Is the office of the future an office?
Digital workplaces are everywhere. The world of work is taking place in cafes, homes, parks, train stations, bookshops and at airports. Mobile work ensures far greater freedom. That means everyone can do what years ago required company offices. There are many jobs that employees no longer carry out at a fixed workplace.
The increasingly social character of digital workplaces is a major trend. But the workplace of the future also means it is hard to separate the professional and personal interests of employees at work. The status of their personal bank account can quickly be checked on the company computer. And work emails? We read and write them on a personal computer. This behaviour weakens the security of the digital workplace.
From customer contracts to emojis in email signatures: the simply unimaginable quantity of data that employees exchange digitally forms the biggest security issue for a digital workplace. Work is becoming more complex.
Not all companies provide their employees with the tools necessary to efficiently and securely communicate and exchange information. If employees use unapproved hardware and software solutions, they open the door to attacks by hackers.
The digital workplace lacks a culture of security
Many employees feel that a culture of security at a workplace is only ‘secure’ when people work for themselves. That sounds amusing. But there is background to it that needs to be taken seriously.
Building a digital culture of security requires attention and care. First of all, a strategy for the digital workplace that answers many questions is required:
- Are the areas of design, operations, support and management still up to date in their current form?
- Which design-thinking methods help in the conception of digital workplaces?
- And which workplace applications make the most sense?
A company and its employees cannot complete the transformation required in the world of work overnight.
A study by IDG Research Services shows that only half of all companies asked follow a strategy in the implementation of new digital workplaces. Furthermore, the study also shows that many smaller companies have no digital strategy at all. They don’t yet know what the transformation means and are often scared of the new world of work.
At bigger companies, the answers from management and specialist departments differ. Around 60% of managers talk about a strategy; among employees that number is 20%. It is not clear whether the strategies were poorly depicted in internal communication in these cases. But if it really is down to an error in communication, that can be corrected: a good information policy is the decisive factor for smooth cooperation in a company.
The results suggest that too many companies still do not take the subject of security seriously enough. But it is possible to adjust the digital workplace to the new security requirements – long before a strategy is implemented. Knowledge and intelligent software are required to make it happen.
The office of the future must be lockable
You can make your digital workplace secure in three simple steps. This protects you against attacks, which are to be expected on a daily basis in the world of work.
- Simplify your IT. That gives you greater security. The Workplace Hub is an intelligent solution for SMEs that fulfils current requirements for security, IT management and availability of information. It combines local IT with cloud-based resources and offers maximum flexibility and reliability. In a space of just one square metre, the hub provides a complete IT infrastructure, with a server, MFP, Wi-Fi and a software platform, complemented by a comprehensive range of services.
- Reward employees who campaign for greater digital workplace security and work towards it. Pay bonuses for successfully completed training courses. Or give your employees the opportunity to progress in your company with the subject of security. Digitisation creates new jobs. Among others, examples include specialists in information security, data analysts and e-learning managers. The world of work is changing.
- Increase security awareness among all employees. Use the opportunities digitisation offers you for the workplace of the future. Information can also be conveyed in a fun way.
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