MIT Sloan Management Review Article on Preparing for Disruption With Resilient Services

Companies can deliver critical knowledge services more efficiently by embracing distributed computing’s modular approach to allocating resources.

When companies shifted to remote working in response to the coronavirus pandemic, many discovered the hard way that decades of offshoring critical knowledge services around the globe to maximize efficiency left them vulnerable to abrupt disturbances to business continuity. Suddenly, mortgages were not approved. Customer support hotlines were unavailable. Paychecks were delayed.

Disruptions — major and minor — will continue to impact businesses even after COVID-19 outbreaks recede. Other risks, such as cyberattacks, trade wars, and extreme weather events caused by climate change, linger on the horizon.