Business continuity in COVID-19 times

Business continuity in COVID-19 times

Small enough to be agile, big enough to keep your business running

The coronavirus pandemic delivered an unprecedented blow to businesses. Fortunately, GFT was well prepared. With digital first as part of our DNA we were able to transfer about 6,000 employees to home working without delay. Although this has meant a major transformation in the way we work, GFT remains open for business while our offices are closed. With all core applications on the cloud, our systems and people are operating as normal. GFT teams have delivered several mission-critical projects with all members working remotely. We believe this confirms that our approach is sound and would like others to learn from our experience.

Business continuity in Covid-19 times at GFT<br/> — Business continuity in Covid-19 times at GFT

Cloud-based solutions enable

6,000 employees switched to working from home within 48 h

Delivered on time

Client productivity boosted

Stable digital network

Digital first is in our DNA

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Client

GFT Technologies SE

GFT Technologies SE is driving the digital transformation of the world’s leading companies. With strong consulting and development skills across all aspects of pioneering technologies, GFT’s clients gain faster access to new IT applications and business models. Founded in 1987, GFT employs over 7,000 experts in more than 15 markets.

Challenge

Transferring an entire company to working from home within 48 hours

With the onset of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, working in shared offices was suddenly no longer viable. Working from home quickly moved from being an exception to the norm. We switched about 6,000 employees from the Americas to Europe and Asia to working from home within 48 hours, all while maintaining high security and quality standards and without any downtime. That is unprecedented and is only possible thanks to our “nearshoring” approach which allows for great cultural fit, reasonably sized teams and short decision-making paths.
During the crisis our teams and clients must continue to collaborate while working apart. Moving to a virtual operation can present both human and technological challenges:

Maintaining efficient teamwork. Reduced face-to-face interaction can lead to a lack of clarity.
Keeping productivity up. A system with appropriate metrics that allow you to closely monitor productivity is crucial to success when working from home.
Overcoming IT infrastructure constraints. Increased traffic can slow VPN access and restrict access to critical tooling.
Fulfilling diverse international legal requirements on working from home
Learning to use new tools and systems

Engagement

GFT goes virtual

Our recent experience shows how a physical operation can be seamlessly migrated to a virtual arrangement. Following the proven GFT methodology, we continue to support mission-critical systems within some of the world’s top financial institutions

Global delivery: scaled up from 43 locations to almost 6,000
Agile teams and DevOps practices prove indispensable in aligning technology with business problems, maintaining consistent communications and keeping track of progress.
Working from home was already widely used at GFT even before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Client communications through regular virtual meetings enable issues to be raised. Milestones are achieved, maintaining client trust and loyalty.