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PA Enterprise
Predictions suggest that soon, the greatest
competitive advantage for 30% of companies
worldwide will come from their ability to
implement new technologies and digital
workplace technology trends creatively.
Here are six top digital workplace trends that will
become more prominent in the coming year.
1. Cloud-based software
The traditional work nucleus consisting of saving
work to local drives and servers is difficult to
manage across a modern, distributed workforce.
It creates data silos and leads to a lack of
transparency and collaboration.
Cloud-based software enables smarter, more
efficient business processes and workplace
management because your organization can
access it anywhere. This is true whether you’re
looking for an easier way to share documents or a
better way to manage multiple buildings.
Unlike legacy software systems that are hosted
on premise, cloud-based software doesn’t require
a significant upfront capital investment. It’s much
easier and more cost-effective to maintain and
upgrade as well because the software vendor
typically includes this in the subscription fees.
Cloud services continue evolving to make it even
easier for users to integrate new technologies
with them.They have become a cornerstone of
the digital workplace and will become even more
essential in the future, as companies look for
better ways to collaborate and store data.
2. The use of personal digital devices at work
The lines between home and work have become
even more blurry over the past year. Employees
are working primarily from their living rooms,
bedrooms, or home offices, and many have
become accustomed to using their own devices.
That means we’ll see an expansion of the trend
known as bring your own device (BYOD) or bring
your own thing (BYOT).
Popular digital workplace devices today include
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not only laptops, tablets, and smartphones, but
smart earbuds, smart lights, and voice assistants,
according to Gartner.
This trend could soon evolve to include robots
and drones that help employees stay safe and
automate repetitive tasks.
Allowing employees to use personal devices
reduces business costs and gives employees
more flexibility. However, they can make your
organization more vulnerable to hackers if they
don’t have proper security features.
While 85% of organizations now allow employees
to use their own devices, according to Bitglass,
only 56% of them have the ability to remove
sensitive data from those devices remotely.
As the BYOD trend becomes more popular, it may
be time to update your acceptable use policies
for workplace technology. Every employee,
contractor, and consultant with access to your
company’s data needs to understand their
obligations for protecting it.
3. A virtual economy
After most in-person events were canceled due to
the pandemic, many companies transitioned to
doing more business online.
Virtual meetings, conferences, and job interviews
became commonplace, while even more of the
sales cycle moved online.
With an extended absence of face-to-face
meetings, we saw a greater adoption of digital
workplace technologies that bridge the gap
between the virtual experience and the physical
one.
That includes collaboration tools like Slack
and alternatives like Ryver and Flock, project
management software like Basecamp, Asana, and
Monday, file sharing solutions, and even virtual
whiteboards.
Companies that weren’t already using customer
relationship management platforms like
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