Respond Quickly To the Workplace Revolution

Author: Mike Anderson Date: August 15, 2011

Topic: Workplace Research Note Number: 2011-4

Issues: What are the macro trends impacting the evolution of work?

What are the best practices for enabling a high productivity work environment?

Summary: The workplace is at the center of a transformation being fueled by multiple interrelated and accelerating forces. Not every business will face the disruption caused by these changes as quickly as others, but nearly all will be swept up by the workplace revolution.

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Knowledge and information workers are on the front lines of the workplace revolution. The growing importance of and increasing focus on, knowledge as the key driver of today’s economy serves to keep the pressure on productivity and performance levels of knowledge workers. The workplace for many has already undergone multiple transformations, becoming automated, accelerated by productivity and communication technologies, and disintegrated through various remote working initiatives and approaches. Five trends are converging in this already volatile environment to accelerate the pace of change and rapidly expand the reach of the workplace revolution to most, if not all, businesses.

Going Mobile:

Increased mobility in the workplace is not new. Mobile computing devices, most notably tablets and smartphones, are increasingly integrated with business applications and workplace tools. But the newest generation of workers, and all that will follow, have depended upon mobile capabilities for many years. The mobile mode of interacting, working, and living has become an inherent and natural element of personal identity for growing portion of the population.

The technologies for mobile have also turned a corner. Pervasive and high performance cellular and wireless systems deliver just enough bandwidth to drive an explosion of communication-centric smartphone apps, as well as a growing taste for mobile video. Tablets found the right mix of features, compelling applications, and an innovative user experience to drive unprecedented market acceptance, and help fuel the recent rapid proliferation of mobile devices.

For most, enterprise mobile strategies will shift from centralized planning and device management toward more flexibility and local, business-focused responsiveness and innovation. Those who have yet to address mobile strategically face increasing pressure to develop such plans sooner rather than later. IT-driven approaches based on planned applications and controlled deployment often cannot keep growing user demands and exploding device capabilities in check. As mobile device use grows and the pressure to openly embrace it increases, security issues loom large. Industrial espionage, malware and hackers will follow users into the mobile space, and attacks will increasingly seek to exploit mobile devices.

Note: This is part of Aragon’s archived research. Please visit our Coverage Areas page to view our most recent content.

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