Joseph Sweeney

In December 2017, IBRS joined eight globally recognised thought leaders to discuss the Future of Work as part of Adobe's Think Tank series.

IBRS advisor, Dr Joseph Sweeney, not only presented a view of how technology is impacting the workforce during the live panel discussion but also moderated the pre-event brainstorm session and assisted with pre-event briefings.

The discussion examined the long-term ramifications of the changing workplace, including:

• technology's impact on traditional jobs

• which jobs are under threat

• opportunities for new roles

• changing hiring and work practices

• the disruption caused by the gig economy

• the role of governments
  how education must change

  For more, click on the video below.

Conclusion: Unless an organisation has made a decision to go “all-in” with Google’s G Suite, Chromebooks (plus Chromeboxes and related Chrome devices) are best viewed as an adjunct to traditional Windows laptops and desktops, rather than a replacement. Chromebooks provide the greatest value when applied to specific work contexts.

• Future Workplace

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Related Articles:

"Considering Chromebooks Part 1: Show me the money!" IBRS, 2017-11-02 04:26:19

Conclusion: Chromebooks continue to be viewed mostly as a low-cost alternative to Windows devices. While it is true a Google G Suite/Chromebook only workspace is a considerably lower cost compared to a Microsoft workspace, a careful examination of Chromebooks in a mixed device workplace – which is the norm – reveals that some of the purported savings are overstated.

More significantly, the over-focus on the cost of devices hides the more nuanced reasons for considering Chromebooks and the role they can play in an organisation’s move towards workforce transformation.

In the first of two management advisory papers, IBRS examines the extent to which Chromebooks deliver cost savings.

• ICT and Digital Strategic Decision

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Related Articles:

"Considering Chromebooks Part 2: Use cases" IBRS, 2017-12-02 06:25:01

 IBRS iQ is a database of Client inquiries and is designed to get you talking to our Advisors about these topics in the context of your organisation in order to provide tailored advice for your needs.

• ICT Modernisation

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Collaboration services must align with business objctives to be effective but what does the buzzword "collaboration" really mean?

While the hype surrounding collaboration technologies and Web 2.0 services reaches fever pitch within the media, vendors and business managers alike, it will serve organisations well to stop and think carefully about what the buzzword collaboration really means for organisational processes, structures and efficiencies. When collaboration services are misaligned with business objectives, they will hinder, not aid, productivity. Having a model to categorise different forms – or modes – of collaboration is an important first-step in accurately matching technologies to different collaborative applications.

• ICT Modernisation

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• ICT and Digital Strategic Decision

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A decade ago, IBRS made the case that there were many different “modes” of collaboration and stressed the importance of choosing the appropriate mode for specific work activities. A framework provided clarity in matching the different collaborative modes to work. The framework included five aspects: power, process complexity, reach, community breadth and goals. While collaborative productivity tool suites have become the de facto working environment over the last decade, the uptake of deep collaborative work practices within and between organisations has been hindered by cultural resistance, as outlined in “Get Ready for Co-Authoring: Parts 1 & 2”. The shift to deep collaboration working practices will be resisted, but it is inevitable.

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Conclusion: Both Google G Suite and Office 365 can enable deep collaboration. As discussed in Deciding between Google G Suite and Microsoft Office 365¹, while G Suite puts deep collaboration front and centre, Office 365 allows organisations to evolve into this new way of working. Whatever office suite is selected, two aspects of end user computing are impacted when organisations seek to embrace deep collaboration: identity management and information governance.

• Identity management must change to allow information to be shared with and worked upon by external parties.
• Records management/compliance must change to enable an asynchronous knowledge management lifecycle.

Both of the above have policy and technology impacts. Prior to selecting either G Suite or Office 365, these impacts need to be carefully considered and the approaches taken by Google and Microsoft weighed against the organisational needs and appetite for change.

• Future Workplace

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• ICT Modernisation

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Conclusion: The decision to adopt Microsoft Office 365 or Google G Suite rarely comes down to cost. The decision is more often based on the speed at which an organisation wishes to change from “the old way of doing things” to the “new way”. More succinctly, it is a statement about how quickly the organisation wishes to transform its workforce to be mobile and deeply collaborative. The decision is therefore largely based on aspirational goals for the business, and a vision of how work will be accomplished in the future. However, it is important not to let such grand visions override practical considerations and the vendor hype – and almost religious fervour – surrounding both Google and Microsoft’s productivity suites.

• Future Workplace

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