Are smart digital enabled workspaces the new norm?

The modern workforce today demands increased flexibility, and the ability to securely connect and collaborate from anywhere on any platform or device.
By: | June 6, 2019

 

About the Author
Justin Chiah is the Senior Director and General Manager for Aruba in, Southeast Asia and Taiwan.

Asia-Pacific is seeing significant momentum in the current digital transformation taking place across organisations.

According to IDC, 75% of businesses in the region will be digitalised by 2026. However, in spite of increased investments in AI, automation, robotics, and cloud computing, progress in implementing smart digital workspaces in this region remains comparatively slower than the rest of the world.

Microsoft’s Asia Workplace 2020 Study found that organisations need to address structural changes to serve the needs of digital natives entering the workforce for the first time, with 62% of Singapore respondents saying they do not feel empowered “to embrace the demands of the digital workspace.”

Aruba’s own global study conducted last year found that 64% of employees feel their organisation risked falling behind if advanced technologies are not integrated in the modern workplace.

Indeed, the influx of millennials in the workforce combined with the digitalisation of office tools and business processes has changed the nature of work.

The modern workforce today demands increased flexibility, and the ability to securely connect and collaborate from anywhere on any platform or device. Creating compelling working environments has never been more important in attracting and retaining talent.

 

Experiences key to smart digital workplace

So, how can enterprises begin to evolve the employee experience through a technology-enabled workspace? For decades, the answer has been to connect computers and end-user devices, a relatively simplistic approach based on the client-server model.

But the digital ecosystem has evolved drastically in recent years. Gone are notions of fixed and wired workstations in static locations. The smart digital workplace is wireless-centric, application-focused, mobile, and is not hemmed in by a fixed workspace.

The implementation of smart digitally powered  working environments is one that supports smarter enterprise network that is optimised for experiences that drive positive change in how employees work and engage each other:

 

Employees are given a new way to navigate their workspace

The smart digital workplace is wireless-centric, application-focused, mobile, and is not hemmed in by a fixed workspace.

A tech-enabled workspace successfully enables employees to work remotely across the physical office. Indoor location-based services can help users find colleagues, meeting rooms and even office amenities – providing a digital office compass that combines network location data with smartphone technology.

The intuitive, hassle-free access to the people and spaces around the workplace makes it convenient for employees to get work done.

 

Employees can better focus on the high-value elements of their job

A smart digital workspace automates administrative tasks, such as meeting room bookings and visitors’ registration, which increases overall employee efficiency, productivity and output accuracy.

 

Employees are empowered to decide how they want to get work done

Unlike a traditional office, employees can engage with colleagues in a more vibrant, activity-based working environment that supports them whether they choose to be tethered to their desks or not.

Meeting rooms are not the only dedicate areas for collaboration — there are also digitally decked out huddle spaces and even concentration pods that can be deployed to instantly create personalised work experiences.

Given that most employees globally believe traditional offices will become obsolete, there is a clear mandate for IT to work with HRMs to create a road-map toward the interactive smart, digital workplace.

The very term “smart” is synonymous with embedding an inanimate object with network connectivity and the ability to communicate data about the object’s status, performance, or behavior.

In much the same way, tech-enabled workspaces seek to encompass a logical grouping of smart objects. At their most basic, they are digitally connected structures that combine optimised automation with intelligent space management to enhance the user experience and increase productivity.

Although many businesses in Asia-Pacific have invested in workplace technology in the past year, these solutions are often predicated on traditional networks that depend on patchwork upgrades when new needs arise.

While the evolution of the smart digital workplace is inevitable, the journey to creating a winning experience can only be made reality when organisations embrace an edge-in, mobile first approach that is open, interconnected and cuts across all levels of technology and user experiences.