Print.IT - issue 46 - page 5

PRINT.IT
5
Rigid working practices
a drain on productivity
Konica Minolta’s new report,
The Digital Workplace Initiative
,
identifies inefficient technology as
a productivity drain, along with rigid
working practices.
Based on a survey of 100 senior
IT decision-makers and 1,000 office
workers across the UK, the report
reveals how small distractions,
computer problems and the difficulty
of accessing data when working away
from one’s desk all contribute to lost
productivity.
Konica Minolta points out that
these problems can be overcome
by investing in Digital Workplace Initiatives (DWI) to
change how technology, people and the workplace interact.
Nearly three quarters of respondents said that the strongest
driver for implementing a DWI was to increase employee
productivity, both inside (71%) and outside (71%) the office,
followed by cost reductions (60%).
Konica Minolta claims that by the end of 2016, 89% of
businesses had invested in a DWI of some description, with the
average amount invested rising from £958,824 at the start of the
year to £3,229,167 at its end.
The top three reasons to initiate a DWI project are to enable
effective mobile working (62%); to enable effective remote working
(56%) and to improve collaboration (49%). Nearly half (47%) of IT
decision-makers expect to see a return on investment (ROI) within
three years.
The Digital Workplace Initiative report can be downloaded from
.
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Fixing IT problems could save SMEs
millions of hours
Brother UK warns that small and medium-sized businesses are
wasting as many as 5 million working hours every week fixing
everyday IT problems.
Three quarters (75%) of business leaders surveyed estimate
that each of their employees spends one to two hours per week
in front of frozen computer screens; 71% believe employees
waste a similar amount of time dealing with faulty printers.
Common time-wasters highlighted by the research include
being unable to find documents on a server or as hard copies
(28%); printer problems (21%); other business equipment failures
(21%); and computer crashes (20%).
Digital transformation guide
IoT solutions provider Telenor
Connexion has produced a report
explaining how businesses can make
the transition from a product-based to
a services-based business model.
From product to a connected product-
as-a-service
answers key questions such
as: What are the main benefits to the
company and its customers?; What are
the key considerations and challenges
in the process?; and What are the best
practices to ensure a successful transformation?.
Telenor Connexion CEO Mats Lundquist said: “Transforming
a company’s business model from a traditional product into
an IoT-enabled product-as-a-service requires a shift in mindset
and impacts strategy, processes, people and technology. Our
established step-by-step method will guide companies through
the whole process.”
Room to grow
After a decade of continuous
growth, DSales (UK) Ltd, the
UK distributor for Develop
printers and MFPs, has moved
to larger premises in Copley,
near Halifax, West Yorkshire.
The purpose-built, 15,000
square foot DSales Business
Hub includes offices for DSales
(UK)’s 16 staff, a showroom,
a technical training facility, a
PDI centre for setting-up and
customising machines prior
to delivery and a warehouse
that will allow DSales to hold
its own stock of Develop
consumables and machines.
DSales has a network of over
130 dealerships across the
UK.
CFOs see services
as the future
Chief Financial Officers
(CFOs) are retooling their
businesses to drive more
revenue from services as the
shift to a subscription-based
economy continues.
In a survey of 163 CFOs by
FinancialForce, more than one
third said that subscription-
based services have become
significantly more important
for their companies.
Currently, 71% of CFOs
report that more than half
of their revenue comes from
services. Almost a third
report that all their company’s
revenues are service-related.
More than half (55%)
say that services generate
a higher percentage of
revenue today than they did
five years ago. Two-thirds
feel ‘substantial pressure’ to
change their finance team’s
mindset to be more customer-
centric and focused on
renewal revenue streams.
IT skills gap holding back digital
transformation
More than half (57%) of companies are rethinking their
business models due to advances in technology, such as
AI, automation and data analytics, claim Nimbus Ninety and
Ensono, a cloud solutions and hybrid IT services provider.
Almost half (43%) of UK decision-makers surveyed cited
keeping pace with changing technology as the most significant
business challenge for the year ahead.
This is reflected in spending priorities for 2017, which
include investment in infrastructure and processes to support
new applications, with cloud (44%), infrastructure (43%) and
agile transformation (35%) among the top five priorities.
The survey highlights a worrying skills gap, with only 35%
of organisations having the expertise to manage their digital
transformation. To plug this gap, 41% are working with a
solutions vendor and more than a third are working with a
consultancy or design agency.
Education gap
Research by Jobsite suggests that lack of education could
be the reason why basic IT problems waste so much time. It
surveyed 1,000 office workers and found that 85% did not
know how to resolve even basic tech problems. The most
common problems experienced are crashed computers (51%),
email going down (44%) and being locked out of the system
(41%).
OPTIMISED END-TO-END
BUSINESSSOLUTIONS
THE DIGITAL
WORKPLACE
INITIATIVE
Mats Lundquist
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