By: Charles Pol

Empowering the Liquid Workforce

Is it the end of the “job” as we know it? Socioeconomic, technology and employment trends are changing the ways of working as a new generation of workers are introduced, and CIOs need to embrace the change. These new workers are known as the “Liquid Workforce” since they quickly shift and move between jobs and companies. They are educated and informed individuals who know what they want to do and how they want to do it, so they’re motivated to seek out and access the digital tools they know can help them succeed. The Liquid Workforce is loyal to the way they do their jobs instead of to the job itself. Without the ability to use the tools they wish, these employees are likely to leave a job for a destination where they can access the right tools. Because there is a strong link between employee engagement, productivity and commercial success, CIOs need to make their companies true marketplaces for employees to go to when looking for productivity tools, or they risk losing talent.

Innovating in the As-A-Service Economy

As physical and digital boundaries blur, businesses are re-inventing themselves with new business models that challenge traditional thinking. Considerations to help companies move toward smarter business practices include better operational performance and right-sizing operations, platforms for co-creation to boost innovation and personalization of production. These considerations reflect changing consumption preference toward “renting” rather than “buying". In order to meet these needs, IT must collaborate across all parts of business to implement essential tools for these services, such as cloud applications.

Competing in the Gigabit Society

In an increasingly digital world, advanced technology is rapidly moving into the mainstream and transforming businesses, creating both opportunities and challenges. The core driver behind executing digital transformation within a company is connectivity. CIOs need to ensure that their organization can support the sophisticated capabilities that people now demand to gain access to the data and processes they want to engage with. This means ensuring secure, gigabit communications, as copper-based legacy infrastructure will soon be insufficient to support business needs. CIOs must also guarantee superior secure high speed connectivity and other enabling technologies.