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Locations are variable. Work hours are flexible. Technologies are multiple. The corporate need for greater agility, profitability and productivity is fuelling a radical reinvention of when, where and how we work.

Connecting individuals and information across such a dynamic and diverse workplace is a massive challenge – with a raft of competing solutions. Ultrabooks, tablets, smartphones, portals, social networks, wikis: the workplace is awash with new technologies and tools that promise to increase flexibility and efficiency.

Pierre Hall, Director of Workplace and Software at Computacenter, commented: “The frontiers of today’s workplace are constantly changing. And it’s increasingly employees rather than the IT department that are leading the march into new territory.”

According to a CIO Connect survey, two-thirds of CIOs believe that IT users are now one of the most powerful drivers of change in enterprises.1 With so many individual agents of change, businesses must ensure that the desire for a faster, smarter workplace doesn’t spiral out of control.

Set the style Organisations maximise staff mobility,

flexibility and productivity by using work-styles to define the provisioning of new

technologies in a contemporary workplace

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Make IT work To ensure the adoption of new workplace technologies improves rather than impedes productivity or agility, organisations need to establish a flexible but standardised framework for ascertaining and meeting employee needs. Enter the concept of work-styling.

“Understanding how employees work is key to provisioning the right IT hardware and software as well as support services to meet their needs – particularly as the choice of device becomes much broader, and users begin to dictate their own preferences,” comments Pierre.

Although work-styles are often highly personal, it is possible to create a portfolio of common profiles within most organisations

– for example a field worker versus a home worker or an office worker. As well as matching software and hardware to users’ needs, work-styles also help organisations identify the appropriate level of IT support for different groups, such as ‘VIPs’.

The concept of work-styles has already filtered into Microsoft’s licensing model, with Office 365 being packaged and sold according to the needs of the kiosk or information worker.

To characterise different work-styles, organisations will need to consider a range of factors, including: • Job function• Information and application access requirements • Internal and external interactions• Value of transactions• Risk exposure• Work locations.

“Given the rise in flexible and remote working practices, location will prove a particularly influential factor for many organisations when defining work-styles,” says Pierre.

Almost 90 per cent of businesses say they want employees to be able to work from home when needed.2 This need is likely to peak during the summer of 2012 when millions of visitors descend on London for the Olympics.

With 170 miles of road closures and commute times around the capital predicted to double or possibly treble,3 the ability to work remotely will be beneficial for employee and employer alike.

Andy Goddard, Computacenter’s Practice Leader for Workplace and Collaboration, comments: “London 2012 presents businesses with both a challenge and an opportunity, and could become a catalyst for a shift towards greater remote and flexible working not only during but after the games.”

Maximising mobility, minimising risk Regardless of the added Olympics factor, greater mobility has already been recognised as the key to achieving a smarter and faster workplace, with more than 70 per cent of IT decision-makers citing increased efficiency and workforce effectiveness as key business benefits.4

Despite its ability to deliver a positive business outcome, mobility can also be a major challenge – with 41 per cent of IT decision-makers placing it at the top of the risk ratings, higher than public cloud computing.4

Duncan Gooding, Networking, Security and Visual Collaboration Director at Computacenter, commented: “As more applications and data become mobile-enabled, the security risks will increase

- particularly around information loss. As a result, organisations need to be sure only relevant users are given mobile devices and access.” With a work-style framework already in place, businesses will not only be able to simplify the mobilisation of the workforce but also ensure the right security controls are applied based on what information and systems are being accessed.

With 59 per cent of organisations now routinely making line of business applications accessible from mobile devices,4 IT departments need to be ready to adapt existing security policies, processes and tools for the contemporary workplace.

“Rather than focusing on the end point, IT departments should consider how information is viewed, transmitted and stored. This will enable them to establish an integrated data security strategy that can be applied to not only current but also future workplace platforms,” comments Duncan.

Keeping consumerisation under control An organisation’s work-style strategy will also be influenced by the growing use of personal devices on the corporate network – the so-called ‘consumerisation of IT’.

A survey by Vanson Bourne claims there will be a 249 per cent increase in the use of personal devices in the UK workplace by the end of 2013.2 Yet it’s unclear whether this usage will be authorised or not. According to Redshift Research, 48 per cent of IT managers said their organisation would never authorise the use of employees’ own devices, yet 57 per cent believed workers were using devices without permission.1

“As with many emerging technologies, most businesses will probably start by taking a hybrid approach to consumerisation, with the network being opened up for certain users and devices,” comments Duncan. “Work-styles will help ensure this process remains controlled while also providing greater employee flexibility.”

The governance of IT consumerisation will be fundamental; personal devices not only increase security risks but also the support overhead. As Gartner warns: “The diversity of mobile solutions and their pace of evolution put a major strain on IT resources to assess, manage, deploy and support. Mobility does not easily fit into the standard refresh cycle and corporate hardware/software image.”5

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A flexible virtual infrastructure To simplify the management of mobile devices in the workplace – enterprise or employee owned – many organisations are starting to turn to desktop virtualisation.

According to IDC, almost a third of European oranisations have either begun a desktop virtualisaton pilot or have already implemented a full solution.6

“With its centralised model and personalised client images, virtual desktop infrastructures (VDI) help mitigate issues around local data access and protection,” comments Pierre. “It also enables IT departments to package up applications more easily to align with specific work-styles.”

VDI is also a major factor in enabling flexible working, as it means employees can access their data and ‘desktop’ from any device or location. Severn Trent Water deployed VDI to support its adoption of flexible working practices as part of an IT transformation project with Computacenter.

Myron Hrycyk, Chief Information Officer at Severn Trent Water, comments: “By embracing new technologies we can improve the quality of customer services and enhance the delivery of services to our customers, while supporting the company’s goal of ‘being the best’.”

Balancing choice with control The water company also deployed Microsoft Windows 7 as part of its new workplace technology landscape. “Windows 7 has been specifically designed to support more flexible work-styles,” comments Pierre. “As well as providing secure remote access options, it offers improved wireless networking and file-sharing across multiple devices.”

Windows 7 also provides a foundation for businesses to adopt and fully exploit the latest online collaboration tools – from video-conferencing and team portals to IP telephony and instant messaging.

These tools are essential for enabling greater flexibility and mobility in the workplace, but, like any new technology, need to be provisioned based on business need.

“IT departments must find a balance between user choice and corporate control,” comments Pierre. “By establishing different work-styles, businesses will be able to provide flexibility where it is needed without adding unnecessary cost or complexity to their IT operations.”

Computacenter helps customers identify and implement not only work-styles but also wider workplace IT strategies. As Pierre explains: “Our consultants will determine the IT platforms and policies needed to establish a flexible workplace infrastructure that leverages current investments.”

Computacenter can also simplify the ongoing management and deployment of multiple client images through its Configuration Centre, which has the capacity to build 6,000 items a day, and its Service Control Centre, which has packaged more than 1,000 different applications for customers.

Technology will be fundamental to unlocking new ways of working. But new doesn’t always mean better. Adopting a work-style approach will help organisations prioritise and optimise the utilisation of new technologies so they can achieve a faster and smarter workplace without increasing risk, cost or complexity.

Download Computacenter’s brochure, Creating a Workplace for a Contemporary World: www.computacenter.com/excluded/downloads/workplace/

Download the IDC Analyst Connection to discover how the workplace service revolution presents challenges and opportunities: www.computacenter.com/excluded/downloads/IDCWhitepaper/

References:1. www.computerweekly.com/news/2240114743/Mobile-devices-set-to-

become-company-policy2. www.computerweekly.com/news/2240146402/UK-leading-in-personal-device-

use-in-workplace3. Clearing Olympic Hurdles, JBA Consulting and Citrix, 20114. State of Mobility Survey 2012, Symantec 5. Market Trends: Mobility Solutions in Vertical Markets, Gartner, October 20116. The Workplace Services Revolution Presents Challenges — and Opportunities,

IDC, January 2012

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