Business Info - issue 134

PREDICTIONS 2018 businessinfomag.uk magazine 22 Step by step, the tech industry is moving away from being hardware-driven to being AV- and service-driven The power of emerging technologies in tomorrow’s office will help people navigate the complexity of work more easily ...continued Frank Nijholt, European field marketing manager at Panasonic Every year, as technology advances, we see a raft of new solutions that provide workspaces with ways to make the working lives of employees a little easier. 2017 was no different and I have no doubt that 2018 will see similar advances. Today, network and compact seem to be the watchwords for workplace devices. Clients seek business tools that can be woven easily into the office design and quietly perform the job at the highest possible speed. This is the aim of the new KV-S1037 series scanners from Panasonic, which, when launched at the start of 2018, will see two new models unveiled, the KV-S1037 and KV-S1037X.With scanning speeds of up to 30ppm/60ipm @300dpi in colour, both scanners offer cloud connectivity. The KV-S1037X also allows wireless connectivity for built-in networking. Panasonic believes that through innovation, we give businesses the freedom to achieve what they do best. In the modern business world, that means doing more with less. Greater speed and greater efficiency give workers the time to focus on what’s important to them. Chris Farinacci, head of business at Asana Today, even at the world’s greatest companies, it is a constant challenge to keep everyone on the same page. Way too much time is spent on ‘work about work’ instead of getting work done. Information overload, combined with a lack of clarity and accountability, is limiting productivity – the bigger your team, the bigger your mission, the bigger your coordination problem. In a recent study of UK companies, 42% of employees surveyed said they spend most their day on status meetings, organising work and tracking down information – as opposed to making progress on actual work! Because work is now enabled across a range of technologies, from email to chat to video to shared documents, it’s difficult for teams and organisations to have clarity across their work, projects, processes and goals. Collaboration seems to be at an all-time high, but productivity and morale are still quite low. In 2018, the growing business imperative to address these critical challenges and empower teams and organisations with clarity of purpose, plan and responsibility will be a common focus. Teams and organisations will increasingly turn to what analysts are calling ‘collaborative work management’ – applications that help people organise, prioritise, track and complete their work. These applications will integrate deeply with (and leverage investments in) existing cloud communications and document collaboration technologies to FINALLY address the fundamental questions that will need to be answered to get great results: Does our team know who’s responsible for what, by when, at any given moment?; Are things on track?; Will our team achieve our stated goals? Lieven Bertier, head of product management at Barco Step by step, the tech industry is moving away from being hardware-driven to being AV- and service-driven. Customers want to buy an outcome from integrators and resellers, not a product. More than anything, they want peace of mind. This will be mirrored in the workplace. Touch screen technology is finally taking off in meeting rooms. Mainly used in schools before, the tactile element is becoming a key requirement for corporate environments. It’s not about programming anymore, it’s about configuring things. A typical set up for today’s office environment will feature wireless presentation technology and a switcher to bring in other content sources.We will also see increased use of technologies with Bluetooth and ultrasound, enabling multiple technologies in the room to sense who you are and what your needs will be. This could be a system knowing that it should load certain files for a certain person, or perhaps configuring the user interface to match that person’s seniority and technical ability. This intrinsically smart, interconnected office is the future of corporate environments, and we’ll see much more innovation and disruption in this arena in the months and years to come. Serena Borghero, Director at Steelcase In 2018, offices need to get smarter and more connected.We believe that the Internet of Things, whereby anything electronic that is connected to the Internet and to each other, will help build workplaces of the future. Imagine opening an app on your smartphone to see which colleagues are in the office or what meeting rooms with video conferencing capability are open at 1:00 p.m. As the meeting begins, the room automatically dials in the remote participants, adjusts the lighting and alerts you when your time is running short. Companies that want to create great workplaces can benefit from embedded technology by drawing on the data that’s generated. Design, facilities and real estate professionals in the UK will be able to make better decisions about where to focus their efforts if they have a data stream to tell them which rooms are always busy; at what times they’re busy; which rooms no one seems to like; and what areas need improving to get the most out of real estate. Knowing how the workplace is used is great for office leaders. And employees will have the ability to find and choose the right space through mobile apps and internal systems. Their feedback will have a direct impact on their environment. Just as technology in today’s cars is improving the driving experience, the power of emerging technologies in tomorrow’s office will help people navigate the complexity of work more easily and help organisations create better work experiences for individuals and teams. Frank Nijholt Lieven Bertier Chris Farinacci Serena Borghero