What is a digital workplace?

I’m a remote worker, with no fixed work location – I might work on a plane (as I’m doing now), in a hotel, from home, from any one of Snow’s offices, from a customer site, a conference or a train. It doesn’t really matter where I am, as long as I can access the tools I need to do my job and engage with my colleagues. This isn’t necessarily the way the majority of people work (despite what those of us who work in the technology industry think!), and those of us who do so tend to be in the minority within our organisations. This presents the Technology Guardians tasked with ensuring we can work effectively with additional challenges, as they need a more detailed understanding of user roles to be able to provide solutions over and above the office-based/home-based options that they primarily focus on if they’re going to avoid IT bypass. As I explained to the colleagues who live inside my computer, my workplace is truly digital in that it transcends physical location, and they are part of that digital environment.

As we researched the idea of the digital workplace further, it turns out that there is no single definition – and most people agree there shouldn’t be, as it’s an evolving concept. What we now call a ‘digital workplace’ started with the idea that you could access workplace tools and services within a single portal (often an intranet) around 10 years ago). The term first started to become popular in around 2013-14, and has really taken off in the last few years with Gartner expanding their Digital Workplace Summit from EMEA to the US in 2019 (which I wrote about last year).

Some people describe it as having the technology/digital tools to do the job (which may or may not be company provided), while others talk about a continuously evolving approach to using digital technology to support changing working cultures and practices. You can see the difficulty in trying to define the digital workplace as it is constantly changing as the technology we use changes. Over time the technology included within the digital workplace has expanded from primarily on-premises tools and hosted services to include a range of SaaS and cloud-based offerings.

As the term ‘digital workplace’ becomes more pervasive, it can mean different things to different people: 

• the technology your organisation provides you access to so that you can do your job, 
• a combination of all the digital technology that you engage with as part of your work (including equipment, software and services not provided by your organisation), 
• a combination of the digital, physical and interpersonal aspects of work, or 
• the entire environment or ecosystem of people, process and technologies that you engage with and that influence you directly or indirectly in the course of your work.

However we choose to define it, it is clear that the boundaries between our working and personal lives are increasingly blurred, and many of us use the same technology and services for both.

Digital workplace is an approach to technology that puts people at the heart of the way in which we build our digital environments.

The challenges for Technology Guardians and IT leaders

During Gartner’s Digital Workplace Summit last year, Stephen Kleyhnans observed that IT can no longer be the “Digital Dictator”. The upcoming generation of digital-native employees know how they want to work with tech, and this (together with changing technology) is changing the role of the IT department. As Jesse Stockall points out in his Forbes article, Technology Guardians are challenged to “find a way to provide and enable services from multiple portals and vendors, while ensuring consistent performance, security and governance” and to provide digital environments that reflect the changing workforce.

The digital workplace must be a workplace that adapts to user needs, reflects the demands of global business and a workforce increasingly made up of digital natives (even if all those blog posts about millennials with their laptops working from a beach in Bali aren’t necessarily typical of mainstream working practices).

In his presentation, Stephen described the digital workplace “evolving as a new work nucleus providing users with the tools that allow them to work”, and cautions IT departments against being too focussed on devices (specifically PCs) when users are increasingly device-agnostic and may not use their laptop for significant periods of time. While this isn’t currently true of the majority of users in most organisations, the analyst lifestyle that informs this view (and with which I am very familiar) isn’t unique. Many of us who work in the technology industry, rather than in the IT teams supporting our customers’ organisations would do well to remember that while digital technology is transforming working practices in many roles, there is a long way to go before everyone has the flexibility to work from anywhere using a range of technologies. There are roles that aren’t flexible such as delivery drivers and others who support supply chains, emergency services, healthcare workers, warehouse operatives, call centre agents and more. While technology still enables them, the nature of their role dictates what they use and where they use it. Not everyone has the same choice to work from that beach in Bali…

The digital workplace in the real world

I wrote this on a plane to California and looking at my diary over the following 10 days, it’s unlikely that I’ll spend more than a few hours using my laptop (I finished editing the post during the jet-lagged insomniac small hours in my hotel room). While I can use it on the plane, this flight at least had no Wi-Fi, and once I landed my diary is a continual round of conference sessions, meetings and further flights until I get home, so I’ll be primarily reliant on my phone(s) and tablet to keep on top of any time-critical work. As I have no fixed work location, my workplace is truly digital – it exists in and through the devices I use to access it, whether connected or (as I am now) disconnected. While Stephen pointed out that IT teams tend to be focussed on the PC as a primary device, in the world of SaaS and cloud, there is also a tendency to think that we are always online. However, it isn’t just travel (not all flights yet have usable Wi-Fi – if they have it at all – and Wi-Fi on trains and in hotels is generally pretty poor) that means that locally installed applications still have a place in the digital workplace – there are plenty of 3G and 4G dead spots, and the recent storms and flooding in the UK have cut many people off from wired broadband. However, these offline times are fewer and shorter than previously, so although we may find that continuous monitoring is impossible for people in these roles, they are likely to be online at various intervals. 

While I’m looking forward to this week’s conference, to the opportunity to meet up with customers, and the events we’re hosting in NYC and Chicago with our partners Anglepoint (there’s still time to register if you want to come along!), these trips are only really possible because of the evolution of the digital workplace, which travels with me.

In a world where every organisation is reliant on digital technology, the digital workplace needs to be adaptable and flexible, creating a hybrid environment leveraging an eclectic and constantly changing selection of technologies. Deep tech intelligence is essential not only to providing, maintaining and supporting these services, but to understanding the differing needs of end-users within any organisation.

As for that original discussion about Digital Transformation? Watch this space!

The post Entering the Matrix: What the Digital Workplace Means in the Real World appeared first on Snow Software.

Nowhere is data more important than in the public sector. The organizations that serve an ever-growing number of citizens today face a variety of challenges including the migration and optimization of the cloud, implementation of evolving data privacy measures, control of technology sprawl, and the ability to ensure efficient IT spend. Without accurate intelligence around their technology ecosystems, IT teams are unable to contribute to strategic business goals. Instead, they are forced to reactively deal with one unanticipated technical issue after another.

Gaining Visibility Across the IT Ecosystem

Australia Post provides postal services to the people of Australia via more than 4,000 post offices. The government agency is responsible for delivering more than three billion items in 2018 alone, and the organization is mandated to maintain a level of quality service and profitability. This requires Australia Post to run its IT ecosystem as effectively and efficiently as possible in order to support its operation at scale.

To ensure a deep understanding of their massive IT ecosystem, manage application sprawl, and ensure maximum value from their technology investments, Australia Post turned to Snow Software.

The public agency knew they needed far-reaching visibility across their systems, including data on high-level technology asset trends at their post offices and delivery centers as well as more granular details including which versions of operating systems are in use across the organization. Armed with this kind of insight, Australia Post can recirculate IT assets based on usage and quickly address technology anomalies.

In partnership with Snow, the country’s postal experts now have greater insight into the overall performance of their software, hardware and application assets.

Saving Time and Money

Because time is always of the essence at Australia Post, just like in many other IT departments, Snow’s rapid turnaround of in-depth reports means the agency saves time and gains greater insight from the data. For example, Australia Post uses Snow to manage technology assets in circulation. The reporting means they can identify idle laptops and redistribute them to areas in need, which has resulted in a 40% to 95% increase in the accuracy of their laptop and desktop fleet data.

Snow’s intelligence has helped IT understand and manage the relationship between user, application and the device. The partnership has allowed Australia Post to recognize and meter well over 8,000 cloud/SaaS applications today and this has made significant improvements in both efficiency and security.

With Snow Software, IT leaders at Australia Post now have the intelligence they need to put the focus back into the growth and success of the organization. They are able to provide premier postal services to the people of Australia.

For more on how you can better manage your own technology ecosystem, check out our exclusive whitepaper from IDG Connect and Snow Software on decentralized IT and its impact on the organization.

The post Thanks to Intelligence from Snow, Australia Post Now Delivers More Than Mail appeared first on Snow Software.

The Changing Face of Technology Use and ROI

“We are very aware of the challenges and opportunities that face organizations as they attempt to understand and manage the growing volume of increasingly diverse technology,” wrote Victoria Barber, Technology Guardian at Snow Software in her blog post, The Rise of the Digital Native and Implications for IT Organizations. As Snow investigated further earlier this year, it became apparent the human element behind technology and its use is and will continue to be, critical to an organization’s long-term success. What do users (including both your customers and your employees) want? How do they think it can be changed or improved? This will be the key to innovation and growth. 

Alongside revelations in technology use came a push for smarter measurement. SAP introduced its Digital Access Adoption Program in 2019 and Myrja Schumacher, SAP Product Manager at Snow wrote about the ERP giant’s attempt to price their software based on value in her blog post, What You Need to Know About SAP’s Digital Access Model. Measuring your document consumption has changed and more is in store for next year.

Java, one of the most popular programming languages in the world and historically free to all under an open-source model is also experimenting with changes of its own. The free use first came into question when Oracle acquired Sun, the makers of Java, and this year, Oracle did in fact announce changes to the licensing model. In her post, Can Java Still be Free After January 2019, Sarah Rabett, Snow Product Manager, outlines what you need to understand to remain secure and compliant while using it.

GDPR and Ongoing Cybersecurity Concerns

The data protection and privacy legislation, General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) celebrated one year in 2019. Snow research on the topic found most people still have mixed feelings about the effectiveness of the sweeping regulation despite a dramatic rise in data breach notifications and new standoffs among tech giants and regulators. In her post, One Year In, Workers Set Relationship Status with GDPR to Complicated, Julie Neumann, Snow Software Director of Global Brand & Communications looked at progress made to-date and the fact that 74 percent of workers said the tech industry needs more regulation.

When considering the future of GDPR, the next natural thought is of course cybersecurity. Most agree this is another area that has a great need for improvement — cybercriminals are relentless in their pursuit of your data and the ramifications of falling victim to a breach are extremely costly — however, determining just how to do that is much easier said than done. In his post, 3 Essential Building Blocks of an Effective Cybersecurity Program, Alastair Pooley, Snow CIO explains the key steps organizations should take to get ahead of rising cyberattacks, including inventory visibility, timely patch management and ongoing user education. The need for stronger cybersecurity isn’t going away anytime soon and with regulations like GDPR in full force, the risks for failure are high.

With all of this change underway in IT, the one thing we can say for sure is 2020 won’t be boring.

The post What The IT Evolution in 2019 Means for 2020 appeared first on Snow Software.

Each new model seems to bring more storage space, processing power and advanced capabilities that were mere ideas just a few short years ago.

Mobile devices have become some of our most vital tools with which we do business. This is because they provide a productivity platform that is with us everywhere we go. And, with the capacity to store and process more data of increasing importance to our business and personal lives, we rely more and more on sophisticated applications (apps).

What we don’t consider is that each of these apps has an end user license agreement (EULA) of one kind or another – and these might not be free when used for commercial purposes.  As such, it’s more important than ever that the enterprise at least has visibility and control of what we download to our phones.

MOBILE SAM TO THE RESCUE!

In order to manage sophisticated mobile apps, you need to extend your Software Asset Management (SAM) program (no doubt already providing great benefit on the desktop and datacenter estate) to mobile devices, ensuring that you have licensed your mobile devices correctly for the applications that are that run on them. Like desktop and datacenter environments, you need to have visibility of the applications installed on your mobile devices, the frequency of use, and the primary user.

Applications like Office 365 allow a user to install the software on up to five devices – including mobiles and tablets. Mobile SAM provides organizations with visibility of how many instances of Office 365 have been installed on mobile devices, which enables the SAM team to understand how many installs a user has left and also helps moderate unauthorized installations.

It is far too easy to overspend on applications within the mobile environment. There are so many apps on the market that perform the same function that organizations can be tempted into spending more money than required to find the right fit for their environment. This is also said of the users – downloading a mobile app for work purposes and then expensing the purchase to the organization. The ease of downloading these applications combined with advanced storage capabilities also means unused applications may sit on a user’s phone in perpetuity. Wouldn’t it be great if you could uninstall that application, have the ability to redistribute it to another user and reduce the need for additional licenses?

From the outset, you need to create a standard list – essentially a whitelist – of mobile applications that have been tested and approved by the business, a mobile software catalog if you will. That way the business can identify the required applications for users with a corporate device, identify how to license the app and if they have any spare licenses, as well as test them to ensure they are secure. By creating a mobile software catalog in a secure mobile environment, all users with a corporate device know what apps they can and cannot have, reducing the number of unapproved apps on mobile devices.

With mobile devices and apps becoming far more powerful, you need tighter controls on what a user can and cannot do with their mobile device. Physicians routinely use phones and tablets to interact with patient data and make diagnoses. All it takes is loss or theft of one unsecured device to expose medical records containing protected health information (PHI) of hundreds of thousands of patients.

This can result in millions of dollars in fines for HIPAA violations for a health system, as well as lost revenue due to a lack of trust from patients that have a right to have their information secured.

TECHNOLOGY

In order to effectively manage your mobile devices and associated applications, you need a sophisticated mobile solution to help ensure you do not overspend within your mobile environment. You need to have visibility on who is using what, and when, so you can proactively and effectively manage your mobile assets and applications.

In order to successfully manage your mobile environment, you need technology. Snow Device Manager is an example of a SAM-integrated solution that helps you effectively administer and manage the full lifecycle of tablets and phones from sourcing to end of life.

The solution enables you to effectively mitigate risks within the mobile environment, identify applications that need a license and helps you identify apps that you may not want on a corporate device. Snow Device Manager provides you with all of the information and data you need in order to ensure you do not overspend on applications within the mobile environment.

MOBILE SAM ADOPTION WILL INCREASE

The evolution of mobile devices will see the worldwide adoption of Mobile SAM to manage risks and licenses within the mobile world. The gap in power and capabilities between your laptop or desktop and your phone or tablet is rapidly shrinking which means you need to proactively manage ALL mobile assets on the network along with their associated licenses as soon as possible. If you are looking to adopt Mobile SAM, then I highly recommend you read our Whitepaper entitled ‘Mobile Device Inventory’.

You’ll pick up some great pointers and advice from the Whitepaper that will help kick-start your Mobile SAM function.

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