Pandemic or not, smart businesses know that customer experience is everything.
Ensuring connectivity and strong services — including expanded virtual and mobile capacities to meet the many logistical challenges of COVID-19 — is critical not only to maintaining operations but also to gaining loyalty when the parameters of typical commerce are forever changed.
On top of that, IT leaders must deploy increasingly robust security measures to ensure staff and customers, wherever they’re located, can carry on without the fear of cyberthreats.
Those concerns will guide CDW’s Tech Talk, “Building Innovative Customer Experiences for Today’s Business Climate,” where virtual attendees will hear from industry leaders and experts from Sept. 14 through Sept. 16 as they dive deeper into the highly influential role of IT during this transformation.
WATCH: What we learned from CDW's Tech Talk, "Optimizing the New Workforce Dynamic."
Meeting the Business Challenges of COVID-19 with Empathy, Security
A massive shift to remote work has forced businesses of all types to reimagine how their teams operate outside of an office or storefront. On the flip side, they must also help customers discover and embrace new ways to interact with their employees — even if those methods might seem unfamiliar or impersonal.
Jill Billhorn, senior vice president of corporate sales at CDW, will kick off the CDW Tech Talk event with a session explaining the value of empathy and its increasingly vital role in customer support. Billhorn will share innovative ways to address customer needs and the unique value of a compassionate approach during unprecedented times.
After all, peace of mind lies at the core of any supportive experience — which is why customers must trust that their data and devices will be protected during any communication or transaction, no matter what is going on in the world.
Complexities of the pandemic have challenged IT teams to fortify and evolve their protective efforts using new technologies and approaches. But these measures, though necessary, can’t come at the expense of customer convenience.
Chris McCain, director of networking and security at VMware, will share best practices for designing and deploying seamless security efforts. His session will examine security design from a policy-based, distributed and intrinsic approach, with actionable takeaways to help organizations visualize how quality customer experience can coexist with well-protected customer data.
Strong Networks Drive Digital Transformation, Better Experiences
Although COVID-19 has brought countless setbacks to businesses, it has also spurred many to pursue digital transformation projects. In fact, 61 percent of respondents in a recent survey of 400 IT leaders said the pandemic is accelerating these efforts.
Such measures — which could include mobility initiatives to reach customers in a safer, socially distanced manner; more digital services or asynchronous communication tools; and virtualization technologies to support remote teams — require a secure, high-performing network to deliver results with minimal downtime.
The value of this component will be the focus of a session led by Patrick LaPorte, senior director for cloud and software solutions marketing at Aruba Networks. LaPorte will explain four key attributes to guide any networking effort, and how they can address business challenges now and throughout the digital transformation journey.
No matter the size or scope of the effort, insightful preparations rooted in speed, security and simplicity can guide businesses toward greater stability as challenges and circumstances change.
Other scheduled sessions in the upcoming lineup include thought leadership presentations from Cisco, Microsoft and Zebra Technologies.
Follow BizTech's full coverage of the event here. Insiders can register for the event here.
