Flexible working: myth or reality?

With the rise in affordable mobile devices, such as smartphones, laptops and tablets, comes a question: if we can update our Facebook status anywhere in the world, why do we still have to go to the office to work?

Many companies are asking themselves a similar question as they consider the pressures they face:-

• Office space is expensive, yet over 55% of their desks are empty at any given time (source: Unwired Research)
• A new generation has entered the workforce, brought up on hot consumer gadgets, and to whom the idea of having to use a particular computer at a particular desk seems archaic
• Long distance travel to attend meetings is expensive, and more importantly, time consuming. How can a company effectively respond to its customers, marketplace and competitors, if its time to market is dictated by airline schedules?

Flexible working is the answer to all these challenges. It’s about transforming the relationship that people have with their work, so that work becomes the activity they undertake, and not the place they do it. That requires that they have the right tools to collaborate remotely, and to be visible and productive. But it also requires a cultural change, where managers look for results over attendance, and trust employees’ judgement about how they are most productive. There are implications for the entire enterprise. What happens to the headquarters if people no longer have an assigned desk? When people come to the office it will be because that’s the best way for them to achieve a particular result. How can the office give them the same flexibility they enjoy at home, while making it easier to meet and collaborate with colleagues?

To discuss the myth and reality of flexible working we conducted a series of roundtable events with SMART Technologies in early 2012. Attendees represented companies across a number of industry verticals including financial services, energy, technology, and entertainment, all of them at different stages of their workplace transformation.

A summary paper collects some of the key conclusions from these sessions, and reviews some of the successes, and failures, in flexible working today.  To find out more, please take a look at the report and I’d be interested to hear your views on this subject.

There’s a better way to work together

Got an idea? Grab a napkin. Brainstorming? Pull an all-nighter. Sound absurdly familiar? Sit back and discover a better way to work together. View the video.

I hope you’ve taken a look at the video above – was some of it all too familiar? SMART launched their Freestorm visual collaboration solutions this week so I thought I’d share this with you. Freestorm brings together five key components of successful visual collaboration aimed to help companies increase innovation, boost productivity, make more informed decisions and significantly reduce costs.

So, let’s take a look at these five components in a bit more detail:-

Intuitive displays
Freestorm visual collaboration solutions start with SMART’s large format interactive displays. By combining interactivity with the simplicity of familiar meeting room tools, you can transform virtually any space into an active collaboration setting.

• Interact naturally with content: Use your finger to interact with any application, or pick up a pen and write over it. Move easily between documents, digital notes or the Web.
• Elevate engagement: Multi-touch support, large screens and multiple pens enable people to write, erase and manipulate objects simultaneously.
• Enhance collaboration anywhere: The flexibility of the solution enables extraordinary collaboration virtually anywhere, with a consistent experience regardless of location.

Powerful collaboration software
Freestorm visual collaboration solutions are based on intuitive software that makes it easy to share information, capture ideas and determine next steps. It features virtually unlimited digital whiteboard space, the ability to write notes over any application, options for saving your work and integration with Microsoft® Exchange.

• Encourage collaboration: Powerful software features make it easy to capture, refine and share ideas, feedback and next steps.
• Accelerate decision-making: Information is shared visually, with easy access to resources and supporting content, helps teams focus and understand key points faster.
• Turn ideas into action: Collaboration results are distributed immediately helping to ensure everyone is on the same page and working toward common goals.

Dispersed collaboration options
Freestorm visual collaboration solutions make it easy to connect with dispersed teams and individuals around the world. From Bridgit conferencing software to interoperability with the remote-connectivity products you already use, you can enable colleagues and customers to fully participate in collaboration sessions from virtually anywhere.

• Fully involve remote participants: Participants in virtually any location can contribute meaningfully through two-way interaction on shared screens.
• Reduce travel costs: Effective collaboration among dispersed teams reduces the time and expense incurred by travel.
• Make the most of current infrastructure: Transform your current communication infrastructure into a visually collaborative environment.

Comprehensive services
SMART’s support, software maintenance and training services are designed to ensure the solutions are implemented successfully and continue operating at peak performance, giving your teams the ability to work to their full potential.

• Ensure rapid implementation: A global network of dedicated resellers combined with training services ensure your solution is implemented quickly and successfully.
• Streamline operations: Flexible support and maintenance options reduce disruptions and downtime and optimise performance.
• Make the most of your investment: Training services help your teams develop the skills that enhance collaboration capabilities, ensuring the maximum benefit to your organisation.

Industry compatibility
Freestorm visual collaboration solutions are integrated with Microsoft Office and support a growing list of industry-specific software, so you can add the natural experience of touch interfaces and digital ink to the applications you use every day.

• Evolve business processes: Add interactive capabilities to your preferred software to enhance functionality and encourage collaboration and innovation.
• Integrate according to your needs: Customise your experience by integrating Freestorm solutions with your applications, enabling you to enhance workflow.

With these solutions, people collaborate in visual and interactive ways, whether they’re in the same room or in different work spaces around the world. The solutions are designed to streamline the exchange of information and boost productivity and can benefit virtually any organisation. They have been implemented by businesses in various industries as you have seen from some of the case studies I’ve already shared with you. The solutions help businesses to find innovative ways to make more informed decisions, reduce costs, engage clients and stakeholders, and train personnel – all by making it easier to share information and communicate ideas.

A new way to collaborate – interactive whiteboards enhance workplace efficiency and productivity

According to the American Express Global Business Travel Forecast 2011 (2010), travel costs were expected to increase by as much as 10% by the end of 2011. Of course face-to-face meetings are valuable but often it can be just as effective to share and discuss documents and reach consensus via distance collaboration sessions.

Businesses that can reduce the need for travel can not only ease budget pressures, they can increase productivity.  When team members reduce their time in transit from one location to another, they can spend more time performing their jobs and adding value to their companies.  As a report on technology trends in business from the McKinsey Global Institute puts it, “Knowledge workers typically are paid more than others, so increasing their productivity is critical.  There is a broad interest in collaboration technologies that promise to improve these workers’ efficiency and effectiveness” (Bughin, et al., 2010).

As communication technology has progressed from telephone to video to Internet, each innovation has added a new aspect of richness to the transmission – first voice, then images, then data. Each has unique characteristics that are useful for various collaborative scenarios, but they all provide powerful means for people to stay connected and work together.  When you add the ability of interactive whiteboards to tie them all together, and enrich the experience by enabling people to interact with digital content during the work session, you give teams the means to overcome barriers of language and distance to truly collaborate.

When you ask people how they brainstorm many will say “get people around a whiteboard and start sketching out ideas.”  An interactive whiteboard takes this concept further.

It’s a large, touch-enabled surface connected to a computer to show the computer desktop and allow users to open software applications and other files like drawings, plans, schedules or spreadsheets.  You can write in digital ink, so everyone in the meeting can sketch out ideas, make and save notes, or annotate over applications and save those notes as part of the original files.  And by sharing screens, participants in remote locations can see and contribute to the work in real time.  Any notes, diagrams or files created or updated can be instantly distributed.

Interactive whiteboards can help businesses enhance productivity, control travel costs and reduce delays.  They can augment or provide an alternative to other collaboration technologies like telephone, video and web conferencing and provide a way for teams to work together more effectively.  And because they enable collaboration in real time with participants in virtually any location, they can help reduce travel costs and streamline processes.

Find out more by taking a look at this special report from SMART Technologies.

Critical operational decisions and significant cost savings delivered with interactive collaboration tools

I thought I’d share with you how one of our customers is benefiting from using SMART interactive technology to improve collaboration.  Tullow Oil is an international oil exploration and production company with operations in 22 countries.

Managing the oil production process, particularly the interaction between what is happening below and above the surface, is a technically challenging business and there is a need for real-time data and technologically advanced tools for data handling and team collaboration.

Oil production operations involve multi-functional teams traditionally working in silos with very little interaction but it is important that they come together and understand each others activities, constraints and issues and make intelligent decisions. This scenario is probably commonplace in many organisations and this is where the SMART Board interactive whiteboard technology comes into play as a key visualisation and collaboration tool.

Representatives from different departments can now sit in one room together and have an informed, joint discussion to take proactive, multi-disciplinary, integrated decisions. They can also use data conferencing software to collaborate and share data remotely in real-time with colleagues in other offices.

The technology gives the team not only the ability to view and share data, but also to annotate, manipulate and write on the display, to use touchscreen commands and to instantly save and share the results. And on top of this they are seeing substantial savings in travel time and travel costs;

“Travel time and costs have been reduced, as we can now share data remotely. This includes travel to offfshore oil facilities, which is resource intensive. We estimate that the SMART Boards deliver a saving of tens of thousands of dollars in indirect costs.”
Murtaza Amin, Production Technology Team Lead, Tullow Oil

This is a genuinely innovative solution within the oil and gas industry but the benefits received are achievable across all industries.

To find out more, please take a look at the case study.

Less than 40% of medium – large organisations have a UCC strategy

Last month, we undertook some research with medium – large sized organisations to get their thoughts on the much talked about area of Unified Communications and Collaboration (UCC). We wanted to find out how companies are deploying UCC strategies including the factors encouraging its adoption and the understanding of its overall collaborative value.

The full findings of the survey look at the main business incentives for implementing a UCC solution, where they are currently at in relation to this, and the plans they have for the future. A key goal of
the survey was also to establish where respondents spend most of their time working, through to how they work, collaborate and share information with people they interact with in their job.

The results highlight that a UCC approach is being harnessed by many businesses, with a positive outlook on its benefits including boosting business efficiency, reducing costs and enhancing
productivity. However, elements of contradiction and inefficiencies also surface, indicating room for improvement, with a requirement for a greater awareness of UCC strategies leaping out of the results.

It is clear that an array of tools are currently being used by organisations to improve communication and collaboration, with email, phone and face-to-face meetings being the most popular. Yet, it is also evident that there is still a gap in understanding of the full potential of an integrated UCC strategy to reap the rewards of long-term business productivity, improved remote working efficiency and enhanced collaboration between staff. For example, 64.4% of those surveyed were not aware that SMART Board™ interactive whiteboards and Bridgit® conferencing software offer a UCC solution for meeting rooms and spaces, as well as supporting remote workers, regardless of their location.

So, what were some of the findings?

• 39.6% of survey respondents stated that they do have a UCC strategy with 70% having already implemented their strategy or planning to do so within the next 2 years
• Visual communication is an important element of any meeting but a third of those surveyed have no visual collaboration solution – interactive whiteboards, video or web conferencing – at all
• 76% of survey respondents said that they would consider SMART solutions to support their meeting rooms and remote workers
• The top essential features of UCC are; video conferencing – specifically within meeting rooms, email – on both mobile phones and the desktop, and voice over IP – integrated with mobile and desktop phones.
• 81.2%, believe that the main business driver for implementing a UCC solution is the consequential impact on the reduction of costs, travel and expenses
• Over half of those surveyed believed that suppliers should focus on alliances and integrated solutions to offer a more simplified UCC solution, easier supplier management and possibly integrated service level agreements

Read the full results here

Improving productivity at the Microsoft Technology Centre

I co-hosted a roundtable event with Microsoft this week and thought I’d share with you how they are using collaboration technology to improve productivity.

The Microsoft Technology Centre (MTC) in Reading hosts hundreds of customers per year – from start up companies to the FTSE 100 – to help them understand and improve their business processes.  Depending on the complexity of the problem, the customer meeting could last up to 3 days and include up to six people.  Gathering the information exchanged used to mean using cameras to capture drawings and notes written on the dry erase boards in the meeting room and writing up all of the information from the meeting would frequently take up a day or more in time meaning the meeting room itself could not be used during this time.  Sound familiar?

To improve meeting efficiency Microsoft is now using SMART Board™ interactive whiteboards and displays with conferencing software.  Essentially combining the simplicity of a whiteboard with the power of a computer users can now write notes in digital ink over any document, application or website, save them in a PDF or PPT file and email directly to meeting participants.   They can also write and save notes directly into applications such as Microsoft Word, Excel or PowerPoint, Adobe Acrobat and AutoCAD.

My roundtable co-host Martyn Davis, Manager of the MTC in Reading had this to say, “We used to spend one full day writing up the notes of a meeting. Now we can accurately record all of the meeting notes automatically on the interactive whiteboard – including all the annotations and notes made during the meeting – which wasn’t possible using dry erase boards. The information is then emailed or saved onto a USB stick and given to the customer immediately after the meeting has finished.  We have improved the effectiveness of our meetings and write ups, because of this we are now able to fit in additional meetings at the MTC. This has helped our sales teams to meet more customers and thereby increase our sales pipeline.”

Martyn and his team are also enjoying hosting joint customer meetings with other MTCs around the globe via Bridgit® conferencing software allowing particpants to interact and collaborate as if they are in the same  room.

In addition to the benefits Microsoft are seeing customers have told Microsoft that they feel more actively involved in the meeting and that the interactive whiteboards help to break down any  barriers to creating new ideas.

Take a look at the video to find out more.

Walk up and work in your digital workspace!

Sometimes perception is further from the truth and reality. Take Interactive Whiteboards from SMART Technologies. Lets face it the product is called an Interactive Whiteboard and you can be forgiven in thinking that it is simply a Digital Flip Chart. A term I hear used all to often by people using and selling this technology. The reality is these products offer so much more in terms of functionality and capability.

Everything from writing up notes and problem solving to capturing mixed media and being able to write and annotate over them are key, together with the ability to sign off models or charts and so much more. They can interact with Microsoft Office and other software products, and essentially provide you with an analogue to digital converter in meeting spaces and rooms. A benefit that cannot be overstated enough particularly if you still have to use a flip chart or dry erase whiteboard. Simply distribute the resources you have created by email in common formats at the end of a session.

In reality though you can connect up your laptop, network, access an intranet, the internet and an array of software tools, indeed it is now truly a touch enabled digital workspace. Yes at the heart of it is a “white boarding experience” that can bring this all together through SMART Meeting Pro Premium, but it doesn’t have to be used just with a meeting room solution. I prefer to see it as a digital workspace which when used with touch devices enables the analogue world to interface with the digital world. Lets take it one step further….

If you build in Web Conferencing through SMART Bridgit, you get a simple easy to use desktop sharing facility with Voice over IP. Its simplicity is its strength, but what it does is connect devices together over distance. Make those devices touch enabled like the Interactive Whiteboards or SMART Podiums or a laptop with a slate and pen device and you have a real-time digital workspace that you can use to write and annotate and share over distance, wherever you are. We forget all to often the strength of a solution like this. Yes it is great at bringing together Interactive Whiteboards regardless of location, but touch devices laptop to laptop over distance can be just as good and enabling for a business through Bridgit with Meeting Pro Premium. The key is with the digital workspace that you can share and write into, in a natural work style, no messing about with a mouse trying to draw or typing furiously to get your message put on a diagram. Draw charts, diagrams and annotate over charts and problem solving exercises over distance becomes as natural as if you were in the same room.

So as an end point a SMART Interactive Whiteboard, SMART Podium or touch enabled device (iPad) or a laptop with a slate device can all then use Bridgit to connect up, share your digital workspace with Meeting Pro Premium at the heart oif it and there you have it an array of devices that can connect this workspace over distance and one which is people centred based on where they are located rather than technology centred. For example, a Telepresence room has a fixed location to use it you need to be in it. Simply all you need is a solution like SMART Bridigit as the engine, Meeting Pro Premium and touch devices, whether you are.

For me to have a people centred technology solution, you need a digital workspace that follows you around, you need the right touch technology end points depending on where you are working to access it mobile, home, office desktop or meeting room and then I think you begin to realise this technology is all about a real-time, touch enabled digital workspace and not just a digital flip chart!

What do you think?!

A Merry Christmas first then get your New Year off to a flying Start!

Firstly to all the readers of this blog I would like to wish you a happy holiday and Merry Christmas and Happy new Year! We all know the New year will come round quickly and I am sure many of you are already wondering what 2012 will bring in terms of its challenges and the economy. So why not leave 2011 with a plan to get things going in the New Year and join one of our Innovative Technology and Business Productivity Roundtables.

Join Microsoft, SMART Technologies and Steljes Limited at one of our exclusive roundtable events to debate how collaboration technology and unified communications can help you increase the productivity of your business.

According to Gartner the top issues facing CIOs today are improving business processes, reducing enterprise costs and improving enterprise workforce effectiveness. Whether it’s optimising the efficiency of your people, enabling people to collaborate and work effectively wherever they are or reducing business travel and the associated costs, innovative collaborative technology and business productivity are the key areas for discussion.

At these roundtables you will hear about some of the leading collaboration technologies available today, and we will address how we integrate these technologies effectively into our existing infrastructure to attain the desired benefits, what level of interoperability is needed and the issues around implementation, deployment and changing business culture and work practices.

Working smarter, working anywhere, working together.

There are three dates in the new year:

Dates:
Wednesday 25 January
Wednesday 22 February
Wednesday 28 March
Aimed at:
CIO, COO, CTO, IT Directors
and senior IT decision makers
Venue:
Microsoft Technology Centre,
Thames Valley Park, Berkshire, RG6 1WG

To view the agenda and register to attend, please follow the following link, places are limited so please register early:

http://www.steljes.com/innovative-technology-and-business-productivity-roundtable/agenda

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and see you all again in the New Year!

60% of you think writing up meeting notes and circulating them takes too long!

We have just completed the latest of our Business Productivity Surveys “Effective Meetings”. The results suggest that there is significant interest in developing collaborative meeting environments with digital solutions, both internally and externally, yet there are still some barriers preventing organisations from adopting technologies that they either believe to be too expensive or not fully understood.

We are of course talking about changing the analogue meeting world into a digital space where the SMART Board Interactive Whiteboard provides the analogue to digital world interface.

Effective Meetings Survey

I personally don’t believe they are too expensive, but what I think is lacking are use cases and measurable ROI Models that demonstrate ROI that actually comes in months rather than years for in-room solutions and under a year for most collaboration solutions.

It raises some interesting areas and facts and figures about what you, the customer, think. The business drivers are there with 60% thinking that meeting notes take too  long to write up and circulate, 56% think it takes too long to get people face to face (something that can be shortened with remote workers joining collaboratively) and 54% think it is currently difficult for remote workers to participate. The later suggesting that existing audio conferencing really doesn’t deliver enough interaction on its own!

68% did understand the benefits of an Interactive Whiteboard, yet adoption is shown at only 15% over the next 12 months. This technology for businesses is at the early adopter phase still and 53% cite it as not being widely used by businesses yet as a barrier to adoption after cost.

Interestingly, collaboration wasn’t the top usage. The top usage was for in room writing, capturing, saving notes and distributing them electronically at 42%. With key features being ease of use (87%) and the former around capturing notes during the meeting for distribution (75%). Collaboration is still high up the list in third place at 70% considering it an important feature of an Interactive Whiteboard. Interestingly way above every other form of technology on the lack of ease of use was video conferencing and not Interactive Whiteboard technology which faired well against all the other technologies!

Our last questions did confirm our thoughts about ROI, with many people understanding the benefits of these technologies but not having a clear understanding of the real ROI timelines for this technology. To take a look at the full report and findings follow the link below:

http://www.steljes.com/pdf/effective_meetings_report.pdf

SMART and Cisco Deliver Enhanced Interactive Collaboration

When you consider Unified Communications and Collaboration (UCC) and Collaborative technology there are many options available to you. The trick is identifying who is going to be the best part of your solution as you put the patch-work quilt of technologies together and you begin the thinking that is required, to make it all work as a total solution for your business, within all your different workspaces.

The truth is that this often gets clouded by the suppliers who try to bolt on functionality to their core offering which means as companies put together solutions they may find themselves with what appears to be duplicated functionality. The reality is that in many cases you would be better off taking best of breed and accepting some of that apparent duplication of functionality – some of those features will be the poor relation of many best of breed suppliers. Take SMART for instance, there is a reason why Microsoft – even with some basic white boarding capability in Lync is using the fully featured tools from SMART Technologies in their MTC Centres around the globe.

Indeed going forward the Alliances and Partnerships that suppliers form will become increasingly important as an ecosystem of Alliances provide a more holistic solution for businesses looking to implement productive technology under the banners of UCC and Collaborative technology. SMART is no exception and their own recent announcement with Cisco below, and with companies like Alcatel Lucent will leverage alliances to bring customers the solutions they desire. What’s your view?

Cisco TelePresence Synch integrates with SMART solutions for data, audio and visual collaboration

CALGARY, Alberta — November 29, 2011 — SMART Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: SMT) (TSX: SMA), a leading provider of collaboration solutions, announces that its SMART Board^® 600 and 800 series interactive whiteboards and SMART Board interactive displays can now be combined with the Cisco TelePresence^® systems to deliver enhanced interactive collaboration. With both companies signing a formal interoperability agreement, customers can integrate the industry-leading Cisco TelePresence experience, using patent-pending Cisco TelePresence Synch, with industry-leading SMART products to offer seamless collaboration in meeting rooms and classrooms. The joint solution is designed to allow real-time collaboration across multiple locations via content sharing, live annotations and telepresence technologies. This adaptable and affordable solution allows customers to split their screen between video and data to ensure no element of the interaction is missed.

The integration of Cisco TelePresence Synch with a SMART Board interactive whiteboard or interactive display allows users to enjoy interactive collaboration with note- and application-sharing while communicating directly for an in-person-quality experience. Cisco TelePresence Synch enables users to engage with open applications on the interactive whiteboard or display and with high-definition audio and visual telepresence for a seamless integration of face-to-face and annotative interaction for all participants. The result is a collaborative experience that enables remote participants to see all content and hear all discussions being shared. As SMART and Cisco continue to lead the industry with new innovations and solutions, this agreement ensures continued interoperability between the best of each company’s technology products.

“Bringing Cisco TelePresence Synch to SMART Board interactive whiteboards and displays adds a critical new dimension to a distributed collaborative environment – face-to-face interaction,” said Mike Baird, Director, TelePresence Product Management, Cisco. “By combining the expertise of SMART and Cisco, together we can provide unique solutions to meet the customer demand for increasingly immersive collaboration experiences when having everyone in the same room is not possible.”

“We are pleased to be working with Cisco to add their telepresence capabilities to the collaborative technology products and applications of our business and education solutions,” says Linda Thomas, Vice President, Products, SMART Technologies. “The interoperability of SMART products and Cisco TelePresence Synch allows for enhanced collaboration and meets the needs of our growing customer base in both markets.”