Sticking together despite keeping your distance.

HOW INFORMATICS WORKED DURING THE CORONA LOCKDOWN

The theme of the year (maybe decade?) will definitely be the Corona crisis. COVID-19 has kept us on tenterhooks and is still doing so to some extent. And this at a time when the economy was already slightly depressed and the word recession was already being used quietly behind closed doors.

Suddenly we are in a crisis that stops at no social class and no industry. We are confronted with a virus that does not respect trade borders. In short, we are in a situation that was not planned and that made us feel faint at the beginning. However, like every crisis, this one has shown what possibilities we actually have. Therefore, I would like to reflect on this time from the perspective of INFORMATICS.

OUR TEAM

First and foremost, the entire team should be highlighted. The last few weeks have proven how strong the bond is between the people in our company and how important understanding and cohesion are. Individuality and flexibility were the order of the day, new challenges such as homeschooling and all-day childcare as well as the support of families suddenly came to the fore. And yet, together we managed to understand and help with the many demands of our clients. Because short-time work was not an issue for us. It was a matter of supporting our customers and suppliers in the situation, while also supporting the economic system. I am proud of our ecosystem, which has proven to be right. I am proud of our team!

CORONA - THE DIGITALISATION DRIVER

Looking inwards, it was also a great challenge for us to apply internally the process digitalisations that we preach a lot. Even though many projects had been on the table for a long time, we always lacked the time to implement them. But suddenly the need arose and within a few days complete process strands were digitalised. It helped us that we have been using SAP for our processes for many years.

Our infrastructure was - thank goodness! - was already designed for digital collaboration. Since we are subject to very strong data protection with our industries and customers, we still operate all collaboration platforms in our own data centre. Therefore, the switch to a holistic home office operation was easy.

COUNTERACT SOCIAL DISTANCING

What was also most important to us was to counteract social distancing. Therefore, there were many virtual meetings and coffee breaks via webcam at short intervals that emphasised informal exchange. The appreciation of face-to-face coordination and project cooperation, which had previously been considered normal and taken for granted, also grew enormously. The quality of the shared workplace became apparent at the very moment when it was no longer there. In this respect, going back to the office was a relief for many.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank the entire team, our customers, our suppliers and their families.

Otto Kitzmüller, Managing Director INFORMATICS Holding