Policy Advisor

There are three standard options for introducing and working with mobile devices in the workplace, depending on who owns and operates the equipment. We break down the advantages and disadvantages and common arguments for each of these.

Bring Your Own Device (BYOD): The Crowd Pleaser

That is by far the most popular approach to mobilization in the workplace, and with security measures improving, the adoption will be more widespread by the hour. North America leads the way where about 50% of companies have adopted a BYOD policy. More cautiously, but Western European companies are also becoming open to such a concept, although corporate accounts still owned the majority (61%) of business smartphones in 2015. With the abundance of devices out there and the convenience they mean to employees, however, the BYOD trend is only likely to gain more ground.

For small businesses, the cost-savings achievable with such a policy are too tempting. The employee buys the hardware itself. The voice and data service costs are billed to their names. The business doesn’t have to sign long and inconveniently binding contracts with carriers. In a recent report, Cisco estimated a USD 350 of savings for every employee, every year, for every business with a BYOD-policy in place.

Of course, properly managing the secure and steady operation of these devices and the corporate apps them is an ongoing challenge. Businesses, especially the ones with fewer resources, need to educate themselves on the security and troubleshooting of the used devices.

Choose Your Own Device (CYOD): The Golden Middle

A relatively new twist to the BYOD-concept is CYOD, or Choose Your Own Device, that aims to improve the control the IT-departments have over the corporate mobile security. With CYOD, the ownership of the device is a secondary question. Companies choosing this policy give priority to creating a more homogenous fleet of devices by presenting a set of options for the employees to choose from. This way, they can better control the support and security of these devices.

CYOD definitely puts some financial burden on the corporation as it has to create a budget for the purchase of some devices. The corporate purchasing process also makes the implementation times longer than BYOD. But if the employee already owns an approved type of device, it is cost saving already. Not to mention the other positive consequence of such a policy: engagement that comes from the possibility of choosing a device that suits the worker.

Corporate Owned, Personally Enabled (COPE): The Ultimate Control

Regardless of the apparent advantages of the above mentioned two policies, a corporate-owned mobile fleet is still the standard at large firms. Why? It would be too much to keep an eye on all the issues that stem from the variety of mobile gadget types.

The very existence of a mobile fleet in a large corporation automatically induces the necessity of mobile device management and a mobile app management system in place, but at least these solutions don’t have to deal with different operating systems, a thousand different sets of apps, and the same amount of security vulnerabilities.

As for cost savings, supplier contracts can be negotiated en mass and based on quantity and make all those services (data, repairs, etc.) a little less expensive. The fleet contracts, on the other hand, have the drawback of being binding even when the technology or the service level should be updated.

Role-based Selection: The Pragmatic

Many times, it’s not even about the costs or the security that defines the options for the mobilization of the workforce, rather than the role of the workers. In certain positions, like in construction or at utilities, it is a requirement that a mobile device is resistant to environmental impacts: hence the category of ruggedized tablets and mobiles.

Other times, the expectations that drive such purchases are more subtle. It can be the case of personal banking sales agents making a better impression by presenting on an iPad than on an Android device. It can be that real estate agents continuously need to take high-resolution photos or retailers have to have a versatile barcode-reader available at all times, and these functions might all prompt the use of specific devices.

“How Do We Pay For It?”

As far as company-owned devices go, laptops still lead the way over real mobility enablers like smartphones or tablets. But the fact that corporations mainly spend on laptops doesn’t mean the other devices are not widely used – they are just mostly purchased and owned by the employees.

Once the company has decided that a CYOD or COPE policy is the way to go, it has to deal with more sweet little details and the time-consuming nature of purchasing.

Financing options are not as many as the devices on the market, but with a frugal approach, businesses tend to make savvier decisions. Moreover, price sometimes is of lower importance to companies that have to consider so many factors, many of them industry-specific. Software support or repairs and replacement, for examples, can make or break a deal.

However, to reach an acceptable price, businesses more often sign long-term contracts with device suppliers and service providers. Phones with SIM cards that tie them to a fixed provider have also been the standard for the business sector, and that’s only started to change recently.

So what do purchasing departments consider when planning the budget for mobilization? First, they set the priorities: whether it’s a particular type of device, network availability, low monthly fee, or high amount of data.

Other than spending a specific amount of the budget on devices as a one-time purchase, they can be leased to the company and forwarded to the workers as COPE. Another option is to sign a hardware compensation agreement with the employees within CYOD and give a certain amount of allowance for hardware purchases.

Next comes the service level setting: depending on the provider, data usage, warranty and servicing options, support availability, and flexible modifications choices might have an impact on the monthly service price.

So Many Devices, So Long Deployment

The deployment of a mobile fleet will depend on the first policy option a company has chosen.

BYOD takes off the business’ shoulders a considerable task: selecting (and paying for) the devices. And puts there another: the management. With the workers, all using their mobile gadgets, the deployment of a mobility strategy is about finding a common ground to manage all of those tools. Establishing the basic rules of usage and secure corporate identity with role-specific access for the employees is the first step. In fact, it also a must in creating a safe and controlled mobile environment. Device management can then be fine-tuned by adding dedicated support or other services.

Putting mobile device management (MDM) in place is a way to make sure lost or stolen gadgets or using not secure apps don’t lead to corporate data leakage. One step further, an enterprise mobility management (EMM) tool also creates a secure environment for system and app updates. The point is to keep the onboarding process as simple as possible for the employees, to be able to profit from it.

CYOD requires the same approach when deploying: having a go-to place for administration and control of security, with the facilitation of having fewer device types to manage. From a deployment perspective, a COPE model is the easiest yet also the longest. The IT department has a massive heads-up by knowing what devices, what operating systems, and what apps they have to keep an eye on. They can do all installations and security settings in bulk. They can make sure everything is working before the employees even get the devices. And they only have to be prepared to maintain a public pool of tools.

Thoroughness Pays Off

Making purchasing decisions is hard and, in the case of mobility, it ultimately comes down to how much the company is willing to pay for security. Or, how much of that security is it willing to sacrifice for being among the first to mobilize.

For large corporations, it is not even a question if they allocate a budget for the control of their mobile fleet. But this budget should be completed with the awareness of the latest technology worth investing in and the management options that make the everyday operations of the mobile workforce safe for the company.  

The post Top Things to Consider When Purchasing Business Mobile Devices appeared first on Scolvo.

It is even more so for field sales where mobility and quick reactions, as well as interaction with prospects and clients, are crucial. There come enterprise mobile apps, the natural-born sales enhancers – see our compilation of the very best!

Linkedin Sales Navigator

For young sales representatives, Linkedin is already an essential tool to get in touch with prospects – it makes making connections easier and even cold mailings less annoying. The Sales Navigator is a unique application developed for sales reps to enhance credibility further and improve planning by getting to know the prospects more. No wonder reps like to take them on the road: Sales Navigator’s mobile app is especially useful in its selection of the most important features, like real-time update and recommendation of leads. LinkedIn’s dedication to cater more for this segment’s needs is shown by the latest announcements in March concerning the launch of a new enterprise product, and integrations offering new presentation and CRM-features.

Best feature: Real-time updates on saved accounts and leads

Mobile CRM (Salesforce and Co.)

Having a mobile version of the company CRM on their phones is a no-brainer for young professionals. Why wouldn’t someone use the advantages of having all client and prospects data at hand at all times? Salesforce and the likes have become popular because of the deep understanding of the sales professionals’ needs and providing them with a tool that covers all aspects of their work assignments. Think team synchronization, mapping routes, or e-signature.

Best feature: AppExchange in Salesforce, where you can find instantly connectable apps for even more productivity.

CamCard

An excellent addition to a CRM, CamCard assists the sales reps in archiving all the business cards they collect along the way. Many professionals have already discovered the method of making photos of cards and collect them in a separate folder, but CamCard takes this approach one step further by extracting data from the pictures and archive them. You can even exchange cards with colleagues or clients through the app. As simple as it sounds, the app helps to avoid making a small but annoying mistake that is possibly harmful to the business: losing valuable contacts.

Best feature: The app can process information in 17 languages.

Scolvo Sales

When the competition is heating up in financial services, utilities, or retail, salespeople need tools to tackle the challenges and beat the rest of the field in speed and personalization. You can assemble the Scolvo Sales application from pre-developed modules that are based on industry best-practices, can be customized in seconds, and giving you the advantage of a rapid implementation (within a few days). It helps sales agents track their tasks, performance, and access relevant documents for completing deals, as well as to add records themselves, such as notes or contracts.

Best feature: The user interface – it is so beautiful it makes you forget you’re using a business app and not a consumer one.

Sales Tracking Calendar

Sales pros are performance-driven and motivated by the numbers, so an app that assists them with tracking is likely to succeed. Sales Tracking Calendar by Pipeline Pro, as its name suggests, uses the calendar format to track data and calculate monthly achievements and remaining tasks based on the registered activities and set objectives. It also tracks the clients through the sales pipeline until the deal is closed.

Best feature: It creates a weekly plan based on the objectives, so you can focus on the clients and still hit your targets.  

Datanyze

Benchmarking and competition tracking is part of the background duties of B2B sales agents – these activities help find the best times to approach your prospects with an offer that you tailor to their actual needs. What Datanyze does is it analyzes data to determine which software your prospects use, which one they have just started or stopped using. It gives real-time insight into the technology choices and buying signals of business, also called technographics. It recently partnered with IVC and Interarrows to expand to the European and Asian markets.

Best feature: A scoring system that ranks your existing accounts and compares the best-performing ones to any new accounts.

Time Tracking

Although many of the apps mentioned above include time-tracking functions, when you don’t have access to any of these, it’s good to be at least in the know about your times spent on the job. There are several of such tools on the market, from the ones that are for self-control to those that are expressly designed to keep track of a whole sales team. The Timely app, for example, automatically tracks all the activities that you set in it, whether it be meeting a client, creating a presentation, or taking a lunch break – you can select which one of these might go in a final report. Another tracking app, VisitEye, does not only keeps a record of the activities performed, but also of locations, mileage, expenses, photos, and client-related info – everything related to a field sales rep’s working hours.

Best feature: scheduling and re-scheduling client visits based on real-time location data

The post Indispensable Business Mobile Apps Used by Young Sales Professionals appeared first on Scolvo.

The rise of the Millennial workforce and their addiction and affection for technology bring a lot of changes to corporate workflows. These young people, born between 1980-2000, are the largest generation ever to enter the workforce with 80 million (soon to be followed by Gen Z at the end of this decade with 23 million).

The right selection of workplace apps can engage or disengage young workers and attract or warn off talent. A recent study by Levo showed that this generation is especially concerned with the idea of productivity: however, while 93% of the respondents claimed it was an important factor, only 62% thought of themselves as being productive enough. They mentioned distractions (33%) and poor time-management (22%) as the top reasons for that.

There is also a “user experience gap” between consumer and corporate applications: no matter how many apps and software Millennials get to use at the workplace if they all look cumbersome and annoying. These young workers are used to the UX of Uber, Tinder, and Airbnb and hardly tolerate the business app selection lagging so much behind.

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Today’s mobile applications need to be as much appealing as functional. They need to facilitate real-time collaboration, to simplify complex workflows, and to help focus.

Following are 5+1 apps worth to consider if you want your new employees to be at their peak productivity levels.

1. Slack

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Type: Instant messaging

Why is it popular with Millennials? This generation has a need always to be connected, share, and get immediate feedback on their actions. It is simple enough in onboarding as well as everyday use, but the unique set of emojis give it an extra flavor and can smuggle in some prank to work. Slack currently has about 5 million daily active users, mostly at tech startups and companies with a tech-intensive culture.

Why is it a good work tool? Slack supports integrations with the majority of the other popular cloud services of the connected generation (see Trello as an example in our compilation). Instant messaging as the preferred form of team communication positively affects the responsiveness of the whole business. Unlike Whatsapp, its authentication is email-based, instead of a public phone number, so it provides a safer use in corporate settings.

The takeaway message for app development:

An ever quicker pace of communications forces companies to surrender to work chat despite their concerns (mainly about security). If you decide to add a chat feature to your enterprise app or integrate a third-party service, make sure it is equally appealing to young and older employees. One of the setbacks of Slack is that while it wins any tech-savvy, young worker at the office, it might be exclusive to other generations and those who belong to the late majority and not the early adopters of technology.

2. Dropbox

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Type: cloud data storage and file sharing

Why is it popular? For Millennials, cloud services are the default, and Dropbox has made its way to their hearts with its simple interface and seamless synchronizing features. It made an ideal tool for collaboration that this generation is so fond of. Dropbox started out as a consumer service but slowly caught up in business due to high demand. That is, its users wanted their personal favorite to become a work tool, too. The service had 500 million registered users last year. It has a 31% share among office workers aged 18-24 and 24% in the 25-31 age group, compared to a 16% average.

Why is it a good work tool? With the addition of Dropbox Business, the provider has taken steps to increase its level of security and also the admin options. The traditional strengths of Dropbox, easy sharing and collaboration are required in today’s workplace, regardless of the workforce’s tech maturity. Dropbox also integrates with MS Office, making the transition from traditional to novel workflows smoother.

The takeaway message for app development: Cloud-based file-sharing is a must for a business app. However, to use its full potential, it has to allow for easy collaboration and sync well with back-office databases.

3. Evernote

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Type: note-taking and productivity

Why is it popular? For note-taking, you used to need two things: paper and handwriting. Well, neither are on the list of favorite activities of Millennials. Contrarily, Evernote is a future workplace in itself: it accommodates written notes as well as any other type of document you can think of. Plus, it is always accessible in the same form on any device, even out of the office. This feature is convenient, and Millennials love convenience. In five years, its user base has grown from 34 to 200 million users in 2016.

Why is it a good work tool?  Sketching any idea they may have regarding work anywhere and anytime is a productivity booster. It is perfect for keeping meeting notes as well as to store receipts and invoices for reimbursement claims. Editing features include one-click checkboxes that quickly make any text a to-do list.

The takeaway message for app development: While you need to ensure all the apps support note-taking, you also need to make sure during the development that it doesn’t get too complicated. After all, note-taking is a simple activity, and it should stay that way.

4. Trello

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Type: project management

Why is it popular? The Millennial generation realized that, ultimately, all of their major life events could be considered projects: weddings, job applications, selecting a house, or organizing a party, etc. What is common is that these projects are often complex and hard to keep track of with traditional tools. A simple but still visually appealing interface makes the tasks less daunting and more manageable. Trello has 19 million registered users.

Why is it a good work tool? Millennials love multifunctional apps that can double as a personal AND work tool. Trello has a lot of possible uses to replace to-do lists and helps to manage projects across all departments. What’s more, it’s able to add structure to even the most frequently changing workflows. Its shareable nature makes it a great supporter of transparency, another value highly admired by the new worker generation.

The takeaway message for app development: in today’s multitasking environment, there is more and more talk about the need to focus and the appropriate methods to do so. Apparently, multitasking does not lead to such a productivity increase as focusing does. With a clear and concise user interface and a defined (or re-defined, if needed) workflow, employees can quickly overview and complete their tasks.

5. Toggl

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Type: time-tracking

Why is it popular? Time-tracking is sometimes a necessary activity that can also be painful, but Toggl managed to make it look attractive and easy. It’s integration with a lot of services, such as spreadsheets, project management applications or calendars make it popular among the fans of interconnected services.

Why is it good for work? It does wonders with all the data it collects: the reporting features of Toggl show this app’s potential to be a workplace favorite. While there is a certain charm of tracking your time for personal activities, the real deal is the business use because it directly connects to profitability. Especially in smaller teams, where no HR-department is watching over the people’s heads, but they still want to know if their time is used just right.

The takeaway message for app development: Apps that work across multiple platforms and devices are always the crowd-pleasers, and smart reporting wins the hearts of executives.

+1 Workable

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Image source

Type: HR/Recruitment

Why is it popular? This application has a lot of features Millennials value: it has a nice clear interface, stores all candidate information in one place, and makes it easy for recruiters to post job ads and keep track of postings. Young workers expect technology to be on top even in the HR-department. Young human resources professionals, just like the prospective candidates, like to access all the information on an application anywhere. It posts a job advert to several sites with minor effort. Workable also has a social aspect, connecting the hiring team to discuss work matters.

Why is it good for work? Companies need to be where they users are. Similarly, HR pros have to be where their candidates are, and it is mobile. A piece of well-crafted HR technology sends both parties the message of a modern workplace that cares for their time already in the application process.

The takeaway message for app development: Even if the application is primarily used by employees of business, it also has to keep in mind the client’s expectations. Think about your future app from the perspective of a customer: at what point are they involved in the workflow covered by the app? Will they directly engage with it, i.e. by completing a survey, checking data, or viewing a presentation? Or will they only get the impression of good or bad operations through your employee’s interactions with the app? Either way, think about how you can make it better for both.

Enjoy simplicity and ease of use and make your employees more productive in a days

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The post 5+1 Apps from Millennials that Double as Popular Workplace Tools appeared first on Scolvo.

In the workplace of today, technology already takes the center stage, offering us all kinds of opportunities to improve productivity. Tomorrow’s improvements will be less visible than mobile devices appearing and paper disappearing: sensors all around us will make sure we do the most work with the fewer resources.

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What’s available today?

To some extent, every workplace is digital today and businesses are increasingly becoming digital businesses. From retail to utilities, companies are dedicating resources to digitize their operations. They’re right in that they have no more time to waste : SADA Systems’ recent survey shows 49% of the IT professional respondents said digital transformation was ‘extremely high priority’.

The workplace as we knew it has surely changed lately, in at least 4 ways:

• we mostly use digital input methods (including mobiles), trust our data mostly to digital storage and management (as paper-free processes proved to account for improved productivity),
• our communication focuses collaboration (that has no obligatory ways or channels),
• and digital output methods are almost exclusive.

The technology, the new tools businesses give to the employees, are not just necessary enablers of the new ways of working but they are also important part of the work experience that is demanded by today’s workforce.

Talent wants to feel good while working, whether it is in the workplace or on the road. So the employers are getting them devices (that have come a long way from laptops and mobile phones to smartphones, tablets, and even wearables) and equipping them with enterprise apps. Consumer and business tech are used parallel and that improves instead of hindering productivity.

As a consequence, today’s digital workplace is (at least) double-faced: in the physical office, the focus is on being social and collaborative, while remote working promotes productivity in a personalized setting.

Schedules and locations are changing for each and every employee and they become flexible as remote working has become widespread (in great part due to mobile technology). It is an undeniable trend: according to an IDC estimate, there will be 105 millions of mobile workers by 2020, at a population growth rate of 2 million per year.

What can you expect tomorrow?

The workplace of tomorrow will, therefore, not be driven by unmovable physical objects or hierarchies, but by the values individuals’ works add to the overall performance. These values have to be transparent and shared throughout the workforce to ultimately form a company culture.

Besides these value-based traits, three other characteristics will also be omnipresent in tomorrow’s workplace:

• full digitalization and the art of extracting meaningful data to create new services,
• mobile technology that adapts to people (with an even stronger focus on user experience),
• and a shift from IT to other departments in making technology decisions.

In the near future, workplaces will also become totally paperless – so businesses will need more server storage space instead of file cabinets and apps instead of more devices or departments. Technology will be needed to better organize the workforce that is not in the office and may not even be directly employed.

The human workforce will mostly be used to perform the creative or managing tasks, while the Internet of Things (IoT) takes over the repetitive tasks and the collection of data. According to BI Intelligence, there will be 34 million of connected objects globally by 2020, requiring enhanced management practices and security measures.

Despite the risks, the future is rather bright: the IoT world will again give a boost to employee productivity and operational efficiency. Intelligent buildings equipped with cameras, thermostats, and other sensors, and controlled by mobiles, will be able to optimize the environmental impact and the working conditions for people and track assets.

They will heat and light only the rooms where there are workers, assign workspaces, monitors water usage, give location-based access to services, and locate objects within the territory. IT security and physical security will work in collaboration to prevent or manage unwanted events.

Help your clients accelerate their digital transformation with mobility solutions – Join the SCOLVO partner community today!

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The post Beginner’s Guide to the Digital Workplace of Today and Tomorrow appeared first on Scolvo.

The future of the workplace will bring paradigm shifts in many ways: the traditional boundaries of work and life, the hierarchies, and job descriptions disappear. Everything becomes interconnected, transparent, and mobile. The holistic approach to organizing work prevails. Productivity is seen as a result of seamless cooperation between the people and the technology in the management of the data.

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To break it down, the workplace of tomorrow will essentially contain these five elements:

Digitalization

The digitalization potential at companies is being utilized globally, but even at the leading country, USA, it is still at only 18%. In Europe, an even lower ratio of companies are fully digitized, and Germany currently stands at 10%.

But digitalization will surely transform the workplace, from the tools we use to the jobs we have. It also creates an incredible amount of data: so it’s more and more about how we extract the essential information for the business from that data most effectively. We focus more on analyzing processes and forecasting trends to increase productivity.

Mobility

Technology changes both our private and working lives. We work increasingly mobile and use new, innovative tools to organize mobile work, especially when it comes to cooperation. These tools are heavily influenced by consumer technology, so their focus is just as much on being likable as on being functional.

It is achieved by a more human approach when software has to adapt to employee’s and not vice versa. As a result, software becomes flexible and easily adjustable.The buy-in of employees is key to the success of a mobility implementation.

Transparency

Corporations that want to be successful as the workplaces of tomorrow should be transparent at all levels, including their values and their workflow.

This transparency also has its physical representation in the exterior and interior design of the offices (see Microsoft’s new Munich offices).

The increased transparency, if used consistently, builds the credibility of the organization as a market player as well as an employer.

Value-based approach

Transparency will support the company’s efforts to live by certain values and form the company culture along these values. The underlying concept is that our work environment should be identical to what we communicate to the market.

The new generation in the workforce, the Millennials, is especially focused on what values it can share with the employer. The value-based thinking is effectively supported by mobility solutions, giving employees the autonomy, responsibility, and motivation they demand. Work-life balance is perceived as the default, holistic approach.

Changing professions

As a result of the changes that go on in companies, professions are changing, too. There is a general shift in corporate decision-making: IT is not solely in charge of deciding about technology-related purchases but have to cooperate with other departments and provide back-end support to business decisions.

The individual professions are becoming more specialized as required by specialized technology (e.g. data scientists and cloud architects). The workplaces have to support a new, hyper-connected, digital native generation, alongside the older generations and facilitate lifelong learning.

SCOLVO is committed to developing solutions that enable companies to create the workplace of tomorrow. We believe that mobility is a major driver of innovation and digital transformation and that this innovation enables corporations to work more efficiently and stay ahead of the competition.

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Better User Experience

An app that has an easy and intuitive user interface and covers an effective workflow (e.g. no double input of data) will be used to a greater extent, resulting in more work getting done. On the other hand, mobile apps give the opportunity to be geographically flexible by definition, but if this feature is not combined with ease of use, then they quickly become redundant.In a Forrester study, 64% of respondents said they would not use corporate apps because of the poor experience.

When complicated business processes are translated to a few taps and swipes, though, it promotes finding and sharing information as well. Your employees are used to beautiful consumer apps to help with their personal request, and the same kind of experience will enable them to use the enterprise app from day one, drastically cutting training time or skipping it altogether.

Flexibility, Collaboration, and Time

The most obvious feature of a mobile application is that it gives a greater level of flexibility for the employees. Freed from a 9-5 schedule, your employees can benefit from individual peak times to improve overall performance. A recent survey by Vodafone found that 83% of the companies recorded improvements in productivity due to a flexible working policy.

With enterprise social apps and other channels, employees can easily update or even train each other for better outputs. This collaboration can be easily adapted to mobile. One reason to do so is the proven ability to connect workers at remote places who get to combine their expertise when it is most needed even in new ways, such as sketches and other visuals.   

Mobile also helps to get more things done when your team is out on the field for deals: the real-time input of the data (of prospective customers or of orders) results in a faster sales process.

Access to Corporate Data

Input is just one side of the equation – the output, wherever and whenever, is just as important. Mobile business applications help companies better manage their data to reach their full potential.

If everyone has access to the same dataset, regardless of whether or not they are in the office, it radically increases effectiveness and productivity. A good example is the checking of inventory before closing a deal, but knowing about the latest promotion or a recall on a product it’s also essential for the business.

More Savings

Let’s get down to business! For a new mobile tool to be considered for productivity improvements, it should prove that through the productivity gains, business gains are achieved. It could be visible as savings in time or money for the organization.

The better use of human resources through mobility apps, e.g. through converting manual processes to mobile ones, comes with significant costs savings most organizations, a recent mobile app usage survey revealed. Add streamlined business processes and again, finding the necessary information quickly, and you have also saved a good amount of employee uptime.

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In fact, there is always something worth to establish: as a 2015 study from Avanade shows that digital tools improved productivity at 67% of the companies, and 43% could even grow their revenues as a direct consequence of digital adoption.

You don’t have to start from scratch though, if you use those building blocks in everyday practice, to make it fully digital. These building blocks are the steps you have already taken towards digitization. Here are the four major changes in detail:

1.Input tools and methods

From the dawn of the computer age, the traditional input tools and methods have been slowly replaced by digital ones. Besides paper and pen, we benefit from keyboards, mouse, scanners or cameras – all implicit accessories in every office. The replacement process is slow, but as we’ve seen in a 2014 research from Coleman Parkes and Ricoh, the majority of business leaders in Europe expect the transition from digital transformation to digital maturity by 2019. Mobile devices in the workplace [see our previous post] are just a result of a natural evolution thereof: a closing gap between the information technology you use at home and at the office.

2. Data management and storage

The information you put in any system needs to be processed and stored and it needs more than hardware for that. It’s true that paper files are harder to go extinct than typewriters, but when was the last time you only had to process analog data? What you have to deal with day by day are already bits and bytes and it’s already an amazing gain in productivity. AIIM Market Intelligence data shows that improved productivity is in fact the second strongest driver in implementing paper-free processes, for over 40% of the companies.

You may not even be aware, but probably most of the applications and documents are stored on servers outside of company premises. Think Google Docs on a laptop versus MS Office and .doc files on your desktop computer. According to a 2016 study by RightScale, already 91% of the companies globally are at some stage of cloud adoption, from the planning stage to heavy use.

3. Communication tools and methods

Together with the other elements of work, communication has also been changing to digital and intuitive. Accelerated as a trend by the Millennials prevailing the workforce, a demand for open collaboration made new and quicker channels go widespread. You might still have landlines, but video conference calls are also integral parts of today’s corporate communications. Internal social networks, company chat boards, collaborating in share documents are just as well available. The point is not to have one obligatory way of communication, but a selection for every working style.

4. Output tools and methods

Just as with the input, the digitized output devices are so much parts of the everyday office life you barely recognize them. Your monitor is a given, and so is the printer or the projector that are able to display your work. Even if it didn’t come easy at first (i.e. print handouts of presentations), the editing possibilities and the on-demand nature of these digital tools eventually made them exclusive.

It turns out that, the business mindset’s change to digital, especially the switch to digital-first, is a surefire way to improve bottom lines. As a pleasant consequence, it has taught many of us to enjoy work again.

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