We’ve entered a new era – one in which we’ve all had to change the way we think about and do our work each and every day. Organizations seek to balance work expectations and re-examine policies in response to their employees’ needs and changing workstyles. Amidst factors like the war for talent, cost management, and the blurring of the workday, employees are asserting their preferences while organizations evaluate whether to return to the office, continue remote work, or go hybrid.
NTT’s 2021 Global Workplace Report highlights how employees are now at the forefront of workplace strategy and the global success of organizations; however, only half of organizations have fully defined their future workplace strategies. And the need has never been more important: organizations that build workplace strategies focused on employee wellbeing, sustainability and improving employee experiences with remote and hybrid workstyles will attract and retain talent.
90.6% of organizations recognize the value of employee experience
as important to the organizational strategy or a crucial strategic differentiator.NTT’s 2021 Global Workplace Report
What is clear is that technology must support a range of employee profiles and preferences. We must empower employees and provide simple, smart, safe, and secure work experiences with our innovations and unmatched portfolio and services.
Success is built on a network foundation
Digital transformation has ushered in a new era of long-lasting IT infrastructure changes that have resulted in new challenges for network, collaboration and security teams. The network fabric underpins the way we engage employees, and visibility into the applications and networks that sit beyond IT’s control has become a critical success factor. The network must be optimized across hybrid IT environments, deliver agility by connecting edge to multicloud platforms through transformed WAN and connectivity, and connect edge devices and things (smart workplaces, smart hospitals, smart manufacturing) through campus networks.
Connectivity and communication that support business goals
Frictionless collaboration is vital to enabling agility and protecting employee wellbeing. Optimizing a hybrid workforce requires digitally enabling employees with technology and devices to collaborate effectively, while also providing a catalyst for creativity, innovation, and resilience. Today’s hybrid workplace requires tools that improve business processes, speed decision-making, and boost productivity with streamlined communication and real-time collaboration – with physical and virtual workspaces on equal footing.
Ensure new ways of working are ‘secure by design’
A new approach to security is needed to support hybrid work, as threats are more sophisticated and traditional approaches to secure endpoints are not enough. Increased mobility of employees in a hybrid work model requires a new security paradigm focused on zero trust. Organizations must understand where, when, how and why user-impacting issues are occurring. Zero trust and Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) are top-of-mind as organizations move to cloud platforms and embark on a single design for network and security based on the activities and workstyles of their employees.
Solutions and services you can trust
It’s clear that the shift to hybrid work has increased the speed of digital infrastructure transformation and technology solution adoption; but it also brought people policies and company culture to the forefront. And it’s no surprise that Cisco is leading the charge in the new era of hybrid work through the power of people and technology.
Together with our partner NTT, we help organizations build a strategy for the new paradigm of work that is hybrid, flexible and secure. See how we did this at ASHRAE and transformed a smart building designed for the future with a fully integrated building management system focused on security, innovation and sustainability.
Using a services-led approach offering consumption models that maximize spending power, we partner with customers to create, build, manage and innovate at every stage of the journey. With Cisco’s best of breed products and NTT’s portfolio of services that span consulting, technical and managed services, customers can be certain of success in their workplace transformation.
Learn more about the Cisco and NTT partnership and how we are driving digital transformation
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Nice article Chris!
thanks Jack