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Cloud, Collaboration, and Today's Workforce
Businesses are looking to digitally transform their companies. IDC predicts that by the end of 2017, two-thirds of Global 2000 companies will have digital transformation at the center of their corporate strategy. No matter the industry, businesses of all sizes are prioritizing having modern infrastructure, easy-to-use tools and programs for their workers, best-in-class devices and making things easy for their customers. A truly digital businesses share a common trait: they collaborate differently.
In my perspective, there are two main ways that the nature of collaboration has changed:
Sharing access – The era of email attachments is coming to a close. In the cloud era, instead of passing a document back and forth, documents are co-authored – edits are made live and in real-time.
Crossing distances – The cloud allows team members to collaborate and communicate from anywhere. So the “office” of a contemporary company is wherever its workers happen to be at the moment.
For those of us who have been in the workforce awhile, these advancements are phenomenal, because the paradigm used to be so different. But those newer in the workforce have difference expectations.
To them, sharing access and crossing vast distances don’t really feel like advancements. Having grown up alongside these technologies, collaboration is just a part of work. In fact, that is the only conceivable way to work. Any business seeking to transform to be more cloud-ready and digital has to take this into account to bring in the best new talent to their teams.
Everyone knows that technologies like social media have completely changed the dynamics of corporate recruitment and hiring. But technology has also become a consideration for workers as they weigh their job options.
Modern workers spend the majority of their day interfacing with technology, so antiquated tools can be detrimental to their job satisfaction. In fact, a recent survey we conducted, showed that millennials in the workforce demand adequate technology to do their jobs. More than 90 percent of respondents said the latest technology was important in choosing an employer.
To appeal to these workers, business leaders have to recognize how they prefer to get their work done.
Shared access — How are files shared and edited at your company? Do you ever lose track of where something is or which team member “owns” it? These are hindrances that today’s workers will find it hard to tolerate. And collaborating via the cloud all but makes them obsolete.
Crossing distances — How do you organize your teams? Based on where people are located, or on who has the right skills and experience for a project? The best employee for the task may not be right down the hall from you. And the best new hire for your company may not be in the same city as you.
One great example of this modern way of working is an SMB out of the U.K., Bounce Foods. The company is the creator of Bounce Energy Balls, a healthy choice for people snacking on-the-go. Bounce Foods, like many high-growth companies, was faced with effectively managing a growing customer base, while rolling out new products and working to expand into new stores. Making the right technology decisions was a key to their success and ability to scale.
In order to keep up with their accelerated growth, Bounce Foods needed to choose tools to better collaborate internally and engage with customers externally and also keep track of processes, resources and information. As their business became more complex they decided to move to Microsoft Dynamics NAV, Microsoft Azure, Dynamics CRM and Office 365 with Power BI. These solutions helped them to scale their business.
Now, they are able to quickly respond to demand and instantly collaborate on what needs to get done. Their employees are more efficient and are able to deliver better customer service, retailer’s questions are quickly answered by the right people in the company, they can appropriately manage their stock and the overall company is better informed and better connected. Bounce Foods has scaled from 200,000 Bounce Balls per month to 600,000 in just two years. And today their product is sold in major supermarkets, gyms and retail stores.
It’s this level of technology and collaboration capabilities that employees now expect from their employers. The flexibility of the cloud is massively appealing for fast-growing companies. The functionality that it provides can in turn help ensure that companies are appealing to the right type of employee.
Every business and every business leader has to prioritize not only the needs to digitize their company but also how to enable the collaboration that workers today expect.
Using the cloud to expand your concept of collaboration doesn’t just introduce new efficiencies for your organization, it can help make your company more attractive to the best and brightest in today’s workforce.
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Introducing Yammer external groups
Today, we are pleased to announce the new external groups feature in Yammer, enabling you to include people outside your company in a Yammer group—making it easier for extended teams to work together. The external groups capability builds on the existing ways to work with people outside your company, such as external networks and external messaging, which enables you to add people outside your organization directly to a thread in your organization’s Yammer network.
External groups allow team members with appropriate permissions from outside your organization to fully participate in projects and initiatives by providing access to all the conversations and content in the group. At the same time, we maintain the security of your network data by listing all external groups in a distinct section under the Groups menu and using clear indicators in the UI alerting users to the presence of external team members. Each external group requires group admin approval for external members to join, and a set of proactive controls via Exchange Transport Rules prevents sensitive company information from being shared. We also added functionality to our data export to help verified administrators see which files and conversations are accessible to external users.
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External groups are available in your Yammer network today, so you can start working with your extended team right away! We are very excited about bringing this functionally to Yammer that helps our customers break down the silos between team members who work together from different organizations.
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How the Browning Law Group helps safeguard client trust with Office 365
To succeed in almost any business, you need the right technology. So in 2015, the Browning Law Group adopted Microsoft Office 365 to manage collaboration and communication from the Microsoft cloud. Allow me to explain why we made that choice and how it’s helped us protect our relationships with our clients.
The right technology for today’s connected business world
Running my own practice is very rewarding, but it’s not always easy. I have to manage cash flow, keep track of payables and receivables, make payroll and at the same time make sure that my clients are happy with the work we produce and with the efficiency of our communication with them. In today’s connected business world, that means putting technology systems in place that allow our lawyers and staff to collaborate effectively.
But we’re a small business. I do not want to spend tens of thousands of dollars on servers or spend time managing a technology infrastructure and solving IT problems. I want to spend my effort practicing law, so I can help my clients avoid problems and be successful. I needed one integrated technology environment that would work for me, rather than make me feel like I was working for it.
Safeguards that my clients and I can trust
The biggest consideration for any attorney, however, is security. All lawyers routinely deal with confidential and potentially sensitive client information. I need to do everything I can to assure that every area of my practice is secured—especially when we communicate with clients over email or share documents over the Internet. It’s more than just a moral or ethical obligation; lawyers are required by Bar Association rules to maintain client confidentiality, and any technology I use has to meet those standards. I can’t allow the integrity of my firm to be compromised by technology that’s not secured.
After I added all that up, Office 365 was an easy choice. When we communicate through Outlook or Skype for Business Online, collaborate using OneNote or SharePoint Online, or share documents on OneDrive for Business, we can rely on security tools in Office 365 to help safeguard those communications and control access to that information. We have set up 15 separate portals on SharePoint Online that contain more than 30,000 documents. Almost every day we store and share letters, transcripts, pleadings and other documents or files on OneDrive for Business. With Office 365, I have complete control over who can access any of that information. I can set controls that let clients or their authorized agents access their files at any time, and I can give my staff access to the information and documents they need, while at the same time I can keep my administrative files private and safeguard my clients’ confidentiality.
A versatile, highly secured environment—and healthy relationships
A large part of my business is developing trust with my clients. If that trust is broken, then my entire practice could be in jeopardy. When a client provides us with confidential information, it’s critical that we work to protect that information. But with Office 365, we have an agile, versatile and highly secured environment that helps us compete with larger firms, protect client confidentiality and maintain healthy client relationships.
In the same way that my clients have to trust me, I have to trust the technology my firm relies on. I know that I can with Office 365.
Managed Solution is a full-service technology firm that empowers business by delivering, maintaining and forecasting the technologies they’ll need to stay competitive in their market place. Founded in 2002, the company quickly grew into a market leader and is recognized as one of the fastest growing IT Companies in Southern California.
We specialize in providing full Microsoft solutions to businesses of every size, industry, and need.
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Happy Star Wars Day!
Although your workplace may not be fully equipped with lightsabers or a backup army of Stormtroopers, there is still a way to defend your galaxy: Office365.
In celebration of May 4th, here are four ways that Office365 can be the force of your business:
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Out-of-this-world mobile experience:
Edit and view your Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files on any mobile device with Office 365 mobile apps.
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First Order worthy Business-class email and calendaring:
Stay in sync and on schedule while avoiding any communication glitches with business-class email and shared calendars.
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File sharing even Yoda would approve of:
Securely share files with co-workers, customers, and partners. Then work together on documents, accessible from anywhere, and editable in real-time.
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Security, compliance, and privacy fit for the Star Destroyer:
With up to date industry standards and regulations, built-in security features, and settings to let you choose who controls your data - you can put trust in the Cloud.
“A Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defense, never for attack.” - Yoda
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Efficiency hacks for IT: 6 tips for getting things done
Use these tips from seasoned IT pros to re-architect your day for maximum impact with minimal stress.
By Mary K. Pratt as written on computerworld.com
Everyone is busy these days, sure, but research shows that most people are wasting chunks of time throughout their day, whether it's fiddling with the latest tech toy or responding to every email that lands in their inbox.
For those in the technology field, time management is an even tougher task, says Laurie Gerber, co-president of Handel Group Life Coaching. "IT people have this added thing that people constantly need them. It's always an emergency," Gerber says.
More importantly, Gerber says these folks are spending precious time on tasks that don't match up with their priorities and responsibilities.
If that sounds like you, it might be time to get tough -- with yourself. To enhance efficiency, you must set personal ground rules and stick by them, Gerber says. Here are six simple workday hacks from other IT pros that can crank up your productivity.
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Focus on the biggest tasks
Joe Klecha, CTO at the Detroit-based tech firm Digerati and a fan of author Stephen Covey, says he follows Covey's advice to dedicate time first to "big rocks," followed by "pebbles," "sand" and "water" -- with rocks representing the highest priorities and water the lowest.
"If you reverse and start with water, you can't fit in the rocks, the big priorities," Klecha says. "So for me it's knowing that the most important things that need to get done are always in focus and always have my attention."
To move that strategy from theory to practice, Klecha says he has frequent meetings with other executives to ensure he's targeting the organization's most critical projects. And he evaluates unexpected requests for his attention as they pop up.
"A lot are those things that come in on a day-to-day basis and don't ever become a priority but have the potential to distract," Klecha says. "But they're not so immediate in their demands that they can't wait an hour or two or you can't shuffle them off to someone else."
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Manage your response time
In the six years that Sri Baskaran has been IT director at Sun Orchard Juicery, the company has doubled its revenue. To keep pace, Baskaran has expanded the IT group, while working closely with his business-side colleagues to consistently meet their needs. Although he wants to be responsive to those he supports, he knows he can't be at everyone's beck and call.
"What I found is, if you answer email as soon as it pops into your inbox, you set the expectation that you're the person who can be easily reached," Baskaran says. Plus, he says, that kind of availability would drain away the time he needs to focus on more critical tasks.
So instead of constantly checking and replying to messages, Baskaran schedules time every day to handle emails and voice mails, a policy he says helps him avoid interruptions.
"If I have to get back to someone, I'll put it on my calendar, schedule time with them to have a conversation," he says, adding that people know -- and he reinforces it in his outgoing messages -- to call his cell number if they need to reach him for urgent issues
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Pick the most efficient way to communicate
Although there are multiple ways to communicate with a global team, Greg Davidson, director of the information management services practice at the business advisory firm AlixPartners, says for him the most effective platform is videoconferencing. He points to research showing that most communication is conveyed through body language -- a nonfactor over the phone or through emails.
And video, unlike emails, allows for instantaneous collaboration. "There's nothing like being able to talk in real time with other human beings. It's much clearer, crisper. We get it right the first time if we can look at each other and communicate," Davidson says.
Bryce Austin, CIO at Digineer, a technology and management consulting company, also knows the importance of being a good communicator -- so much so that he's willing to invest in it. "I bought the best Bluetooth [device] I could find so I can have productive conversations and people can hear me," he says.
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Get everyone in sync
One of the biggest challenges facing CIOs today, says Lawrence Bilker, senior vice president and CIO at Continuity Logic, is the speed of technological change. "The time from concept to implementation is significantly faster. You have to be aware of solutions, you have to be able to respond to strategies quickly, and sometimes the amount of time allocated to research has gone down," he says.
So, like other IT executives, Bilker says he focuses his team on the highest-priority items and makes sure everyone is on the same page. The leadership team gathers every day for a 20-minute scrum and keeps a shared calendar to track meetings so colleagues know who's available and who's not. And his team uses collaborative platforms such as Dropbox and Box to more quickly come together and hash out plans.
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Analyze your time
Savvy CIOs get insight into their own schedules to guarantee that they're as effective as they can be with their time. Baskaran uses time-tracking software called Toggl which allocates time to various projects and lets him analyze how he's spending his time. He says he can then fine-tune his workday hours and "make sure my time is going into the right buckets."
Cletis Earle, vice president and CIO at St. Luke's Cornwall Hospital, takes a similar approach, looking at statistics and monitoring statements, such as network-incidence reports, for ongoing issues that he can get ahead of and free up time he would have spent responding to the same scenarios. "Being prepared for anticipated problems will keep you from being distracted," Earle says.
Handel Group's Gerber advises tracking your time over a few weeks to get a full picture of where you're expending your energy. "Most people aren't doing with their time what they say or think is most important to them," she explains. If your everyday schedule is out of out of whack with your ideal one, then it's time for an adjustment.
"We ask our clients if [their schedule is] in accordance with their vision," she says. "To do that, you have to ask: What's the best use of your time and energy? And you have to figure out why you're doing what you're doing. If you're getting on the help desk because you don't trust your people, that's a problem. If you're on the help desk for an hour a month to stay in touch with needs, that's great."
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Don't forget to delegate
Earle oversees a 24/7 IT operation -- a typical scenario for many IT managers. That around-the-clock responsibility has taught him to be as productive as possible during normal work hours so he has ample time in his schedule for his family, including his four children. He says a big part of time management is delegating responsibilities, and that means training his team to handle pretty much any task in the department, including those of the CIO.
"At the end of the day, there's not enough time to do it all yourself," he says.
