Cisco Bets Big on ‘Connected Next Gen Workplace: Sandeep Mehra

By SHRIKANTH G 

An aging workforce coupled with the explosion of new mobile devices and cloud-based applications, availability of ubiquitous and inexpensive Internet access and the changing nature of work are rapidly transforming the workplace. All these are driving up the demand for more productivity and calls for innovative and efficient work environments. Cisco firmly believes that the disruptions happening in the technology landscape will drastically alter our lives and how we work.

Given this backdrop, Sandeep Mehra, Director, Collaboration Sales, Cisco India & SAARC in an interview to VoicenData talks about the workplace of the future and why Cisco is bullish on ‘connected workplace’ opportunities. Excerpts.

If you say ’Next Gen Workplace’ can you give a sense on how things are different here as against the workplace of the past?

Previously, office spaces and the technology infrastructure was designed under the traditional assumption that employees would work in designated cubicles during regular work hours and would be assigned work spaces with their own desks, PCs, and phones. This does not hold true any longer, as employees are demanding the freedom to communicate through multiple devices anytime, anywhere. It’s clear that collaboration technology is fundamentally linked to many of the factors shaping the workplace of tomorrow:

Always on – The workforce of today and tomorrow will have the ability to be always connected via mobile and wearable devices enhanced by social and collaboration apps.

Faster decisions – Workers will leverage pervasive networks, smart devices and systems, predictive analytics, and real-time collaboration to continue to make faster, better-informed decisions.

Decentralized teams – Physical and virtual workplaces will continue to merge as enhanced collaboration technology allows mobile and remote workers to work fluidly across environments.

Personalized productivity – A new wave of connected, mobile, social, and contextual-aware systems will allow organizations and individuals to personalize productivity apps and environments.

Security challenges – There will continue to be a tenuous relationship around more open collaboration between employees, partners, and customers, and increased data security concerns.

From an HR Organization perspective what are some of the leading challenges they face in evolving a new HR paradigm for the new normal?

Change management is a major challenge for a firm that is revolutionizing into a next-gen workplace. The leading challenge from an HR organisation perspective are changing demographics, change in nature of work and coping with technical innovation. Workforce nowadays comprises of millennials who expect choice in workplace and are more flexible to move from job to job until their needs are satisfied. To address this demographic challenge, the HR must ensure that the workspace is compatible with the needs of employees.

Secondly, the basic nature of work has changed dramatically over the years with tasks being highly automated and often outsourced. To cope with this, firms must implement new operating and governing models to address collaboration and flexi-work protocols and standard procedures need to be laid out to cater to all scenarios of a diverse work environment.

Finally, an explosion of mobile devices, coupled with the omnipresent Internet access and cloud-based applications, have impacted the way how and where work is being performed. Employees need to be adequately trained in using the new technologies that the firm chooses to adopt. Finally, the human resource decision makers must understand that next-gen workplaces will transform traditional ways of driving change initiatives in any type of organization. Instead of sudden, over-night transformations, they need to set the stage for a new model of making incremental changes, capitalizing successes and learning from experience.

What is happening from a technology perspective? What is Cisco doing here?

Today, the geographically dispersed younger workforce seeks better work life balance, flexibility and coordination which is driven by technology. Cisco understands this, and we are focused on creating a workplace that’s collaborative and digitally innovative. It keeps your existing talent coming back – and entices Millennials looking for a flexible space to hang their hat. Tailoring employee experiences to a bevy of different work styles fosters an environment that’s key to retaining today’s workforce. We are constantly innovating around this and recently announced new products to enhance workspace Productivity.

Can you demonstrate briefly some use cases?

Cisco employees stationed at different locations can now collaborate through audio and video conferencing tools – Not only do these tools aid in seamless, face-to-face communication, but Cisco also provides interactive white boards that can be accessed by multiple employees at the same time from different locations. As a result, a group of employees working in different locations and time zones can successfully communicate with each other and share ideas.

Apart from this, technology is changing several traditional work models – Schools are using video and audio to connect subject matter experts with students, Judges are using video for judicial proceedings, architects are using video to preview projects, and there are more examples and how technology is changing the way we work.

What is Cisco’s strategy on connected workplace?

To stay competitive, organizations need to transform their workplaces into flexible, collaborative workspaces that empower workers to work wherever, whenever, and however they want. This transformation will not be easy, there are plenty of organizational, technical, and cultural hurdles that can derail an effort of this size and magnitude. Cisco understands this and we offer a broad portfolio of innovative solutions that can provide the foundation of the future workplace, as well as a world-class services organization and partner ecosystem to help customers make this transformation a success.