Beating the Crunch – Can Convergence Technology Help?

Without wanting to read like a scare-monger, money is tighter for many companies and individuals across the world at the moment. So can convergence technology help companies get out of this situation in any practical way?

Research by companies such as KPMG, Microsoft, The Future Laboratory and the UK Government (Yahoo article) show an increasing trend for home or remote working. This is an area where convergence technologies are often used. More than that though they can also help reduce costs for companies, increase real take home pay for employees and make a significant contribution to environmental savings!

That’s got to be too good to be true surely?

No it isn’t and let me explain why. Traditionally workers travel to the office for a number of reasons, e.g.

• To access equipment such as telephones, computers and the Internet.
• To network.
• To meet colleagues
• To work.

…and of course because they have to.

In recent years the reasons why employees, particularly in office based industries have to always be “in” have been decreasing. With communication and IT costs falling the home office is perfectly viable and for many organisations already working. It is often more because of culture than business efficiency that organisations cling to old practices that are best abandoned like a worn out comfort blanket, which no longer serves a purpose.

To put it in practical terms if an employee spends £50 a week (five days) on commuting but then starts home working for two of them, they immediately save £20. That’s £900 saved if they work around 45 weeks of each year. On top of that there will be reduction on time wasted in traffic jams and on environmental emissions. The employee will get more quality time at home and so the life work balanced is helped.

There are of course issues to be considered; not every employee will want or be able to work from home and there are issues such as Health and Safety to be planned in but this hasn’t stopped global companies such as BT implementing this on a large scale.

There are several advantages for Head Office as well since a move to flexible working can help with a reassessment of the management of real estate. With less workers in a building at anyone time, potentially less office space is needed and there is a chance to re-imagine how space is used. So that when colleagues come together it really can be about them working together as opposed to signing into their little cubicle space and working on their own, which can now be so easily and more cost effectively done elsewhere.

The credit crunch and threat of recession means that everyone wants to make sure their money is working as hard as possible, however at the same time businesses are facing the real need and pressure to address environmental issues. Remote working is not a magic wand that will solve all problems for everyone. However, it can help put money back in an employees pockets, reduce a businesses negative environmental impact, free roads from congestion and give space for thinking up those new ideas that will take us out of the credit crunch and on to the next success.