Digital Workspace

The Workplace Is Being Reborn with Modern Tech

Companies respond to changing customer, worker expectations by supporting collaboration cultures with the right IT solutions.

Ryan Petersen

Twitter

Ryan has been a magazine and newspaper editor for 21 years, with the last 15 covering a variety of bases for CDW’s family of tech magazines. As Editor in Chief, he works on developing editorial strategy and is always on the lookout for new writing talent and sharing great stories with the IT world. In his spare time, Ryan enjoys spending time with his family, biking and obsessively following Iowa Hawkeye sports and Cubs baseball.

The modern workplace looks a lot different than it did just five years ago, and technology is both driving the change and enabling it. While there is much talk about the future of work, I’d argue that the future has arrived — and any business that isn’t operating in it already has some catching up to do.

Businesses know that to meet the expectations of their customers, they must build a culture of collaboration among their employees. And to satisfy today’s workers, whose busy lives demand flexible schedules and remote work opportunities, organizations must deploy the right mix of technologies to support collaboration.

These demands present a challenge for IT leaders, but also an opportunity. For “The Modern Workforce Insight Report” by CDW, 37 percent of CIOs told IDG Research that enabling collaboration was a vital means of increasing productivity and efficiency in their workplaces.

The Technology for Collaboration Is Here

The good news is that the solutions needed to build a modern workplace have already arrived. High-quality videoconferencing, instant messaging, secure file sharing, productivity apps and more are available from some of the world’s most well-known technology brands.

For example, Seyfarth Shaw, a national law firm based in Chicago, is deploying Cisco’s Webex Teams to allow its attorneys around the country to collaborate securely — both with each other and with clients. And as Atlanta-based Cox Automotive grew rapidly through acquisitions, it brought harmony to its burgeoning team with Microsoft’s suite of collaboration solutions.

None of this easy to do. In “The Modern Workforce Insight Report,” 41 percent of businesses said it’s “very challenging” to find the perfect mix of solutions. And when they do, the difficult process of successfully transitioning employees begins — something 39 percent said they struggle with.

But building a collaborative workplace supported by the right tech isn’t merely worth the effort. To meet the demands of modern customers and employees, it’s absolutely necessary.