Rhys Lawson
Services Sales Director
The last three months in Collaboration has been a complete eye opener. I’d challenge anyone who can come up with another solution that’s more wide-reaching. I mean, which organisation doesn’t want to improve how they collaborate? Communicating more efficiently, doesn’t only save on costs (Video-Conferencing for meetings is a popular example) but also improves productivity. This productivity is across a huge variety of areas, and is an exciting conversation, coupled with exciting technology – who isn’t wowed by instant multi-office video calling, in multiple worldwide regions? (Admittedly I started my career selling printers, so my experience with exciting tech is limited).
In a world where there are potentially four generations in the workplace needing to understand each other – it seems the focus on Collaboration is only going to grow! Organisations have to find a simple way for varied levels of tech-able employees to communicate freely, using a continuous and stable platform, across a multitude of devices and locations. A recent industry study stated over 80% of employees consider a lack of collaboration to be the reason behind workplace failures, and over 88% of millennials consider how collaborative the workplace is when choosing their next role.
No longer about product - all about business outcomes
One of Softcat’s IT priorities this year is Digital Workspace. There are multiple streams and business units that make up Digital Workspace, but the key challenge and focus for the customer can be simplified and grouped into three primary, desired outcomes;
(1) Mobility – Need for employees to work securely & remotely
(2) Flexibility – Need for employees to use various devices and platforms
(3) Productivity – Need for employees to access all data, any device, anywhere.
Collaboration delivers all three.
If your organisation is procuring headsets, large displays screens, telephony or video-conferencing technology, we must be asking why - what are they trying to achieve? No one is going to be purchasing costly hardware without an end goal in mind. These are all distinct examples of how you can improve your communication with a clear aim of hitting one, or all, of those desired outcomes mentioned above.
How can your organisation improve its collaboration?
The Collaboration team follow a simple 4-step process to ensure the most effective solution is created for an organisation’s specific needs:
1) Assess – We help organisations gain a deep understanding of their needs, challenges and overall working environment whilst understanding the true business outcomes you want to achieve.
2) Platform(s) – We understand any current platform(s) in use, map user personas & help create a defined strategy that’s in line with the business outcome.
3) Products – We offer multi-vendor market-leading products that are focused on enriching user experience, as well as enabling more productivity & efficiency.
4) Enablement – To ensure fast-track adoption and quick visibility of ROI, we assist with; supply, deployment, management and user training.
It's only the start...
I also believe there is so much more to be done in this space - technology is forever moving and how many organisations utilise the expensive video-conference rooms or communication platforms to the fullest? I guarantee 9/10 probably won’t. With that in mind, we are working hard to replicate the Customer Success Manager approach that’s been so instrumental in improving the customer journey across other areas of our solutions, such as Managed Print and Microsoft. This post-sale support has been particularly key to success when a new solution requires a change in behaviour, as the support is driven by ongoing education, in addition to adoption services.
Get in Touch
If you're interested in finding out more about collaboration and what it could do for your organisation, or if you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to get in touch with your Softcat Account Manager, or hit the button below!