Ahead of the Curve: Dispersed Engineering Groups for Company Resilience

As per Gartner’s survey, a mere 12 percent of establishments were equipped to confront and tackle the COVID-19 outbreak. Although the event was unprecedented in nature, it brought focus to the fact that disaster recovery strategies often prioritise data recovery over human assistance.

Inability to Recover Individuals

An overwhelming 88% of the population that did not take the necessary measures to prepare for remote work were found to have inadequate or no resources at all. Initially, several corporations struggled to recruit telecommuters, as a significant portion of their workforce lacked internet connectivity at home.

For ages, establishments have trusted duplicate storage and content delivery networks to safeguard their information against disasters. However, having a contingency plan is insufficient to shield a company against the aftermaths of a tragedy; it is equally critical to ensure the safety of the employees responsible for implementing such a plan. The inability of workers to physically present at the workplace can lead to catastrophic outcomes for an organisation. Hence, it is crucial for companies to take appropriate measures to protect both their data and their workforce.

The Significance of Remote Teams in Contemporary Business

Previously, numerous companies were apprehensive about granting their employees the option to work remotely. However, over time, the same establishments have embraced this concept, mostly because their concerns about staff exploiting the situation have proven to be unfounded. As Ernest Hemingway famously stated, “The best way to prove someone’s trustworthiness is to trust them.” Enterprises tested by the idea of allowing their workforce to telecommute have witnessed highly favourable outcomes, which serve as a testament to the effectiveness of this approach.

To ensure that local adversities do not impede advancement, enterprises are progressively constituting teams spanned across multiple regions and incorporating remote staff. This strategy will prove especially beneficial for software development groups, which have to adhere to deadlines and product launch schedules. The use of cloud-based technology to allow for seamless communication in real-time and collaboration between geographically distributed engineering teams could prove to be a crucial step towards achieving greater resilience.

Complementing Software Engineering Teams Remotely

Through the utilisation of distant staff augmentation, software engineering teams can quickly enhance their resilience. In this approach, a third-party organisation locates the most suitable engineers worldwide, and manages the entire process of recruitment, screening, employment, onboarding, and administration in regions with an abundance of talent but limited job opportunities. These engineers become full-time employees of the collaborating organisations, with no long-term contractual obligations or expenses to the partnering company, while bypassing the complexities of foreign payroll, taxes, and local regulations.

As is typical for most natural disasters, the impact of the COVID-19 virus is often limited to a specific area. To reduce potential hazards and optimise expenses, given the virus and economic futures’ ambiguous predicament, distributed engineering has been demonstrated to be an efficient workforce approach. The scalability of this method facilitates teams to promptly improve or reduce their size, adapt to change and remain flexible in the ever-evolving environment.

Being part of geographically distributed engineering teams, software engineers exhibit a unique advantage of possessing prior experience of working remotely, which can be advantageous in several ways. Their expertise can help provide valuable insights into enhancing productivity, hastening development, and optimising product delivery.

As per Deloitte, business resilience encompasses the concepts of IT disaster recovery and business continuity. Under the ongoing crisis, when offices were closed for the safety of employees and a rapid transition to remote work was necessary, it is reasonable to assume that most companies were not prepared to sustain their operations. Having and employing geographically distributed development teams can offer a robust shield against such disruption by enabling remote collaboration to ensure alignment with development goals and roadmaps.

You may find this related article helpful: Software Development Success in a Hybrid Environment

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