We have all experienced the new normal during this pandemic. Many of us are working from homes, which became our new offices overnight. We are expected to perform at least as well as before, and indeed, there is pressure to work even more efficiently in order to ensure profitable business operations despite COVID-19.
So, what has been most vital to meeting these exceptional demands? When it comes to moving work into our homes, the digital workplace has been the solution. A real digital workplace is not fixed to any site or location. Instead, it supports personnel wherever they are working.
The pandemic has naturally increased the demand for scaling up virtual collaboration capacity and supplying employees with devices and secure home connections. And the situation has challenged the employee experience, as face-to-face contacts are minimal.
Strong remote work culture to overcome Covid-19 challenges in the Nordics
The right strategy and investments for the right digital workplace
Companies with a clear strategy and early investments in the digital workplace have had an easier journey recently. Their maturity in this area has prepared them to take the needed decisions and related actions without delay. Most already understood the benefits of mobile first, user centric and flexible services.
According to the recent Digital Workplace of the Future report by ISG, the pandemic has brought relatively less change to working life in the Nordics, where remote working has traditionally been more common than elsewhere globally.
In the ISG report, TietoEVRY was acknowledged in 3 quadrants: a rising star in Digital Workplace Consulting, and a leader in both Managed Workplace Services and Managed Mobility Services.
In mature companies, the IT environment is up to date, well managed and integrated into the business processes. Early adopters of the digital workplace have taken full advantage of the benefits of self service, automation and analytics, and they help the modern workforce utilize IT support in a comfortable and intuitive way.
The digital workplace will not solve the pandemic, but as always, it can support our productivity and enable new sources of efficiency. So, looking beyond the pandemic, what is the key to a vibrant and effective digital workplace that will support companies and organizations in the years to come?
First of all, we don’t know what will come next – that’s a fact. But what we do know is that the future will not be the same as today.
The situation and overall demands of the future will probably change more and more quickly over time, both in terms of business trends and how global conditions will affect us. This is what I call the new normal.
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Prepare for unexpected change
Of course, we need to prepare the digital workplace for change. It must be agile, flexible, integrated and connected. It needs to support the business when it changes. It has to permit different volumes of usage, so prices and use cases have to be customizable.
A modern digital workplace is a complex entity that needs to be managed with strong integration into business processes. New demands require the development, testing and integration of related systems and IT processes. It has to be available, secure, compliant and operational in a predictable way and with the right capabilities.
Making these changes within each and every organization is not the way forward. In these ever-changing circumstances, professional service providers have large-scale advantages that allow them to host the comprehensive offerings needed for reliable operations.
The success of a business is linked to its business model, which must now support the ever-changing new normal. That means flexibility in volume and charges for just what is used. It also means being prepared for fast onboarding of new services and features.
And a good partner knows the development of these services should be done together – with you and your strategic and tactical choices as the starting point. With the right support, you will not only survive the evolution ahead – you will master it.