Technology in the Workplace: 5 Tools to Transform Your Business

Technology in the workplace has advanced by leaps and bounds and has allowed companies to shift their operations from outdated analog and into the dawn of the digital age.

Find out why data security is a must when you’re looking for an internal communications platform.

With benefits that appeal to both management and employees, technology at work has become an essential component for companies who want to stay competitive. For example, companies who actively cultivate digital workplaces have reported up to a 30% reduction in occupancy costs.

But Wait, What’s a Digital Workplace?

We’re so glad you asked. Essentially, a digital workplace is a network of connected workplace technologies to create one, amazing, collaborative environment for employees online. 

Over the past decade, technology in the workplace has rapidly evolved. It’s become an essential part of running a business in any industry. Workplace tech can:

• Break down information silos and create a portal for all internal data and communication
• Increase operational efficiency
• Keep a company culturally relevant 
• Deliver more precise and accurate data to help leaders make refined, strategic decisions
• Connect and align an entire organization
• Facilitate collaboration among dispersed teams and increase innovation and productivity

Who Needs a Digital Workplace?

Any business with remote workers, frontline employees, multiple locations, or any other impediment to every employee being together in the same place at the same time every day needs a digital workplace. 

Digital workplace technologies are unfettered by the constraints of the physical world. They allow employees to come together, share ideas, and bond with each other just as well (sometimes even better) than if they shared a cubicle. 

To make the most of workforce management, it’s important to stay on top of the latest trends and new advances in computer technology in business. Here are five emerging workplace technologies to watch as you develop your digital workplace.

1. The Cloud: Where the Digital Workplace Lives

What exactly is “the Cloud?” Cloud computing involves access and storage of information over the internet instead of traditional local storage (on your computer’s hard drive, for example). Chances are that most of the technology you rely on today, from photo storage on your mobile device to the systems you use for work, is utilizing the Cloud.

Because of the ubiquitous nature of the Cloud, many employees end up using their own data and devices daily in both their personal and professional lives. Using personal Cloud storage for work-related information poses serious security risks. 

Pro tip: Elevate your data security by aligning organizational systems in the Cloud rather than hard data drives.

2. Workforce Solutions with Digital Security in Mind

Digital security has never been more important than it is today. By 2021, cyber attacks will cost the global economy an astounding $6 trillion. That’s double what it was just five years ago and this number is expected to climb every year.

That’s why it’s so important to choose secure systems when implementing new communication technology in business.

In the new GDPR regulation landscape, companies should encourage employees to use secure messaging apps to communicate.

3. Smart Virtual Assistants: New Communication Technology in Business

Virtual assistants aren’t just for executives and upper workforce management. Many employees also turn to virtual assistant company apps to increase their own productivity. In fact, Gartner predicts that by 2021, 25% of the digital workplace will incorporate digital assistants.

Virtual assistants, or VAs, can enhance a digital work environment by:

• Answering questions in real-time 
• Handling operational logistics, like scheduling meetings
• Using machine-learning algorithms to compile data and enhance their own capabilities

These apps can organize your schedule, automate repetitive daily tasks, and more. There’s even AI in the works that will be able to anticipate your needs to help you be more efficient.

4. New Technology in the Workplace Includes Immersive Team Apps

Video conferencing with co-workers was once an exciting development for the digital workplace, but companies now use virtual reality in more inventive ways, particularly in the manufacturing industry.

PriceWaterhouseCoopers found that. . . 

Up to one in three manufacturers in the United States plan to implement some form of virtual reality in the next few years.

Don’t be surprised if you see this kind of technology showing up in a team app within your digital workplace. Workplace VR can create immersive on-the-job training opportunities, teaching employees new skills to help advance their careers.

Pro tip: Incorporate innovative workplace technology that can increase productivity and engagement for every employee.

5. The Importance of Secure Group Messaging Systems

Offering employees a full suite of digital communication tools is essential for a well-run digital workplace that enables a variety of channels of secure messaging.

Technology in the workplace, through an internal communications platform like Beekeeper, can:

• Enable real-time communication
• Keep all of your employees connected through a variety of organizational and operational communication features, from group chats to 1:1 messaging
• Facilitate collaboration between employees anywhere in the world, at any time

It can be difficult to keep up with technology, but doing so will transform your business. From employee productivity to IT security, your business can’t grow without utilizing these new technologies.

Finding the right solution that encompasses several of these technologies at once, like the Beekeeper company app, is the fastest and easiest way to ensure your organization stays ahead of the curve.

What will digital transformation for the frontline look like? Download our Frontline Worker Technology Report to find out.

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