Technology is changing the way business is being done in many industries. IT careers are on the rise so that companies can find better ways to satisfy their customers and achieve their goals. The advancements in technology guarantee to bring revolution to personal, as well as business activities. The future corporate workplaces will be the ‘smart offices’. These offices will be open to using integrated technology to facilitate efficient and creative work and to interact effectively with consumers.
But what should IT professionals know in order to make use of these opportunities. This is a list of some of the traits you might be expected to have in you.
Re-imagine the office environment with technology
Disruptive technologies can rapidly transform the office for the better. Every industry has the chance to re-imagine what it would be like with technology and how it can approach its tasks to meet their goals, according to Kleiner Perkins Partner Mary Meeker. She highlighted how the process of calling a cab has been transformed. There is no longer a need to hail cab. Instead, with the development of applications, new types of transport services are being facilitated. Technology doesn’t just help an organization operate better. Instead, it opens the door for opportunities to recreate processes and services from scratch.
This is one of the main reasons that CEO’s are including IT teams as their partners and advisors in the process of making the business move forward. It is the need to have tech professionals involved in providing forward looking plans, strategies and insights that can allow the company to move in the right direction. At the very basic level, it is possible for IT professionals to offer resources for strong reporting so that corporations are able to develop strategic plans. There is a need to rely on IT experts who can help develop solutions that are fluid and integrated so that the business can be transformed.
Smart offices
Some envision the offices of the future to be driven by technology that is less visible to people and is integrated to a larger extent. Innovations such as the Internet of Things and the cloud allow workers to be connected practically and constantly. There is news of smart coffee tables being developed which can be used for collaboration between colleagues and electronic resources in a very casual environment. There is also talk of tables that automatically recharge the battery of devices, and projectors that can use walls as large screens.
Although technology is popping up everywhere, it isn’t as intrusive. Employees can access a lot of information with modern technology such as wearables, without turning away from the customers they have, or stop what they are doing to search for their questions online. These collaboration tools and networks are also encouraging social business practices that help in optimizing the advertising strategies of firms and boosting engagements. Basically, all of this is channelled towards creating a work place that doesn’t disrupt the personal interaction of people in the work place.
The Container Store is a company that used IT services to transform itself. It developed innovative communication devices for its stores, that work like Siri on the iPhone. Employees can speak and send messages without a hands free, without generating the noise that regular walkie talkies or intercoms would generate. A technology company and the store worked in collaboration for this system and workers are now allowed to concentrate at the tasks they have on hand instead of spending time monitoring and communicating messages.
IT support and innovation in ideas
There are ample of opportunities to create powerful workplace solutions. Tech experts bring their creativity to the table but will also be in high demand because they will work as the support system for the development of IT networks and infrastructure on which companies will transform themselves to keep up with techno logical development. A smart office needs to be mobile and allow connectivity. This depends on technologies like mobile applications, cloud, software-as-a-service option and virtualization.
As workplaces continue to transform at a rapid pace, people will be hired for IT positions to that they can help with implementing and managing the advance systems. Integrated offices are the offices of the future. This means that professionals who can see how their work and services will connect with different parts of the whole system will be valuable assets for the organization. Information Age suggested that these experts need to understand that an the transition of an organization to virtual data centres should be viewed as virtualization, even if this is beyond the scope of the roles they are hired to perform. If experts hold additional knowledge about information security, basics of the industry the company operates in, cloud options and mobility, that will open up more career and advancement opportunities for them.