www.managedITmag.co.uk 29 INTERVIEW places to collaborate, or that they haven’t got the right video or communication tools in the office.” Ricoh’s strategy is to provide end-to-end technology, solutions and services that help organisations respond to evolving workplace demands. [Paula joined Ricoh in March this year]. “We use our own technology internally and coming from another organisation, I find it a much better experience,” she said. “Even when collaborating on Teams, the audio visual technology means that when the person talking is on camera, the camera switches so you’re not looking at a room of people, and you can’t identify who’s who. And the audio side of it is so sophisticated that you can hear people clearly, rather than feeling like you’re on the sidelines, which can sometimes happen when joining meetings remotely - clearly this makes for greater collaboration as well as a better user experience.” She continued: “The other thing that the research threw up, which was really interesting was that only 17 per cent of business decisionmakers in Europe cited providing an enhanced employee experience as a strategic priority for the year ahead. So, you’ve got a massive gap between the employee’s expectation of the workplace and the reality. And I think that’s a missed opportunity for companies who are keen to improve their peoples’ engagement and productivity.” The workplace experience Ricoh Spaces is a cloud-hosted workplace management platform designed to connect and empower employees with a seamless workplace experience, allowing them to book a desk, reserve a meeting room, or view upcoming meetings whenever and wherever they choose to work. Ricoh Spaces also provides employers with lots of information. Real-time analytics provide visibility into space usage, popular areas and ongoing trends enabling them to adapt and optimise spaces as needed. “So, for example, you can alter the temperature in the office remotely and that’s really important, because you want you everybody to feel comfortable. But also, if you consider that all organisations are putting sustainability at the top of the agenda, there’s a key advantage here too. Population data shows building occupancy and how it’s being occupied, so if on a Friday, no-one is in, you can turn the heating down or turn the lights off to save energy,” Paula explained. “That data has also provided insight that has enabled companies to relinquish unused office space and take that cost back to their bottom line,” she added. Workplace transformation Paula highlighted a recent project with Sodexo, a global top three integrated facilities management business that used Ricoh to help revitalise its London HQ with a range of workspace technology solutions. Ricoh is responsible for workspace technology and services from meeting room equipment, smart lockers and digital signage to virtual and related reception services. Solutions provided include virtual receptionist, smart lockers, audio visual and digital signage, video conferencing, Teams Rooms experience, IoT flow, room, desk and environmental sensors, desk and meeting room booking plus screens. The workplace has completely changed its purpose and is now a place to drop in and connect with colleagues and as a showcase for clients. Sodexo has cut the number of desks from 200 to just 22. The redesign has saved 400m2, reducing the office size from 1200m2 to 800m2, but still supports the same number of staff. Instead of offices and large board rooms that might be used once a week, Ricoh has helped Sodexo to maximise its workspace in a much smarter and more efficient way. Employees rate their satisfaction with the new London HQ and have given it a 4.8 out of 5 score. Before the change, the office had a 35 per cent occupancy, but within two weeks of opening the new workspace occupancy was 50 per cent. Future focus Paula spoke about the importance of being able to leverage data to enable informed decision-making for every business and in every boardroom. “Whilst Ricoh is not known as a ‘data’ business, in actual fact we go a long way to helping our customers in this respect; whether it’s printing data for review, converting data to digital, managing and storing data (either in datacentres or in the cloud), automating data in workflows, or indeed protecting that data from ransomware attacks.” In closing, she said that the business’ focus is firmly on workplace services. “That’s what Ricoh is all about and that’s what we want to be known for. We are a digital services organisation, there’s no two ways about it. We are best known for print, so now it’s about communicating the breadth of our capabilities to customers and the market.” www.ricoh.co.uk
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