Surviving COVID19: Innovation through Teams

JEI Tech, a leading managed technology services provider (MTSP) is empowering business owners to accelerate innovation within their companies through Microsoft’s new software, Teams. Microsoft Teams is a tool that dramatically enhances every employee’s ability to collaborate by integrating the functions of chat, meetings, calls and collaboration into a single platform. With the recent outbreak of COVID-19, mandatory precautions have forced small to mid-sized businesses (SMBs) across the country to innovate after being thrust into an immediate need to keep their operations running, remotely. JEI Tech is proactively helping customers transition to their staff to a remote workforce leveraging Microsoft Teams.

While working remotely is the “new normal” among many businesses, some companies are reluctant to change, often citing intangible benefits of working in a shared physical location. However, according to the Forrester Study: The Total Economic Impact of Microsoft Teams, those assertions lack data. In fact, according to the study, “information workers were able to save 4hrs/wk through improved collaboration and information sharing,” thereby giving many employees the extra time they needed to finally catch up on all the loose ends that often interrupt operations. Furthermore, the Forrester Study also concluded that “an average of 150 overnight trips [were] replaced with online meetings by year 3.” Regardless of industry, every business stands to benefit greatly from the dramatic reduction in costs associated with decreasing travel budgets as well helping to combat COVID-19.

“We’ve been helping businesses transition to a more remote workforce for a long time and it’s not as complicated as many business owners make it out to be,” stated John Coleman, Director at JEI Tech. “Business owners need to understand that the technology has matured to the point where they can recreate those same intangible moments of connection and collaboration using Microsoft Teams, that in decades past, could only be achieved through the use of a physical office.” John later continued, “with the Coronavirus in play, many business owners don’t have a choice but to adapt, but we’re seeing that once businesses embrace this shift they end up with a more productive team that responds quicker to immediate business needs.”

Another aspect of Microsoft Teams is that it centralizes all resources and then makes them accessible online, so that employees can find everything they need in one central, cloud-based location. This typically has a very strong impact on reducing employee downtime. According to the Forrester Study, “having resources available online in Teams reduces downtime by 14.6 percent.” When resources are available in one cloud-based location, downtime is reduced and complexity is lowered, making security and compliance easier.

Coleman added, “In order to shift your workforce to a more remote environment that new environment must be supported. It demands that several technology solutions get put in place beforehand so that the transition can happen smoothly and maximum efficiency. With minimal investments in time and capital outlay, businesses can keep their businesses running strong no matter what natural disasters, pandemics or economic recessions loom on the horizon.”