MARKET REPORT The Smart Offi ce
“With the right platform and the right peripheral people don’t need a desk anymore and can work from
anywhere, even at a bus stop if necessary.”
John McKindland, Head of Solutions at Nimans
should instead start by
focusing on implementing
tech that allows for exible
working. ink cloud sharing
and resilient communication
channels that mimic that
all-important collaborative
team environment. e value
for any business starting their
smart working strategy here
is tangible. According to the
employment search service
Abodoo, small changes can
make a big di erence to small
businesses with adoption of
such tech, resulting a 15%
productivity increase and a 40%
improvement in sta turnover.”
Myles Leach, MD of NFON
UK said “It’s important that
SMEs can get enjoy the same
bene ts from smart working
- for example, SMEs that
implement mobile working will
bene t from less sta ‘sick days’
as they can still work during
school holidays and when
children are ill. Plus they can ex
their hours and do more work
for urgent projects when needed,
as they aren’t restricted by o ce
opening hours. When you give
workers exibility, they will give
you exibility in return.”
McKindland added “ ere’s
a perception in some quarters
that you can only sell this
type of technology in larger
organisations, but that’s
de nitely not the case. It’s cost
e ective for even the smallest
of businesses and can help
deliver a competitive market
advantage.“
Not everyone agrees, Sinnott
added, “No, the SME in general
is not exploiting the current
opportunity and the reason for
that is too many sellers package
up cloud services to look like
traditional service. Providing
a stack of unwanted features,
imposing ridged contracts
and basing it around physical
locations rather than individual
user choice based on what they
do and how they can work
best. Better sales people need
to take more time educating
and advising customers on the
options and not trying to chip a
ver o the running costs, it is a
false economy.”
ED SAYS…
Two huge opportunities around the smart offi ce. Buildings management is an
interesting one as many customers will have the same requirements no matter
what their core businesses is. Although fl exible working may be on the rise most
businesses also come with a physical offi ce space which should allow plenty of
opportunities for partners. When it comes to core business fl exibility is currently
king, making sure you have the right bundle of cloud based mobile solutions will
stand you in good stead.
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o ce may come from the time
you require sta to attend. e
old saying was ‘work is a thing
you do not a place you go to’
and similarly ‘going to the o ce’
can become a general term for
starting work activity, be that in
a co ee shop round the corner,
a home o ce, a shared space
or a park bench. Travelling o
peak brings down sta personal
costs, stress and inconvenience
and a modern worker may trade
that exibility for some element
of salary. Flexibility in location
and work time may also mean
greater availability for customers,
improving the customer
experience so a smart o ce
is one that exists as a virtualconcept
with a physical hub.”
SME IMPACT
Can the SME really justify these
types of solutions to enable their
small workforce? If so, are they
actually starting to jumping into
this segment with any kind of
gusto?
Bernie McPhilips, Sales
Director of Pangea, commented
“While space utilisation and
occupant comfort might
not be top of the agenda for
smaller businesses, SMEs
40 | Comms Business Magazine | January 2019 www.commsbusiness.co.uk
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