Remember when “I’m working from home today” was pretty much code for, “I need an extra day off this week?”

 

Before the widespread availability and affordability of high-speed Internet connections and a host of enabling technologies, it was pretty hard to see how someone could work productively from home or any other location outside of the office.

 

A lot has changed.

 

Much work that was once done exclusively in the office can now be done almost anywhere. More and more organizations are embracing the idea of remote or flexible workforces. In fall of 2009, Gartner (News - Alert) did an extensive survey of 260 enterprises, in which it learned that 90 percent of enterprises worldwide have remote workers.

 

The “why” of a flexible workforce is pretty obvious. There is strong evidence that allowing some people to work from outside the office improves employee morale and retention, reduces costs, increases productivity and even provides benefits beyond the enterprise like reducing traffic and minimizing carbon emissions. When thinking about the “how,” companies should consider three key technology areas that are critical to the success of a remote workforce.

 

Enterprise Business Systems - These are the key applications that run your business (i.e. ERP, CRM, PLM, etc.). Selecting a Software-as-a-Service model for these systems simplifies remote access and is rapidly growing in popularity. Gartner’s survey indicates that 90 percent of organizations intend to maintain or grow their usage of SaaS (News - Alert). There are many advantages to SaaS solutions, but an important driver of the trend is the ability for employees to simply sign into the application and work wherever they happen to be.

 

Collaboration - The number of collaboration options has skyrocketed over the last few years. Companies may choose a collaboration platform, like IBM’s (News - Alert) LotusLive, or may opt for best of bread applications, but the key is to make working together easy for people no matter where they are. Important features to consider are: file sharing, presence, chat, calendaring, online meetings and desktop sharing.

 

Communication - Employees working remotely must be as accessible to coworkers, customers and prospects as well as those in the headquarters building. This challenge can be addressed by implementing a business class hosted VoIP solution that treats each phone the same no matter where it is. Workers can reach each other by dialing a four digit extension and calls can be transferred to any phone, anywhere. Mobile phones should be considered as part of the overall communication strategy. The best solutions will tightly integrate stationary and mobile devices.

 

Certainly there are management challenges associated with flexible workforces and remote work is not right for every job or every person. However, with careful thought and the right tools, technology no longer needs to be a barrier. Organizations of all types can find the best way to put “flexible officing” to work for them.