The English cricket team is definitely going through some tough times - with a lot of pressure on their captain Eoin Morgan.
But, as Brendon McCullum said about his friend Morgan in a recent interview "tough times don't last, but tough blokes do”.
I thought this was a great message to put things in perspective; and one that applies to businesses as well.
So, what does "tough" mean in the digital age?
Businesses are becoming more reliant on technology to be able to operate efficiently - or even to operate at all.
So when thinking about how to make your business tougher, your IT environment needs to be a big part of that.
Tough: Strong enough to withstand adverse conditions or rough handling - Oxford Dictionary
Strong enough (and agile enough)
Strength in your technology environment means having robust and resilient platforms and processes.
But as well as being "strong enough" there is a real need for businesses to be agile. Being able to quickly move when digital conditions change is vital to protect yourself.
• Reduce single points of failure; so failure of any individual hardware components won't affect your business operations. This includes IT hardware and also the power, cooling and connectivity they rely on.
• Invest in agile technology platforms to get scale and flexibility when you need it. Premium cloud platforms are built with excellent strength and resilience, without you having to own it.
• Adopt end-to-end, managed security solutions to encompass your applications, data, devices and networks; keeping you safe from the ever changing security threats.