Using Our Resources in Isolation, To Get Through a Pandemic Together
During uncertain times, anxiety often creeps in with the shadows and settles in thick dust. It can be difficult to know how to navigate these high-stress kinds of situations. With the state of the world right now, many of us are trying to keep our spirits up and normalcy in check despite the required social distancing and quarantines. Throughout all business communities, without the ability to network with meet-ups and conferences, many of us have been looking for other ways to come together, to meet virtually and engage with each other despite the hands we are unable to shake. The World Health Organization announced the coronavirus as a global pandemic on March 11, solidifying that this is something that affects us all, no matter our industry, culture, or location. While certainly it’s best for everyone’s safety we maintain our social distances, it can be a difficult burden to bear. Without our normal routines and a sense of security, it’s easy to feel unsettled and disconnected, like there’s no place to turn for some respite. It’s important for our emotional and mental well being to feel supported and to find more reason to embrace hope over worry. One way we can do that is by recognizing and utilizing all of our available resources. Not only the resources our governments and medical professionals are supplying, but those our friends or colleagues, business partners, and even our competitors are providing as well. It’s helpful to know that we are not in this alone, and we do have a variety of support systems to get through this tumultuous time together.
Navigating the Impacts of Coronavirus (COVID-19) With Combined Efforts
At DCKAP, having been established for over fourteen years and having waded through troublesome times like the 2008 recession, we recognize the uncertainty of future plans and the financial burden that may arise during this period. We want to do our part to help ease some of this concern. Ongoing now, we are offering discounts on our products. You can read about this in further detail here.
- For DCKAP PIM (prev. flexiPIM), we are offering a 3 month free trial
- For QA Touch, we are offering our QA Touch Essential Plan for free.
Additionally, taking cue from digital experience conferences for Magento and Adobe Summit, we successfully hosted our DCKAP Summit event as a virtual hangout and interactive conference on April 28, 2020. At the moment, we are hosting DCKAP eSessions intermittently to ensure that our clients and fellow community members get the best enterprise solutions and advice to grow their business.
Many of DCKAP’s Partners are also taking similar proactive and assistive measures to ease the burden this crisis may cause over the next several months. We’ve gathered and shared some of these updates and additional resources below:
Adobe has taken this time to announce how they plan to assist, and to assure us all that each and every one of their cloud solutions will remain fully operational with being continually monitored and operated from several locations around the world.
- Students have free access to Adobe Creative Cloud until May 31, 2020.
- Web-based PDF services on Adobe.com are free through May 31, 2020.
- They’re extending the renewal grace period to 60 days for customers in the Value Incentive Plan (VIP).
- They are eliminating additional license charges for Enterprise Term License Agreement (ETLA) customers for 60 days.
- They’re supporting data and analytics web traffic spikes through Adobe Analytics and Adobe Experience Manager, providing greater access and flexibility with Experience Cloud based on specific needs.
After reading the recent official response from the team at BigCommerce, merchants can rest a little easier. They will have access to some of the best resources and tools they will need to quickly launch an online store and help stabilize business through what could be a very challenging period. They want to support business growth by never charging transaction fees, providing marketing and sales tools meant to attract customers and convert sales with their easy to manage promotions and capabilities for gift certificates. To go even further in helping stores make this kind of transition, they are offering 3 months free on all plans for new merchants.
In order to better assist customers on their platform, Shopify has issued an official response that includes guiding businesses facing these difficult times with community support, weekly virtual programming, making physical and digital gift cards available on all new and existing Shopify plans to help increase sales, and to help stores create local delivery options. Additionally, they will be offering an extended 90 day trial on their platform (and they will extend the same for any current trial runners). This is in the effort to help small businesses and brick and mortar stores start to meet the challenge of the near future and transition more easily online.
A Letter to our Customers During the COVID-19 Pandemic
In a recent letter addressed to their customers, CEO of Salesforce, Marc Benioff, has promised that they will continue to support communities across the globe, ease access for emergency response teams, and make their technology readily available to customers, partners, and the community as a whole.
“Through Health Cloud, Salesforce is offering free access for qualified emergency response teams, call centers and care management teams for health systems affected by coronavirus. Tableau, which we acquired last year, has developed a free data resource hub to help organizations see and understand coronavirus data in near real-time, using case data compiled by Johns Hopkins University as well as data from the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. To help teams collaborate while employees are away from the office, Quip Starter will be available for free to any Salesforce customer or non-profit organization through September 30, 2020. Finally, our team has created a publicly-available Trailmix on Trailhead with tips on how to work from home and maintain personal well-being during this time.”
SAP Letter to Customers Regarding Business Continuity
SAP recently released their official statement on the situation, recognizing the difficult times we’re all facing and the measures they are taking to assist the community, by providing assurance that all of their systems will support any changes in working remotely and offering open access to SAP technology.
“For SAP maintenance and support functions, we have business continuity plans in place that are activated on demand. All internal systems, tools, monitors, etc. are designed to allow for remote work. – SAP offers solutions that can differentiate and support businesses and individuals who are navigating disrupted supply chains and travel or exploring new ways of working as a result of the deepening effects of the coronavirus. You can learn more about these and other offerings here.”
Commitment to Customers During COVID-19
Oracle also recently announced their response to the coronavirus, standing in solidarity with everyone and announcing they will be there to support businesses as needed. They have also provided assurances that their cloud services will be working without any issue during this time and they do not expect any disruption to cloud service availability. Additionally, they have advised they are working diligently to minimize any potential added lengthening of lead times.
As companies step up like this, and provide these assurances and additional resources, it can really help those who might be struggling to feel understood and supported, especially in these times of economic uncertainty. And, as things have progressed, many other companies have continued to post these kinds of updates and offered additional means to assist businesses and to help everyone, so we can all continue to stay informed, build relationships and maintain productivity.
Resources to help navigate work and coronavirus
– LinkedIn has several free learning courses in a variety of topics meant to help specifically during these times. The company has also created a daily special report page and official sources with updates to help keep the public informed of the latest information, with additional measures to help people navigate the world of remote working and to help us all stay connected.
Support during the COVID-19 pandemic – Zoom is offering a hub of various training resources and educational demos to help with the transition to remote working and virtual conferences. As things have quickly changed, the need to recalculate plans and find ways to maintain some productivity is at the forefront of business. They also support communication in healthcare, so doctors can diagnose and treat patients remotely.
Free large file transfers – In light of the increase in remote working, Meero recently announced offering free large-file transfers. An account is not needed and any files that are created up until June 2020 will be kept active for three months.
COVID-19 Response: Cutting Prices, Removing Limits – To assist, they are offering Loom Pro free for students and teachers, as well as by removing the recording limits on any free plan. They’ve also reduced the price for Loom Pro by 50% to help users, whether it be for business or personal use.
In addition to our work lives, our home lives have likely been greatly affected by the state of the world at the moment as well. Here are some additional resources for families with children, those concerned with finances and essential services, and for those that may be dealing with higher than usual anxiety and stress levels.
- Mental Health and Coping During The Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic | HHS
- Resources for Helping Kids and Parents Cope Amidst COVID-19
The situation may seem otherworldly right now, living and working in this more isolated and segmented existence, watching the news and stock reports with bated breath. While many things remain uncertain, what we can do is share our resources, and band together in spirit and virtual unity to share the burden of this time, while also keeping in mind, “This too shall pass”. #StaySafeStayHome
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