Since the COVID-19 pandemic gripped the world earlier this year and countries went into nationwide lockdowns, businesses (where possible) have had to quickly adapt their operations in order to accommodate employees and service customers.

What has become clear over this incredibly turbulent period is that companies that had been making savvy digital investments pre-COVID-19 were the most resilient and best placed to weather the storm. Furthermore, we are seeing evidence that trends (cloud, digital collaboration, analytics) that were happening in the market have now accelerated and that technology investment decisions are front of mind.

Since March diginomica has been documenting and speaking to companies about how they have responded to the global health crisis – where their pain points are, how they’ve remained agile, what their priorities are going forward, and what the pandemic will mean for the future of their business.

You can find all of our COVID-19 related content in the dedicated diginomica hub, but we thought it might be a good idea to collate some of our top case study picks for easy reference. We hope that as a resource this will prove useful for companies looking for guidance.

Accenture CEO Julie Sweet – how we’re dealing with Coronavirus and how it’s impacting our clients needs

Service giant Accenture has been tracking client behaviour, but has also been issuing guidance on how it has responded to COVID-19. CEO Julia Sweet outlines how Accenture operates a virtual team structure, has a crisis management committee, and is focused on staff retention.

Insurance software provider CDL uses ServiceNow for business continuity during COVID-19

UK-based insurance software provider CDL had the foresight to have a business continuity plan, which included scenario planning for pandemics. The company is cloud-first, people-focused and has been using ServiceNow to monitor the health of employees.

Paymentsense proves agility during Coronavirus thanks to Google Cloud migration

Paymentsense is one of Europe’s fastest growing fintech companies, offering small businesses an affordable payment processing service and software. The company recently migrated to Google Cloud Platform, which has given it a new level of agility and helped it better respond to COVID-19.

HR in the limelight – Chief People Officers share their top priorities during Coronavirus pandemic

At the core of almost every business’ response to COVID-19 is how it effectively empowers its people. With this in mind, diginomica spoke to a number of HR leaders about what is front of mind for them. The key takeaways include engagement and wellbeing, a new approach to management, and coaching and development.

No need to call ‘cut!’ – Workplace from Facebook keeps the National Film and Television School teaching during COVID-19

The National Film and Television School found that its use of Workplace from Facebook really came to the fore during the health crisis, allowing for information to be shared, for students to participate in their education and for the entire school community to stay connected.

COVID’s ‘penny drops’ moment – TSB’s Chief Operating Officer on why there’s no turning back for customers from banking’s digital shift

Banking firm TSB has found that the organisation’s customer base has undergone an enforced shift to digital, thanks to COVID-19, and the bank itself has accelerated its digital transformation journey. Learnings have been made and TSB is thinking about how it can remove its dependencies on analog aspects of its operating model.

Delivering IT services in a pandemic – how the City of Seattle’s IT team has risen to the challenge of COVID-19

The CIty of Seattle is a local government entity of approximately 15,000 employees with an IT department of 700. Since the pandemic hit the US, the IT team has been at the forefront of ensuring delivery of vital citizen services – and demand over the period has soared.

COVID’s digital DIY boom – how Home Depot and Lowe’s omni-channel retail prep rode out the pandemic crisis

One sector that definitely saw success from the government issued stay at home orders was the home improvement industry. Lowe’s and Home Depot effectively own the US market on this front and both have benefited from their prior multi-year omni-channel transformation efforts, as online transactions rose.

Salesforce Live – how AXA PPP Healthcare stabilized the business during COVID-19

Salesforce Live, unsurprisingly, had a strong focus on companies’ response to the global health crisis. AXA PPP healthcare, one of the largest insurance organisations in the world, was speaking at the event and shared how it is working to keep its employees safe and to ensure that critical services for customers could continue to be delivered.

Salesforce Live – how the Co-op copes with higher customer support demand during COVID-19

The UK’s Co-Operative Group – a £10 billion a year operation that includes food, e-pharmacy, insurance services, legal services and funeral care – also took the ‘stage’ at Salesforce Live and outlined how it is still focusing on personalized service for customers, but with renewed emphasis on empathy, effectiveness and efficiency.

Kroger opens up its COVID retail survival playbook to its peers – and eats its own digital dog food

US grocery giant Kroger went further than most other retailers and shared its strategic response to COVID-19 in the form of a written playbook for its peers. Some of the advice includes identifying high risk locations, analysing staffing in areas badly impacted by the virus, and urging a focus on speed rather than tooling.

How one of the largest NHS Trusts in the UK switched to digital collaboration to help fight COVID-19

The National Health Service (NHS) in the UK faced a daunting and mammoth task in helping care for Coronavirus patients and responding effectively to the health crisis. One of the NHS’s largest Trusts, Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals, has placed a particular emphasis on digital collaboration for both practitioners and patients.

The Salvation Army gives its organization a voice with rollout of Microsoft Teams

Digital collaboration tools have unsurprisingly seen a huge surge during the pandemic, as offices closed down and organisations shifted to distributed workforces. The Salvation Army’s use of Microsoft Teams allowed the international charity to continue providing essential services, such as distributing food and supplying medical care, as well as being able to continue to support staff through this difficult period.

Levi’s plans to accelerate e-commerce and invest in AI initiatives to help reduce COVID-19 pain

Denim giant Levi’s suffered huge losses during the first three months of the COVID-19 lockdowns, as a result of nationwide store closures. However, Levi’s is confident about its investments to date and its digital plans going forward, which include modernising its processes, adapting its omni-channel approach, as well as investing in data and AI.

An inside look at how HMRC delivered its rapid COVID-19 response

HMRC is the UK’s tax office and is the government department responsible for developing and launching the schemes that were designed to support the UK through the Coronavirus pandemic. HMRC has been on a long transformation journey over the past decade, which helped it respond effectively when needing to launch the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, the Self Employed Income Support Team and the Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme.

IoT is icing on the cake for Göbecke Bakery’s back-to-work strategy

Göbecke Bakery is run by the fourth-generation, sister-and-brother team of Christine and Matthias Göbecke, who have managed to keep it up and running during the Covid-19 lockdown, with reduced working hours and careful management of employee shifts. They’re getting back to full operations, while also keeping staff safe, using Smart Social Distancing technology built on Software AG’s Internet of Things (IoT) platform.

Bupa closely tracks global employee engagement with Glint during COVID-19 crisis

International healthcare provider and multi-insurance group Bupa employs over 83,000 people. Chief People Officer Nigel Sullivan tells diginomica how the organisation is using technology from LinkedIn’s Glint to find out how those employees are coping with lockdowns and sustained working from home. Access to this data during the pandemic has helped Bupa respond to its employees’ needs.

DFS unites its four furniture brands with G Suite collaboration

DFS is a household name in the UK and the largest furniture retailer in the market, operating under four different brands. Back in 2019 it began on a journey to bring its employees closer together, across all its organisations, by rolling out collaboration platform, G Suite. The project was serendipitous in that it has helped the DFS Group respond swiftly during the COVID-19 pandemic.