Many of us are in a hurry to usher in 2021 and firmly slam the door shut on 2020. But the year wasn’t a total loss. The events of 2020 tested our abilities to endure and adapt, change and grow. We embraced flexibility to reach our performance goals, and we leaned on the people around us to make it through together.
The bar may seem low for “best of” in 2020, but here at the ThinkIT Blog, we’re proud of the INAP team and the contributions of IT pros around the world who kept us all connected in the face of a global pandemic. And so, as we wrap up a rough year, let’s look back at the bright spots, focusing on flexibility, performance and people.
Flexibility
The events of this year have demanded that we pivot, rethink or completely rework our plans and strategies. Early in the pandemic, we covered how to get your network ready for emergency remote work, helping companies make the initial jump to sending their employees home.
As the lockdowns and quarantines have persisted, however, IT pros and leaders have been rethinking their infrastructure strategies to support long-term work from home options and to eventually execute a successful transition back to the office. We explored the acceleration of hybrid strategies and more in our latest State of IT Infrastructure Management report.
New Report: IT Infrastructure & The Pandemic
Earlier this year, we also explored how soft skills are essential to the success of IT pros in their current roles and for the future of the industry. In a study conducted pre-pandemic, “flexibility” was ranked most important soft skill for IT pros, and it has become even more important in our current landscape.
COVID-19 Pandemic Shines Spotlight on How Essential Soft Skills are to the Future of Tech
Performance
Demand for high-performance technology that keeps us connected has never been so paramount.
On this blog, our INAP solution engineers led the charge on crafting content to assist IT pros and leaders in improving their workflows and infrastructure choices. Below is just a sample of the great content they’ve produced this year:
Deploying Kubernetes on Bare Metal
Reduce Your AWS Public Cloud Spend with DIY Strategies and Managed Services
A Simple Guide for Choosing the Right Hybrid IT Infrastructure Mix for Your Applications
Our product team at INAP has also been working hard to launch new additions and updates to our portfolio that will benefit current and future customers and partners alike.
3 Reasons You Need INAP’s Next-Generation Dedicated Private Cloud in Your Hybrid Infrastructure Mix
People
As important as flexibility and performance are, it’s teamwork and dedication from people that has been most important to finding success this year. For those of us at INAP, this year was all about celebrating our people and IT pros at large.
Around the globe, our essential data center workers made it possible for the rest of us to go remote. And they maintained the high-level of service our customers expect to support their clients and company missions. Without our frontline employees working hard behind the scenes, life would have ground to a halt.
Video: Thank You Essential Data Center Workers
On September 14, we also took a moment to celebrate IT Professionals Day, highlighting how this year our IT teams have taken on a lion’s share of work in helping many companies go remote, protecting us from ongoing cyberthreats and accelerating digital transformation initiatives. But of course, we advocate thanking IT teams regularly.
IT Professionals Day 2020: 5 Reasons to Thank Your IT Team
Our leaders have guided us through a year of significant change. At INAP, we’ve gotten to know some of our leaders better via features on them in our Executive Spotlight series.
INAP Executive Spotlight: Jackie Coats, Senior Vice President, Human Resources
INAP Executive Spotlight: Matt Cuneio, Vice President, Network Operations Center
And we’ve been fortunate to welcome new leadership to the company who we’re looking forward to getting to know better over the years as they work to take INAP to the next level to the benefit of our employees, partners and customers.
INAP Appoints Joe Corvaia as Executive Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer
INAP Appoints Lisa Mayr Chief Financial Officer
INAP Appoints Kevin Goodman as Senior Vice President of Business Operations, Marketing and Strategy
Here’s to continued success through hard work and dedication in 2021.
