Great expectations: how does your company's technology stack up?

Monday, 24 March 2014

If your users don't like the tools they are given, they won't be as productive as they can be.

Seven years ago, Apple released the first iPhone, completely transforming the way we think about mobile devices. In that time, even if you've never owned an Apple product, society as a whole has developed certain pre-conceived ideas about how technology should work, based on what the iPhone provides its users. Technology should be exciting, it should be easy to use and it should be fresh. We should be able to use it wherever we are, whenever we like.

It wasn't so long ago that we used to accept that the technology we use for work purposes wouldn't be as sleek as the technology we use in our private time. After all, many businesses had made expensive investments in clunky, old-school hardware and software that had to provide a return on investment before management could even bring themselves to start thinking about an upgrade.

But those days have long gone. Today, we have the same expectation for the devices and applications we use at work as we do for technology we use at home.

Which is why when organisations are thinking about their technology strategy, what they implement has to meet three very important criteria:

1. It has to be as easy to use as the devices and applications we have for our personal time. This means making sure your supplier has a mobile-first approach to solutions development, so your staff can use technology at work in the same way as they use it at home. They want easy-to-use screen icons that feel natural and logical in their utility.
2. Staff need to be able to use the technology as soon as it's implemented. They don't want to be chained to a PC just so they can use the software they prefer. Nor do they want to - or have the time for - learning new applications just because the business has invested in new technology. They want to be able to use all the Microsoft Office applications that are second nature to them, on their favourite mobile device, at any time.
3. Everything they access through their work systems has to be as secure as Fort Knox. This is possibly the most important point of all. End users take security for granted, we don't want to have to think about whether the documents we're storing, editing and sharing with our colleagues, our advisers and our suppliers can be compromised. We expect everything will be completely watertight, with minimal effort.

This last criterion is critical when it comes to finding the right technology and collaboration tools for your business. Although our expectations about the technology we use at home and at work has merged, there's one very significant difference: the security of the information with which we're working.

Security is much less of a factor when we're using technology for personal purposes - the security of our photos and social media posts is simply not as important as the security of intellectual property of a company, or personnel files. Because of this, enterprise-grade security is absolutely vital when we're creating, managing and sharing information for work purposes.

What this means is that consumer applications won't cut it if you want to keep your data safe and secure. This is where the management and IT functions of a business come in. It's essential to rely on their expertise when choosing data storage and file sharing solutions, to make sure that no matter who's working on a document - internal employees or external partners - the information in it is protected.

From talking to Accellion customers across key industries, we understand the need for a single platform that is both highly collaborative and secure. So don't leave your business's IP vulnerable in consumer solutions. It's critical for your company to work alongside technology experts that ensure:

• You're implementing an advanced solution that will be flexible with changes or advancements in the market.
• What you've deployed is intuitive to use for your employees.
• Your critical information can't be compromised.

If the technology in your business can tick those boxes, your staff will be more productive, engaged and able to focus on delivering an optimum performance, so they can work, wherever.

Kieran O'Shaughnessy is Managing Director Asia Pacific, Accellion