XMA’s Infrastructure Solutions Team are seeing a growing interest in dHCI from HPE.
XMA Solutions Director for Infrastructure – Jen Norman – and her team of Datacentre Architects take a closer look..
We’ve been designing and installing Hyperconverged Infrastructure solutions for some time now, and between Myself and my Datacentre team we have over (*cough) 115 years (*ahem) engineering experience between us. So when HPE came to us with a disaggregated hyperconverged infrastructure solution last year, apart from repeating the name several times over to ourselves, we got onboard and got involved. Now we are privileged to have completed our first dHCI live production solution deployments earlier this year.
What could you be facing?
So maybe your VMware system is running out of storage capacity, your servers are dated and you can’t upgrade to run the latest versions.
Ok. Well you’ve done some research and investigation. You want a hyperconverged replacement where you can run concurrent workloads, and like the idea of being able to scale out storage or compute separately. BUT it would be great if you could get this delivered, supported and managed as a single product.
What else might you need?
Well as standard, you want a storage system that has options for encryption, compression and deduplication, application consistent snapshots and advanced replication (ether synchronous or asynchronous) with near all-flash speed and sub-ms latency for always-on apps. That’s a given.
Definitely VMware clusters running on the latest compatible server hardware and block level storage.
A complete turnkey solution? One that is monitored from the application to the storage, proactive alerting and with the ability to predict and prevent infrastructure problems before they happen.
Nothing less than a system designed for 99.9999% availability – no single point of failure, hardware redundancies with the ability to tolerate 3 simultaneous drive failures!
And you’re pretty sure that Procurement will want the choice on finance options – including future proofing, cloud like financing, with integrated support.
Then you definitely need a HPE disaggregated hyperconverged solution (dHCI)
And you are not alone. Since its inception in 2019 we have seen successful installations in Local Government and Education, with interest and opportunities growing in the Corporate, Commercial Enterprise and Healthcare sectors.
It’s a winning combination
You take the power and performance of the HPE Nimble Storage array, with its self-managing flash storage.
Add industry-leading HPE ProLiant Servers, include HPE storage switches, and deploy VMware vSphere.
Then this is all preconfigured as a turnkey solution!
Then automate with full-stack intelligence and policy-based automation for VM-centric management.
But here’s the best bit……
Add the power of HPE InfoSight over all this, and you have full-stack predictive analytics and support automation working for you that predicts and prevents issues. Infosight auto-routes any complex issue directly to L3 HPE Nimble support.
HPE have streamlined their support portfolio to offer four service levels that are easier to understand, easier to align to business needs which gives you visibility into IT assets and support status from anywhere.
You can flexibility and independently grow compute and/or storage – adding new dHCI compatible storage and/or servers when required – for scale-out upgrades that are non-disruptive and transparent to applications.
Eliminate over provisioning and add only the resources when needed. The Timeless Storage means no worries today or tomorrow with all-inclusive software licensing, flat support pricing, no forklift upgrades, and an option to receive a free faster controller upgrade after three years with Timeless Storage.
And, if you’re reading this thinking ‘well this sounds great but I’ve still got Gen9 (or 10) Proliant servers that are in warranty and I don’t want to replace them yet’.. Well HPE read your mind, (just kidding, they leave that to your home speaker system and asked Alexa what you thought), and have designed the solution so you can use the existing compute you already have in place, add a Nimble array and the dHCI software allowing you to convert everything in to a dHCI solution!
Is this Complex?
HPE Nimble storage arrays can be installed and be up and running in half a day requiring no external tools or software – we have completed installations where the HPE Nimble arrays that have been physically installed, configured, integrated and have test VMs running within hours ready for User Acceptance Testing (UAT). They can be All-Flash (AF) or Adaptive Flash (HF) for mixed, mainstream workloads, where cost-efficient flash performance is important. It is a Secondary Flash array for backup and DR while allowing you to put your backup data to work.
For the compute you have the HPE ProLiant Gen10 DL360 a performance driven dense server or DL380 for performance and expandability. These servers deliver security, agility and flexibility without compromise – with the knowledge that you can confidently deploy for virtualisation.
These are completed with a choice of Ethernet HPE storage switches to meet your budget and installation size.
Root Cause…. Could it be the network? A server fault or a storage fault?
Once installed HPE InfoSight can help you stop spending days searching for a root cause deep in your hybrid environment. Every second, HPE InfoSight collects and analyses data from more than 100,000 systems worldwide, and uses that intelligence to make every system smarter and more self-sufficient. The result? HPE InfoSight predicts and automatically resolves 86% of customer issues.
We are an HPE Platinum partner and have trained and Certified HPE sales and engineers with Master Accredited Solutions Experts (top-level credential validates technical skills) with experience in building and sizing advanced enterprise systems. Continually staying up to date with the latest technology updates, strategies and programs. One of our core values is “customer focus”. We put our customers at the heart of everything we do. We don’t just provide technology we provide solutions.
Written by Jennifer Norman, Solutions Director for Infrastructure
XMA’s Guide to Getting started with Microsoft Teams
With more and more of us needing to work from home, we wanted to collate some resources and share some links to items that should help organisations and end users get started quickly!
Definitely check out the ‘Remote Work Checklist’ from Microsoft. We found the most important one was setting up your workspace… even if you’ve got an orthopaedic mattress you can’t ‘Work from Bed’ for 3 weeks [if not longer]! Also get that video on! Turning the video on your Teams call can really makes a difference as it ensures all members stay focused and always good to get some human interaction and also prevents working in your pyjamas!
Teams hints and tricks
Watch the Welcome Video to get an overview of ‘What is Teams?’
XMA and Spongy Elephant have partnered to share £FREE training modules that can enable you to use Microsoft’s remote learning/working tools more effectively.
Create the perfect Team from the start and add members in a variety of ways
Understand the Microsoft Teams interface and how to use powerful features like commands
Discover how conferencing works in Teams with Teams virtual meetings
Learn how to minimise the “noise” of notifications and alerts to limit distractions
Here you can learn how to make your meetings engaging, productive and effective.
Use Teams for your entire meeting experience, including:
Sending agendas and setting context before the meeting, creating momentum
Sharing live applications and taking meeting notes, keeping attendees engaged during the meeting
Posting files and action items after the meeting, ensuring timely follow-through
Record your meeting, making it easy for those who couldn’t attend to get caught up
Keep important meetings at your fingertips by pinning them for easy access
Assess which audio and video devices are best for your meeting needs
If you have any questions or need any help with Microsoft Teams please contact our CSP Business Manager, James.Thorogood@xma.co.uk or call our sales team on 0115 846 4000
Covid-19 – Partner Updates
Like all businesses, XMA are concerned about the recent Covid-19 outbreak.
After the announcement by the Prime minister on 12th March we are continuing to follow government advice closely and are primarily focused on ensuring the safety of our staff, customers and suppliers.
The company has a business continuity plan in the event of any significant disruption and will endeavour to keep as near to normal levels of service if a period of quarantine is imposed by the government. Clearly, if our warehouses are closed, this will be more disruptive. We will post updates regularly on our website as the situation alters.
We work with a number of technology partners as do our customers and have consolidated links to our partners Covid-19 messaging in one location. Many of them working to assist their customers where they can with their relevant technologies in areas such as “how-to” webinars, providing software at no or reduced cost – mainly around remote working as well as general updates on their business during this time.
Please see below links to our Vendor Partner updates:
If you have any questions or concerns around your Infrastructure, please get in touch with your XMA Account Manager or contact us on the form below.
To read our response to the COVID-19, please read here
How can Microsoft help with Covid-19?
We all know that technology is going to play a pivotal role in reducing the impact of COVID-19 on people and organisations, including helping them stay productive at work when they’re not able to be there in person. However, lots of businesses, as well as education and public sector organisations, are not geared to sudden mass home working.
For our customers at XMA I wanted to update you as to how you can work remotely without sacrificing collaboration, productivity or security.
Microsoft launched an interactive map that allows visitors to click on the country to see the specific number of cases of COVID-19 based on data from the World Health Organization (WHO); the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).
Whilst it is scary to see this data outlined on a heatmap, I’m pleased to report that this website is not the only way that Microsoft are supporting in the COVID-19 crisis.
JP Courtois [Microsoft’s executive vice president and president of Microsoft global sales, marketing and operations] announced that Microsoft are making their paid for collaboration tool, Microsoft Teams, free for six months to help organisations deal with the demand of end users needing to work from home.
The Teams trial is part of a new Office 365 trial for enterprises (Office 365 E1) which includes full meeting, collaboration and workflow capabilities.
Microsoft rolled out a new update on March 10 which lifted restrictions on how many users can be part of a team in the free version of Teams. The newly released features include being able to set up Office on personal devices such as phones and tablets; 1TB of cloud storage; enterprise video-sharing service; and being able host online video conferences.
For me the key obvious benefits of this are the online meetings, increased file storage and Office Suite on a personal device.
You will be able to host online meetings with audio, HD video, and web conferencing. Even being able to present ‘Broadcast meetings’ which will allow up to 10,000 people join with just a web browser. This can be done on almost any device – perfect for large, companywide, conferences or events.
With OneDrive for Business each user has 1 TB of personal cloud storage that can be accessed from anywhere, on any device. This means that you can securely save the documents that you work on at home and share with others inside and outside your organization, whilst being in control of who can see and edit each file. You could then sync these documents when you get back into your place of work with your local drives.
Installing the native Office suite of products such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint will enable most workers to continue being productive especially if their own organisation can not afford to provide them with company owned hardware or the licences.
At XMA we were already regularly seeing the benefits of Teams but now with imposed travel reductions it is becoming a go to solution. Being well verse in the Microsoft Eco-structure internally as well as via our consultants, if you require any assistance on getting your trial setup, please let us know and we are of course happy to help.
In addition to this extended 6 month trial there are also specific ways that Azure AD can help enable remote access to work resources.
At XMA we want to help our customers in this time of need. So any support you require from your Account Manager, please let them know. For the more specific items I have covered here today, please feel free to reach out and contact me directly.
In summary stay safe, travel less, collaborate more.
Unless we technologically advance rather ferociously in the coming years, this is the last time we will see a double figure year in our lifetime, so it’s pretty special! An iconic year for us all to really make an impact.
Let’s jump straight into our technology predictions for 2020: sustainable innovation, experiencing technology, time limits, specialised talent, and transhumanism.
Sustainable Innovation
Change is upon us, effective change is imminent.
Being sustainable is at the core of every business. As businesses, we want to be seen making positive changes, but how far are we all actually going to make an impact? Is there any evidence to analyse? Any substance behind the claims?
We can expect to see greater investments in reuse and recycling for closed-loop innovation and expect to say goodbye to the days of bulky hardware, as just like the nano SIM, hardware are becoming smaller and more efficient and we will be more reliant on the Cloud. We can expect more organisations to source new sustainable materials for example being built with recycled and reclaimed goods.
In 2018, HP used 21,250 tonnes of recycled plastic in HP products – including 8,360 tonnes in their personal systems (a 3.5% increase from 2017); 4,790 tonnes in their printers (a 280% increase from 2017); and more than 8,000 tonnes in their ink and toner cartridges.
“As of September 2019, HP sourced about 450 tonnes of ocean-bound plastic bottles (equal to roughly 35 million bottles) that are recycled and used to make Original HP ink cartridges and hardware, including the HP EliteDisplay E273d Docking Monitor (announced in June 2019) – the world’s first display manufactured using ocean plastic. Display manufactured with 5% ocean bound plastic materials by weight, the equivalent of more than three 16 oz. recycled plastic water bottles.” (HP, 2019).
So an absolute #GameChanger is the HP Elite Dragonfly, after launching in September 2019, this beautiful, slimline device has been the talk of Tech Town. Not only is the HP Dragonfly the world’s most lightweight 13” laptop, it is also the world’s first notebook with ocean-bound plastics, including 5% in its speaker, and has started a standing-ovation-worthy cybersecurity revolution…
The motherboard is where the magic happens, but with the Dragonfly, it’s more than magic, it’s where their intelligence driven superpowers are challenged. Sure Sense, required with Windows 10, is trained to seek and analyse trends in Malware. Unlike Norton for example, which detects known malware, Sure Sense looks for codes and changes in malware that Norton would not be able to spot. This is next level. This is now. This is the answer to your cybersecurity concerns.
We predict that the HP Dragonfly will have a snowball effect on other organisations and we will see more plans and launches of devices which use sustainable materials in their products. It’s all part of the sustainability grape vine. Find out why this is so important to us here.
Technology Experience – learning how to use technology more creatively to go the extra mile.
We predict that 2020 will create a new wave of fun for technology users. Consumers will use their devices and software to a fuller extent, producing a richer experience. Technology Education will make a breakthrough from younger ages through to adults and a better understanding of technology and it’s possibilities will be explored. Technology consumers will move forward and develop more creatively – beginning to safely experiment and enjoy the dormant or ‘unknown’ features to a fuller extent.
Time limits Apps/Personal
After studies suggest social media is addictive to younger consumers, we predict apps like Instagram and Facebook will set up ‘recommended screen time’ to present themselves as transparent and responsible media owners. At first, this could be promoted via a push notification, followed by a hideable banner on the homepage if not actioned by the user.
As well as apps encouraging this, we predict that tech users will start taking more of an active role to their technology intake and allocate certain time slots for apps.
As a side note, media giant Instagram appears to have the user at the forefront of their minds. Recently after a trial period in the UK, Instagram removed the amount of likes on photos to other users, only the photo owner can see the total number of likes; however this does not stop savvy users counting the profiles that liked it. The move was designed to promote positive well-being and to downplay the importance of users receiving ‘social validation’ on their posts after concerns of growing online anxiety, and instead to shift focus to the content they freely want to share.
Training for Specialised Talent
As I’m sure you’re aware, ICT is a rapidly growing industry, and after every layer is peeled, another 500 appear. Because of this, there is talent in special areas, we have seen the Facebook Content Manager and Social Media Community Manager, but we can expect to see wild job titles entering the mix. Perhaps Linkedin Automated Message Developer, Instagram Beauty Hashtag Expert, or Website Header Transition Engineer.
Technology has a major role to play in learning and in preparing students for the world and careers they’ll be responsible for in the future – a future where 65% of jobs they will apply for do not exist today. (World Economic Forum, “The Future of Jobs: Employment, Skills and Workforce Strategy for the Fourth Industrial Revolution,” January 2016).
In May 2017, BBC Sounds podcast covered this and even though this circulated figure is debatable, it creates a thought whirlwind… will technology in education create more doors to open with more space to explore? How is technology training in schools being implemented effectively to prepare for these changes? If you’re interested in finding out some more, sign up to one of our Google Interactive Learning Experiences at BETT 2020 here.
Transhumanism
How would you feel about opening your front door by the swish of your index finger? What about picking up loose change from behind the sofa with a magnetic middle finger? Would you find it helpful having a chip in your wrist which is full of your medical information?
Introducing… Transhumanism. The belief or theory that the human race can evolve beyond its current physical and mental limitations, especially by means of science and technology.
When we think of transhumanism and technological developments into our bodies, we could think of a certain alien invader – cyberhumans. And hello 2020, we can liken this concept to BBC’s hit drama ‘Years and Years’, where student Bethany is obsessed with transhumanism and the culture of integrating humans with technology. If you haven’t seen it yet, it is definitely worth a watch to examine life in possibility.
‘I’m going to escape and become digital’. Granted, talk of removing the brain with all your life’s information and storing it into the Cloud is a tad extreme, however that is transhumanism in its ultimate form. Saying this, Winter Mraz, 31, labelled as a ‘Tech Geek’, with a degree in Games Modelling, Animation, and Effects, began augmenting herself after a car crash in the United States.
With ‘bionic’ implants inserted around her body, she argues over popular contraceptive implants, presenting conflicting ideas of ‘what’s the difference between a contraceptive implant and a microchip?’
Working as an engineer, she said her magnetic and data-fuelled implants allow her to sense electromagnetic fields and help avoid touching live wires at work.
Some argue that either through genetics or artificial intelligence, humans will be able to create a human being that is far superior to what we are now. From robotic hearts which don’t stop ticking, to saying ‘see ya’ to Rapid Wrinkle Repair cream and welcoming in genetic enhancements to make us not age or stay young forever, and let’s not forget about the development of bionic eyes that immediately download TV shows.
Overall, the concept of transhumanism is to collaborate humans and technology to make us more functional beings which live longer and more efficiently.
Will humans be free thinking, decision making entities in the Cloud?
Will we upload different versions of ourselves?
What if our Cloud personas are hacked? Rewind to this iconic episode of Doctor Who and The Rise of The Cybermen.
Is this a work of art? Or work for reversal?
Windows 10 & Beyond: Driving adoption and change
Driving adoption and change
What happens once you have migrated your business over to Windows 10 and how does the business start utilising all of the tools that are now available to them?
At XMA, we excel at helping organisations rise above the important, routine tasks involved with running a business. We offer a wide range of services that include helping your business drive Cloud adoption. Through our experience as a Gold Certified Microsoft partner, we can help you to enable the right solutions, tailor it to fit your unique needs, and drive adoption among employees, all while staying within your budget.
Watch our Windows 10 & Beyond Animation
Your first steps towards cloud adoption
Azure Active Directory
Has your business moved your Active Directory into Azure? Active Directory in Azure is the first step in order to enable additional solutions. You can connect your users with apps for a frictionless experience across cloud, mobile and on-premises apps. Single sign-on for multiple applications makes it easier and faster to onboard new employees, terminate access for leavers, and implement access to new cloud services, so users are up and running more quickly.
Microsoft Office 365
Have you moved your emails into Office 365? With Office 365, your employees can work anywhere, anytime and on any device. You will need to consider how you are backing up and securing your data within Office 365, and make sure you are fully utilising what is available within the suite of tools. Office 365 allows your IT resource to access the easy-to-use admin center from anywhere to manage all services. Office 365 takes care of IT for you, so your services are always up and running and up to date.
Microsoft teams
Microsoft have also announced that Skype for Business will come to end of life on July 31st 2021. This means your organisation will need to make the journey to Microsoft Teams. If you are operating on Windows 10 – then you are already half way there! We can help you realise the full benefits of Microsoft Teams, and how it can increase collaboration, lead conversations and integrate with Office 365.
Intune & Enterprise Mobility Suite
The deployment and ongoing management of your estate is essential for effective outcomes. Employees always want consistent access to their company’s resources from any given device. This is a challenge for IT professionals, who want to provide maximum mobility, all the while, protecting the corporate resources. Microsoft Intune is responsible for dealing with the mobile devices of the employees and provides functionalities such as remote wiping of data and mobile application management. Additionally, EMS reduces the burden on IT teams, enhance your data protection, and simplified identity management.
Sharepoint Online
SharePoint online is a collaboration software that enables mobility, and is a centralised document repository that compliments Microsoft Teams and One Drive – all tools that are now available to your business now that you are operating on a Windows 10 environment. You can drive automation through SharePoint online, and give employees places where they can organise and collaborate on content, data, and news to stay on the same page.
Analytics & Automation
PowerApps and Flow are part of the Microsoft Power Platform along with Power BI, and are being promoted by Microsoft as the new tools for the citizen developer. Microsoft Flow is based on workflows and triggers, and there are many different types of triggers that can be used. A Flow can be kicked off when a new entity is created or an existing entity is changed. PowerApps uses the connectors, provided data can easily be pulled from one or several data sources and combined to display what you really need to see with full create, read, write and update functionality, or restricted as you see fit.
We are leading the way in ‘The Modern Workplace’
XMA have started rolling out Microsoft devices across our own business; the hardware and software are built in unity, making them easy to deploy and simpler to manage. Our employees have agreed that their Microsoft device has allowed them to ‘increase productivity even on the most common tasks’… ‘more flexible working which has allowed us to embrace an “always online” approach’… and last but not least, they are proud to be seen with it!
How we can help you embrace the modern workplace
Whether you are at the beginning or the end of your Windows 10 journey, XMA are best placed to help you develop and drive your future road map and strategy.
We can provide end-user training to improve worker productivity, empower your organisation to automate your “starter, leaver, mover” process, and implement your Microsoft Enterprise Mobility Suite.
Our services for training and consultancy
XMA has an in-house team who deliver end user training to improve worker productivity. We understand the importance of enabling your workforce to get the very most out of the tools that are now available to them.
This training can span across multiple departments, including working closely with your own IT resource on how to deploy all of the new software programs across the business. We act as an extension of your IT department, and offer continuous support throughout your journey to a modern workplace.
Implementing a lifestyle approach for better patient care
XMA, HPE Financial Services and Gloucestershire Care Services NHS Trust
XMA has been partnering with HPE Financial Services for years on solving end-user dilemmas around end-of-life equipment. “What used to be a problem for our customers – what to do with equipment they no longer want or need – is becoming an opportunity,” says Andy Wright, XMA Commercial Director. “Virtually every company, especially those in public sector, have sustainability goals and their IT departments have the opportunity to contribute significantly by working with specialists to remarket equipment instead of sending it to a landfill or even recycling it. It’s called a circular economy approach.”
Gloucestershire Care Services is no different. According to Ben, the Trust supports environmental sustainability through a series of initiatives including reducing water usage, energy consumption and waste to landfills. “GCS is intent on reducing waste throughout the services we administer to patients and our own operations. HPE Financial Services has an excellent reputation in extending the use of devices by remarketing them which fits perfectly with our corporate sustainability objectives.”
Halfway to success… A Windows 10 Journey
With the impending deadline of January 14th 2020, the shift to Windows 10 is one of the most important topics on every IT professionals mind. Migrating is only one part of the puzzle and there are many other important things you should be considering if you are one of the many organisations who are already halfway through migrating!
Here are the top 4 challenges that you could face on your Migration to Windows 10
1.Legacy Application Issues
Organisations who are reliant on legacy applications within their environment may be delaying upgrading to Windows 10 or having issues mid-migration due to interoperability issues.
2.Struggling to obtain meaningful and actionable data to migrate
Although Microsoft have made available a number of free tools to help identify what devices and applications will be compatible with Windows 10, it’s actually very hard for organisations to get meaningful data that they can make actionable decisions on around that.
3.Internal capabilities and resource capacity
Upgrading to Windows 10 will most likely be one of many projects your organisations IT team will be involved in at any one time therefore having the time and resource required to properly commit to ensuring a smooth transition may prove challenging.
4.Functionality
Adoption and utilisation of any new technology is dependent on your organisation and it’s employees understanding how to make best use of the full suite of features and benefits Windows 10 offers. Training your workforce can significantly improve their productivity and reduce the burden on your IT support resources ongoing but is often an afterthought for many organisations.
Another point to consider is an understanding of how your organisation can benefit from Modern Management and the efficiencies to be gained from streamlined device provisioning to your users.
If any of these challenges sound familiar, get in touch with us to discuss further.
Our experienced in-house team of Microsoft accredited consultants and engineers are experts in migrating data and systems across a wide range of business systems including Windows 10. We have the expertise and knowledge to guide you through your migration journey, from assessing the readiness of your current applications to migrating data and ensuring you’re making the most of your investment, we can manage the whole lifecycle of your migration project and beyond.
You can also find our more about what to consider for Windows 7 End of Support by listening to our podcast
Is employee wellbeing a victim of hot-desking success?
The rise in flexible working has been steady over a number of years now, with each new technological development allowing more freedom to managers and employees – but only if that technology is utilised correctly.
Improvements in technology have enabled businesses to embrace flexibility – but who benefits?
Companies are certainly seeing gains.
More people needing less desks brings big savings on overheads, as well as easier and quicker onboarding.
Recruiting by skill-set rather than geography is now possible with businesses no longer confined to the local population to find their perfect match.
New technologies and cloud storage mean systems and digital objects aren’t tied to a specific location, so their distribution can be easier to manage, as well as providing flexibility for employees.
And there are benefits to employees as well of course.
Widening your social network has been cited as a benefit of hot-desking, as it naturally encourages the growth of relationships outside an original team. Employees will gain a better understanding of the skills and knowledge of their co-workers, while also growing their understanding of the organisations’ bigger picture.
As fixed desks are replaced with a more flexible working environment, these spaces might allow for relaxed break-out areas for brainstorming, quiet areas for concentration and meeting areas locally. This brings the opportunity to design a space around the needs of workers and their working practice.
And of course, the flexibility of choosing your own workspace will benefit many employees.
It’s a win-win then?
Maybe not, the news isn’t all positive.
While workspace flexibility and increased social interaction are improvements for some workers, others are suffering with the loss of security and sense of belonging having their own space gave them.
The health and safety considerations of setting up a workstation to meet individual requirements.
Stresses caused by not knowing what seating will be available in the office.
Concerns about isolation and losing a sense of belonging in the work environment.
The Open Sourced Workplace also identifies a number of negative impacts of hot-desking reporting that many employees, particularly older workers, women and introverts, struggle with it.
The potential for disturbance means many employees find focus and concentration difficult.
The lack of privacy can impact employee productivity.
So, what is the answer?
Organisations need to understand their workforce and what makes them tick.
While financial concerns and productivity are key, so too are the needs of employees which will impact on every aspect of business running.
Technology can certainly be utilised to ease some of the concerns identified in these reports.
Booking solutions can remove the worry that a desk won’t be available by allowing advanced reservation.
These solutions should also be smart enough to ensure a proximity to team members.
Meeting room booking systems should highlight the rooms features as well as showing the rooms availability, location and utilise location services to provide directions.
We’re used to smart technology in our homes meaning that we have information and access to systems when we’re not there, the systems we use at work should be at least as smart.
Innovation across workspaces will need solutions which integrate and solve real pain points for real people – any strategy must stem from a wider business focus on employee engagement and productivity.
Find out more
While hot-desking offers opportunities for improvement for companies and employees, there are concerns for employee wellbeing which shouldn’t be ignored.
Smarter, more innovative, solutions will give organisations the opportunity to enhance workspaces by ensuring they work for individuals and the way they work.
If you’d like to find out more about building employee-centred workspaces, get in touch.
Written by Terry Chana – Workspace Lead Consultant @ XMA
Teesside University
XMA partners with Teesside University to adopt Future Facing Learning
XMA has supported Teesside University in delivering their Digital Development Programme, part of the institution’s Future Facing Learning (FFL) Strategy.
Future Facing Learning empowers students to deliver impact on a global scale by providing them with the knowledge, skills, and tools they need to achieve sustainable success in a globally connected workplace.
The Future Facing Learning strategy also encompasses all teaching staff across the university, by giving them the confidence to embrace new technologies in the delivery of their lessons. This project was focused on the efficient deployment and management of the right technology, bespoke training and coaching for students and staff, and on-going support post-deployment.
Monitoring by Hotjar