses were most concerned about how to survive but there were other things besides that which demanded attention.

35 The IERP® Monthly Newsletter December 2021