Anthony Lamoureux, CEO of Velocity Smart Technology, discusses how the digital workplace is transforming traditional business operations and reshaping the way companies collaborate.
The digital workplace has emerged as a groundbreaking frontier of tech innovation, as organisations strive to stay competitive and adapt to the changing needs of the workforce.
Various technologies, such as cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and mobility are being introduced into working life to create a seamless and interconnected work environment.
The digital workplace has become a catalyst for revolutionising traditional work environments and recent trends indicate a substantial rise in global workers operating in a hybrid environment, with an increase of 39% compared to the 37% recorded in 2022.
Whilst advances in how we work is always welcome in a fast-paced world you can’t afford to stand still for long – why should businesses be quick to adopt digital workplace technologies?
Here are a few benefits for consideration.
Benefits of embracing a digital workplace strategy:
- Increased productivity: Digital workplace tools and technologies streamline workflows, automate repetitive tasks, and provide employees with efficient ways to collaborate, communicate, and access information. This leads to improved productivity and enables employees to accomplish tasks more effectively.
- Enhanced collaboration: Digital workplace platforms foster collaboration by providing employees with seamless communication channels, project management tools, and shared online spaces for document collaboration. This facilitates real-time collaboration, regardless of employees’ physical locations, leading to better teamwork and faster decision-making.
- Cost savings: Adopting a digital workplace strategy can result in cost savings for organisations. It reduces the need for physical office space, as remote work becomes more prevalent.
- Enhanced agility and innovation: A digital workplace strategy enables organisations to adapt quickly to changing market conditions and embrace innovation. By leveraging digital tools and technologies, companies can experiment, iterate, and implement new ideas more rapidly, staying ahead of the competition and responding to customer needs effectively.
Moving from the traditional to digital
The speed at which the traditional work environment will be transformed will vary as each organisation has its own unique processes and procedures. Organisational culture, leadership, technological readiness, industry norms, employee demands, and external socio-economic influences all play a role in the journey and must be taken into consideration.
Some organisations may embrace change swiftly, driven by a culture of innovation, strong leadership and a readily available technology stack. Industries already facing disruption or intense competition may also have to expedite the digital workplace transformation in order to stay competitive.
On the other hand, organisations with a more resistant culture or limited resources may take longer to adapt. Ultimately, each organisation must assess its unique circumstances and develop a transformation roadmap that aligns with its goals, resources, and the evolving needs of its employees.
Smart lockers and digital transformation
Smart lockers can play an integral part of digital workplace transformation, offering organisations automated and secure IT Service Management (ITSM) solutions.
Smart lockers serve as data-driven powerhouses, yielding invaluable insights that illuminate decision-making, refine processes, and propel an unceasing drive for enhancement. Integrated with ITSM software such as ServiceNow, Smart Lockers can offer IT support teams and employees a smooth “Click and Collect” experience, making item retrieval swift and efficient.
With seamless integration into asset management and restocking protocols, smart lockers stocked with IT assets can extend service hours, unlock cost-saving potentials, and offer a streamlined user experience marked by its simplicity and convenience to the wider workforce whether they work on-site or remotely.
Smart lockers provide noteworthy efficiency benefits for IT Support Desk teams, streamlining equipment distribution and returns to significantly minimise the time and effort invested in hardware management. Implementing these locker solutions has shown the capacity to reduce deskside support effort by up to 20%.
With real-time tracking and analytics, IT teams can optimise resource allocation based on locker usage patterns. The contactless process enhances safety and accessibility, while secure item storage prevents loss or damage. By automating routine tasks and providing valuable data insights, smart lockers aid IT support professionals making informed decisions, allocating resources effectively, and elevating overall operational efficiency.
The future of digital transformation
While digital workplace transformations may vary across industries and organisations, it is clear that the traditional work environment is undergoing significant change. Some organisations have already made substantial progress, while others are still in the early stages of their digital transformation journey.
The pace of transformation will continue to accelerate as technology advances, market dynamics evolve, and organisations recognise the need to embrace digital solutions to remain competitive and meet evolving customer and employee expectations.
This shift represents a paradigmatic change in how organisations operate and leverage technology to drive innovation. By embracing the digital workplace, companies can transform the limitations of traditional office spaces, enabling employees to work from anywhere, anytime, and on any device – and with smart lockers, IT support teams have the flexibility to support an organisation’s remote workforce more easily, more quickly and far more efficiently than before.
The author is Anthony Lamoureux, CEO of Velocity Smart Technology.
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