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HP’s director of corporate, enterprise/public sector and personal systems, John O’Reilly, tells PCR why it is essential that IT departments take note of the changes in the workplace.
“The pervasiveness of technology in our daily working lives through the omnipresence of laptops, tablets and mobile devices has changed the landscape of the workplace forever,” said O’Reilly.
“Business regularly takes place from the airport, a customer site, a coffee shop, or at home – research has identified that 62 per cent of people work from more than one location.”
A study by Wakeman and Cushman identified that the average office space per person has decreased by 40 per cent from 2004 to 2014. “This trend is only going to increase as the number of devices increase as well,” explained O’Reilly. “As a result of the ever increasing number of portable devices, it is essential that this new way of working is facilitated by the IT department to provide devices that are fast, secure, and easy to carry around.
“As employees move out of the office and into a broader range of working environments, the demands on the tools that they use for work are also changing. Workers may require the mobility of a tablet whilst in a meeting, but the functionality of a keyboard when travelling. As a result, the device provided by the IT department needs to suit a wide variety of different users and therefore, the option of a hybrid, 2-1 device is ideally suited.”
He continued: “As the concept of the physical ‘office’ becomes more abstract, IT departments are increasingly being asked to provide devices that are visually attractive for workers when ‘on the road’ in addition to providing the required functionality that matches the demands of their jobs.”
With tough demands being placed on IT departments to adapt to the changes in the workforce, they need to be able to provide devices that match employees’ requirements, and support them too.
“New business devices need to be mobile, functional and aesthetically pleasing,” advised O’Reilly.
“This has ushered in a new breed of hybrid devices that aim to satisfy even the most demanding of workers.”
