Field report – Coronacrisis 2020 from ScriptRunner’s perspective

During the lockdown, the vocational school lessons initially took place exclusively online. The changeover was not without difficulties.

One would have expected a vocational school specializing in IT to have the resources and skills to make the switch without any problems. But far from it: Only after a classmate took the initiative 8 weeks (!) after the start of the lockdown and created MS Teams Meetings could the lessons be continued.

But even at this point, the teachers seemed overwhelmed. They clearly lacked the right structure and understanding of the technology. Some teachers were not available at all, so that their lessons were completely cancelled.

We were already in close contact with our customers before the lockdown in order to discuss the possible consequences of Corona for the cooperation. This gave us valuable insights into the upcoming and ongoing changes on the customer side:

Licenses had to be adjusted and VPN changes in the infrastructure had to be implemented, on- and offboarding processes were sometimes problematic and very costly. All contacted customers confirmed  a growing workload for the IT departments.

We also received confirmation of a more intensive use of ScriptRunner in the IT teams. Especially the possibility of  easy and secure delegation of routine tasks was perceived as a relief and created free space for other, more important issues.

We perceived automation as a clear booster and strong support. Based on this insight, ScriptRunner provided an extended trial version from May to the end of July 2020 with the “Automation Booster” campaign, for 90 days of free automation and delegation.

The trend towards automation is also reflected in ScriptRunner’s sales development in the first half of 2020. We can announce a significant increase in sales compared to planning (more about this in part 2 – to follow shortly)!

The majority of our customers are in the enterprise segment (> 1000 users) or in the managed service provider environment. However, the development in the first half of the year was somewhat different for small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) (up to 500 users).

Demand in the SME segment, which already accounted for only a small part of our business before the crisis began, declined even more. We see this as a clear sign of a lack of digitalization and automation among SMEs. In view of the overall economic situation and with a view to the future, we regard this as a very worrying development.

Already the first trade hsow we wanted to visit in 2020, the “Microsoft Ignite the Tour” in Amsterdam (11. – 12.03.2020) was cancelled without replacement due to Corona. Also the following events did not take place as planned: they were partly postponed to the end of the year, cancelled or replaced by online events.

The switch to virtual platforms ensured that the PowerShell community did not come to a standstill. Even though we believe that digital events are no substitute for face-to-face meetings and the opportunity to exchange information on site, we are still pleased that we were able to participate and help shape the following events:

• Office 365 Con 2020
• Teams Community Day Online
• CollabSummit Sponsor Day

Currently, it is planned that the first on-site event for ScriptRunner in 2020 will be Experts Live Switzerland, which has been postponed to September 30. We are keeping our fingers crossed for us and the organizers that ELCH 2020 can take place, but of course the safety and health of our colleagues and partners is also our top priority.