Adapt to the workplace of the future or risk losing key staff warns Matrix42

Oct. 9, 2013 - PRLog -- LONDON, ENGLAND: Matrix42 (www.matrix42.com) today warned organisations to start planning for the seismic changes that Forrester Research have identified are already altering the landscape of the IT industry.  By implementing a holistic workplace management strategy that enables organisations to treat users like customers, it is possible to boost employee productivity and satisfaction, improve retention rates and increase business profitability.

According to the latest global data presented by David K. Johnson, Principal Analyst at Forrester Research, there are five key forces reshaping the workspace of the future:

1.          The number of employees working from locations outside of the office has doubled over the last three years.

2.          The diversity of device types, underlying applications and operating systems is multiplying exponentially.

3.          Employees are spending increasingly significant amounts of their own money on hardware, software and apps, 65% stated efficiency and productivity improvements as main benefits.

4.          The adoption of tablets for different applications is growing whilst the use of Windows-based devices remains steady.

5.          The level of technical user sophistication is increasing alongside enhanced capabilities for self-support.

Oliver Bendig, Vice President of Product Management at Matrix42 says, “These trends are changing the way we think about IT management.  Organisations can address these challenges by implementing a holistic workplace management strategy that brings together the management of physical, virtual and mobile devices, whilst giving end-users the ability to interact with IT.  This will allow you to unlock the potential of your users, increase productivity and user satisfaction whilst taking an intelligent approach to compliance and cost control.  This is an opportunity to put the right infrastructure in place to support the workplace of the future that will enhance users’ ability to do their jobs, whilst allowing them to achieve a better work life balance.  Without this investment, you risk critical staff migrating to organisations that support this new way of working.”

The workspace of the future was examined in a recent webinar hosted by Matrix42 and Forrester Research.  It highlighted how the priority for the IT department will change from a device-centric view to a user-centric view with seamless management of multiple devices.  The workplace will also feature increased self-service and self-support which is proven to increase productivity and user satisfaction. Other key affecting IT priorities include the introduction of formal BYOD strategies, on-demand software availability from internal and external app stores, and a shift to the cloud for apps and software.

Bendig concluded, “In five years the workspace of the future will be radically different as the consumerisation of IT fuels productivity growth.  IT departments need to take a structured approach to planning for this change. It begins with an assessment of your workforce needs and your current digital workspace delivery capabilities. Compliance and legal requirements also need to be integrated into this plan.  A good starting point for organisations taking the first step towards the workplace of future could be to pilot a virtualised ‘secondary desktop’ initiative for BYOD employees using Windows8, Macs and iPads.”

A replay of the Webinar ‘Digital Workspace Delivery, The Future of Workforce Computing’ hosted by Matrix42 and Forrester Research is available to view on-demand for a limited period of time at www.matrix42.com.