By Mark Shaw
Technology is one world in which change is inevitable. No matter how you and your business use IT, the process and productivity is forever evolving. Your business is on a journey, and it could be on one of many paths to what we refer to as the Modern Workplace.
But before we try to find out where your business is, we need to understand the evolution from the “old” ways of work and the new world in which we are all a part of, either purposefully or by happenstance.
Most of us born before Y2K are familiar with working in an office with a desktop computer connected to the local network and everything was managed by your company. Your workday was fixed and set. You could not take company data home or work off hours easily. As time evolved, we started to bring laptops with work information home. and added VPNs so we could connect with internal systems from anywhere. Then COVID hit. We all packed up and went home. This changed everything. Meetings were now virtual, and our employees expected us to give them access to all the same systems they had when in office. We had to rethink meetings, phone systems and how we secure it all.
This is the NEW modern workplace. It is anywhere, everywhere and with EVERYTHING you need to conduct business 24/7. Always on and always available killed 9-5 desk jobs for many of us.
Components of the Modern Workplace include remote and hybrid work and cloud first tools for email, file, collaboration and even phone systems. Seamless communications via tools like Zoom, Teams or Slack all wrapped with essential cybersecurity!
But you may say, “This all sounds great but I’m not fully there yet, is it too late to change?” The answer is simple. No. Your march to increased productivity and added security is easier than you think, with less disruption to your core business.
Some of the most common challenges a company like yours might have may include not using IT Budgets as part of your overall business strategy, lack of in-house IT and of course as humans we tend to not like disruption and changes to our day to day.
This is normal. You are an expert in your business, but you may not be an expert in technology. This is where you should partner with a trusted technology firm who can help you navigate these waters for the massive benefits they yield.
Some clear and defined ways to start your modern workplace transformation includes a roadmap from Assessing current technology, setting priorities, and working with a partner who can help with guidance and execution on your current IT roadmap with phases aligned to your individual business goals.
Our three-phase method starts with finding the quick wins for your business, moving on to optimization of the technology often replacing legacy systems with new cloud-based apps for the remote and hybrid workforce, and finally Integration and Innovation. Integrating and leveraging automation for business processes and graduating to AI tools to make your team smarter and providing better customer service.
By working with a strong partner, you can quickly move from the quick and easy wins to integrating and leveraging AI, which in most cases has been fundamentally transformative to business.
Technology is the backbone of your company; it helps you and your employees succeed and win in today’s competitive landscape. Let us help you win the day and delight your clients and staff!