This supplement is an independent publication from Raconteur Media

twitter.com/raconteurmedia

September 21, 2010

ST 21CENTURY WORKFORCE New ways of working © fStop / Alamy

Transform the way you work

24084_VF_Banner_TimesAd_60x264_AW_v2.indd 1 17/9/10 13:38:27 Little Chef reduced IT support costs by £700,000 with our fixed and mobile solution vodafone.co.uk/totalcomms

24084_VF_LittleChef_TimesAd_338x264_AW_v1.indd 1 17/9/10 09:36:45 21ST CENTURY WORKFORCE 3

In an age when companies of all INSIDE sizes are seeking to meet more ex- Flexible mobile working acting sustainability targets, it can 3 Flexible mobile working result in employees taking far fewer For today’s business leaders, the trips by car, train or plane and ma- question is not whether they should overview It’s time for business leaders to challenge age - but in fact, today’s provider jor reductions in the heating, light- offerings tackle the issue head-on. ing and power consumed by corpo- introduce flexible mobile working, but their assumptions about the barriers to mobile whether they can afford not to Per-seat pricing, for example, can rate premises (see article, The green working, says Jessica Twentyman provide complete transparency perspective, page 11). 4 The flexible workforce and budgeting predictability across In these ways, mobile working can countries and continents. help companies to prepare for future Employees that give their workers more n a time of economic uncer- overcome any doubts and offer em- In any case, a more sophisticated regulations limiting greenhouse gas choice about where, when and how tainty, when the need for great- ployees greater flexibility in terms of view of the cost and return on in- emissions and enable them to meet they work can expect to see a welcome er cost control and efficiency where they choose to work.” vestment offered by mobile work- corporate social responsibility (CSR) uplift in productivity has never been greater, the That final point is important, be- ing is required, say experts; one that objectives that support their brand Iquestion for business leaders is not cause by and large, employees have takes into account the financial im- and instil investor confidence. 6 The portable office whether they should consider flex- moved beyond their initial concerns pact of reducing corporate real es- Finally, today’s mobile technology ible mobile working, but whether that mobile phones, mobile email tate, infrastructure costs and busi- holds out the hope of freeing up em- Today’s corporate mobile phones they can afford not to? and other mobility enablers act as ness travel, and the resulting tax ployee time to focus on more strate- aren’t just used to make calls and As this report seeks to demon- ‘golden handcuffs’, permitting their implications of these efficiencies gic activities. Machine-to-machine send texts. Increasingly, they provide strate, there are many, varied ar- employers to extend the working day (see article, Cost control, page 8). capabilities are increasingly enabling employees with a window on a wealth guments for the introduction of to all waking hours. “While flexible working will ne- machines, monitors and meters to of corporate information mobile working - but it seems that Where implemented well, it’s cessitate an investment in IT and automatically report on their status, many companies have yet to take now widely recognised that flexible communications, these costs look convey data to other devices and re- 8 Pinning down costs advantage of the opportunities for mobile working allows for greater far more reasonable when you com- ceive instructions remotely, automat- The benefits of mobile working are well greater productivity and increased efficiency and better balancing of pare them with the cost of provid- ing a wide variety of mundane data employee satisfaction that it offers. work and personal life - to the ben- ing a company desk, replacing and collection and reporting tasks (see established, but they will not be realised According to a recent pan-Euro- efit of bosses and workers alike. It’s retaining lost staff and the other sav- article, Talking machines, page 14). unless costs are carefully managed pean study undertaken by Vodafone a win-win for both groups, say mo- ings that can be achieved through One thing is clear, however: flexible Global Enterprise - the Vodafone bility experts, and could quickly be- rationalising corporate infrastruc- mobile working takes trust. In order to 10 The green perspective business that manages the telecoms come a key factor in enabling smart ture and reducing business travel establish a successful flexible work cul- Environmental sustainability may needs of multinational enterprise companies to attract and retain and absenteeism,” comments Guy ture, it is essential to ensure that both not be the primary driver of mobile customers - only two fifths (41 per high-calibre talent (see article, The Laurence, CEO of Vodafone UK. bosses and workers employees under- working initiatives, but it’s a welcome cent) of the 500 multinationals sur- flexible workforce, page 4). Security concerns, meanwhile, stand and work within an environ- knock-on benefit veyed said they had a comprehensive To get the full benefits of mobility, are equally addressable. Today’s ment of mutual trust and obligation. mobile working solution in place, however, companies need to look be- device management tools, for ex- Processes and policies need to 12 Securing the mobile workforce although a further 44 per cent said yond the basic functions of voice calls ample, enable IT departments to be put in place to ensure work and it was an important priority. One and text messages and start exploring remotely apply controls that ensure performance standards are moni- In a world where mobile devices of the key barriers to introduction, the extended capabilities of today’s corporate security is maintained tored and maintained. Lines of can fall prey to loss or theft, smart respondents commented, was the mobile devices. A whole world of across the board, even to handsets communication must be kept open companies safeguard mobile data impact that flexible, mobile working mobile applications is opening up, on the other side of the globe. and staff must have regular, face- rigourously. But they don’t let security would have on corporate culture. giving employees access to a wealth That’s important, because an or- to-face contact with managers and stand in the way of user convenience There’s no doubt that this impact of corporate information and collab- ganisation needs to protect the mo- colleagues. And flexible working can be substantial - but business orative tools, regardless of whether bile device itself, the access route should never mean ‘always work- 14 Talking machines leaders need to challenge their as- they’re working at home, at a cus- back into the corporate network, ing’ – employees must feel that it is sumptions about mobile working, tomer’s premises or out in the field. any data that may be stored on the acceptable to turn their device off. Machine-to-machine (M2M) technology according to Nicholas McQuire, re- Using these, they can be more re- device, or transmitted between the Trust, in fact, may be the most enable devices to communicate with search director at IT market research sponsive to customer needs and their device and corporate systems. Today, significant obstacle of all - but the each other, automating a wide variety company IDC: “The benefits of mo- employers can more easily adapt to however, a wide range of tools and rewards for companies that are of data collection tasks bile working and home-working changing demand patterns and fluc- strategies exist that can ensure that able to overcome it are great: by in particular are becoming clearer tuating market conditions (see arti- the security of such information is making the jump to flexible work- to businesses,” he says. “Although cle, The portable office, page 6). just as good as the security provided ing now, they won’t be storing up there are some perceived obstacles, In Vodafone’s survey, pricing to non-wireless uses, and in many bigger challenges for the future, the benefits around cost reduction, predictability was cited as a key cases, better (see article, Securing the when traditional work models no Editor enhanced productivity, more robust concern by respondents. Many mobile business, page 12). longer support the levels of flex- Jessica Twentyman business continuity plans and im- highlighted fears that differing tar- Reducing environmental impact ibility, adaptability and commu- proved sustainability and compli- iff structures across different mar- is another important knock-on nication that the competitive busi- Contributors ance are helping organisations to kets would prove complex to man- benefit of flexible mobile working. ness environment demands. Ron Condon, John Lamb, Nick Martindale, Rod Newing, Sally Whittle

Publisher Danielle Maidana-Power

Production manager Fabiana Abreu

Design Hervé Boinay

For more information about Raconteur Media publications in The Times and The Sunday Times, please contact Dominic Rodgers T: 020 7033 2106 E: [email protected] W: www.raconteurmedia.co.uk twitter.com/raconteurmedia

The information contained in this publication has been obtained from sources the proprietors Flexibility is believe to be correct. However, no legal liability key to today’s can be accepted for any errors. No part of this working publication may be reproduced without the culture prior consent of the Publisher. © RACONTEUR MEDIA 4 21ST CENTURY WORKFORCE The flexible workforce

POLICY Flexible working supported by mobile “But, above all, it demands a major shift in attitudes, away from technologies makes for happier workers and ‘presenteeism’, where an employer happier bosses, too, argues Jessica Twentyman is assumed to be working simply because they’re sitting at a desk, to one where their value is measured t’s no secret that the world of For employees, flexible work- by their output and where it’s rec- work has changed immeas- ing offers a way to juggle work and ognised that, in many cases, they’re urably in recent years. The home and to perform more effi- more productive when they’re away ‘job for life’ is a thing of the ciently during the hours that they from the office.” Ipast and traditional nine-to-five do work. This, in turn, results in roles are no longer the norm. “raised morale, motivation, com- The employee perspective Recent economic turbulence has mitment and engagement”, as well For Jacqueline McHugh, a care merely piled on the pressure for eve- as “reduced absenteeism”, according coordinator with Glasgow Coun- ryone. Today’s employers must boost to experts at the Chartered Institute ty Council, working life has be- productivity and more accurately of Personnel Development (CIPD). come “a hundred times easier” match workforce resources to the In a recent survey from recruitment work that needs doing. Their em- company Hays, an overwhelming 85 ployees, meanwhile, are more pro- per cent of employees surveyed said ductive and more committed when that, if their employer were to intro- Mobile working they can balance their working hours duce more flexible working options, demands a major shift with their personal commitments. they would be more likely to stay Too frequently, the modern work- with them. Almost all (95 per cent) place is portrayed as a battleground, believed that flexible working would in employer attitudes where conflicting interests lead to improve their work-life balance and disharmony. But flexible working one-fifth now see such policies as “es- from ‘presenteeism’ to - enabled by the latest mobile tech- sential” when choosing a job. nologies - provides an answer that As a result, flexible working offers measuring by output can keep all parties satisfied. a potential win-win opportunity for For bosses, having a flexible, bosses and workers alike, says Guy mobile workforce enables them Laurence, CEO of Vodafone UK, since ‘going mobile’. The moment to boost productivity, respond to but making it work requires a shift she turns on her BlackBerry in the changing customer demand and in thinking by business leaders, he morning, she can see what home cut the costs associated with over- adds: “Some will say that the costs visits she and her team of care- resourcing. One-fifth of organisa- involved in offering employees ways workers need to make that day. tions avoided redundancies during to work flexibly using mobile tech- She can see if an elderly client the recent recession by introducing nologies are too steep - but that’s an has been discharged from hospi- flexible working practices, accord- old way of looking at things.” tal in the last 24 hours and what ing to a study from employment The new way of working, by con- follow-up care is needed. While research specialists, IRS Research. trast, demands a broader, more stra- she makes visits, she has access Two-thirds of employers from 162 tegic view that takes into account the to the client’s care plan, detailing organisations said that flexible wide-ranging benefits that flexible what help they require. And if she

working had helped them to cut working offers; among them, reduc- doesn’t get an answer from a cli- © OJO Images/Rex Features costs, while a similar number said ing corporate real estate, slashing ent when she goes to visit, contact that it had helped to reduce the business travel costs, meeting cor- details for their next of kin are number of jobs lost. porate sustainability targets. instantly available on her handset. “It’s great, we can just get on with Her colleague, Neil Smithies, an our jobs and get things done for cli- ICT business support officer, adds: ents straight away,” she says. “We’re “VSRA helps me to work produc- How to implement a flexible working plan not held up by having to call back tively from home and complete to the office for details of what we’re tasks using centrally held data. I supposed to be doing or where we’re find the home environment is often A flexible and remote working plan enables 4. Consult with human resources (HR) specialists supposed to be,” she says. less distracting, so I can concen- companies to retain valued staff by offering to prepare relevant documents, such as a ‘Home With flexible, mobile working, trate better.” them choices to suit their lifestyle demands, Office Health and Safety Checklist’, to ensure she’s free to concentrate on the as- For Bolton Council, meanwhile, according to Ken Sheridan, co-founder of Re- you become a responsible employer of choice. pects of her job that she finds most the project has resulted in a £76,000 mote Employment, an online site for flexible 5. Talk to managers to analyse what jobs can rewarding: providing day-to-day per year saving on home broad- and remote working. It also gives employers be flexible within the organisation. Clear rules care and support for the elderly. band connections and reduced the the added advantage of recruiting talented in- from the outset will avoid future confusion. Em- For other employees, flexible amount of office space needed by dividuals from anywhere in the country instead ployees with flexible working not only need to working means the ability to work 25 per cent. of just around their local office, he adds. be managed, but evaluated and rewarded with from home – a place where many For some would-be employees, With that in mind, Sheridan proposes an career development. feel they can actually be more pro- flexible mobile working isn’t just an eight-step plan for implementing a flexible 6. If necessary, prepare an equipment budg- ductive, compared to a bustling of- enjoyable ‘perk’ – it’s an imperative, working plan: et for remote and home workers. Decide on fice environment. At Bolton Coun- says Gillian Nissim, managing direc- 1. Establish the business case and the objec- the technology that will be required and how cil, for example, many employees tor of workingmums.co.uk. Her on- tives of introducing such a scheme. Consider to secure data. Consult with IT providers to now work from their own homes line recruitment business specialises how increased flexibility could enhance work- streamline solutions. on a regular basis, including mem- in finding employment opportuni- ing practices across the company. 7. Set up an activity programme for remote bers of the IT team. ties for skilled professionals who want 2. Ascertain goals and the action expected to workers to keep staff involved with team meet- “With our previous flexible solu- flexibility in their working lives in or- reach those targets. Determine the issues that ings, virtual conferences and home assess- tion, locally installed applications der to maximise the time they spend flexible working needs to address. ments. Keeping remote or home workers ‘vis- weren’t available unless I was work- with their children. Mobile tech- 3. Communicate the concept to staff at an early ible’ with support and resources will reduce ing from the office,” says informa- nologies are essential to her and her stage to realise the positive impact on the busi- absenteeism and improve productivity. tion systems analyst, Joanne Hulme. team of fourteen employees, many of ness. Survey all employees to find what they 8. Review the plan to monitor the effectiveness Since the Council implemented the whom face the same challenges as the would appreciate and value. Ensure this works and productivity of flexible working. Once a flex- Vodafone Secure Remote Access company’s job candidates in juggling both for the individual and the business. Personal ible plan is in action it cannot be put to one side; it (VSRA) solution, however, she can their responsibilities. flexibility will build a strong and loyal workforce. will constantly evolve and grow with the company. securely and reliably access any ap- “I couldn’t run this business plication she requires. without mobile technologies – my 21ST CENTURY WORKFORCE 5

What is the impact of mobile technologies in the UK?

costs – remote support, smaller office space, and so on. For these benefits to be realised, organi- sations need to regard employees as self-man- aging. However, our research shows that trust in employees remains an issue, often resulting in prescriptive ways of working and, in extreme situations, electronic surveillance. At the other end, mobile technology encour- ages a culture of 24/7 responsiveness. ‘Respon- sible’ employees find it difficult to resist the permeability of the professional private space; especially with home working and smart devic- es that permit seamless connectivity to HQ. An The provider: Guy Laurence, CEO, Vodafone UK inability to ‘switch off’ can result in stress and “The days when Dad couldn’t make the schools affect both mental and physical health. sports day because he’s in meetings should be a The demand for and benefits of flexible working, thing of the past. It should be perfectly possible facilitated by mobile technology, is clear. We shall for him to jump onto his BlackBerry or laptop with see if technology becomes the servant or the mobile broadband once he gets home from the master of the modern knowledge worker.” event and make up for the hours missed. Work/ life balance requires give and take on both sides, The industry analyst: Rob Bamforth, Quocirca but society is changing, and technology today is “Mobile technologies have already radically designed to accommodate those changes and changed many elements of working culture assist the desire of employees to alter when and in the UK, and yet there is more to come as how they work. I don’t believe that this trend working processes and, in particular, manage- encourages a culture where we can’t switch off ment processes adapt to take more advantage from work - it’s simply a matter of using common of employee mobility. Already, we have seen sense. Most people are learning to adjust to the communications shift from ‘location to loca- availability of workplace information and there’s tion’ to ‘person to person’; no longer contact- increasingly an evolving social etiquette around ing companies or departments, but individuals when you should expect your colleagues to be and roles. Access to data has also become per- available. When it’s appropriate, smart employ- sonalised and mobile, delivered directly to the ees apply the ultimate sanction: the ‘off’ switch.” palm of the individual. The impact on business processes is that communication and informa- The work/life specialist: tion has moved directly to the moment and Wilson Wong, The Work place of immediate need. This Foundation streamlines processes, pro- “Mobile technology, by its viding operational effi- ubiquity, permeates and fa- ciency and should relieve cilitates work. This year, we are stresses on the individ- approaching five billion mo- ual – for example, no Always-on bile phone subscriptions glo- longer having to make connectivity, bally, and by 2013, the number arbitrary journeys back wherever of internet users is forecast to to the office or to and you’re reach one and a half billion. from other work working The biggest win is flex- locations.” ibility in work ar- rangements and the potential ad- A compelling case for flexible working vantages of lower

Many of the pressures felt by today’s business leaders can be solved, at least in part, by the introduction of flexible working, as BlackBerry is my lifeline because I what they need, looking at roles, While some bosses still believe - for the diagram below demonstrates know that it can help me and my activities and circumstances of in- whatever reason - that flexible mo- team get some really valuable work dividuals in their organisation,” he bile working isn’t for them, Laurence done whenever and wherever it says. “This helps the human re- warns, they can’t afford to ignore Reducing suits us,” she says. “But as an em- sources team and line-of-business workplace demographics. A younger business ployer, I also know that it isn’t al- staff that manage them not only to generation of employees is entering travel ways easy to find really good, ex- identify what tools each group with- the workforce with very different ex- Employer of perienced and committed people. in the workforce needs, but also de- pectations from their predecessors. Cost choice Offering a range of flexible working cide how different groups should be “Kids coming out of university practices can really help secure the managed, what additional support today have been brought up with all perfect employee.” Top employers they might require and even set the the flexibility that modern technol- such as banking giant Royal Bank level of productivity that should be ogies offer. They’re completely used Mature and Meeting the of Scotland and The National Trust expected from them.” to being able to access the internet fast mobile Flexible needs of the seem to agree with Nissim - both Surveys are a useful tool for look- wherever they are, and are adept technology customer organisations use workingmums. ing at the different ways employees at using this kind of technology in working co.uk to recruit staff and advertise work, he adds. “By surveying a rep- their day-to-day lives, long before drivers flexible-working vacancies. resentative sample of employees, it’s they even start work,” he points possible to define groups or profiles out. “Ask them to sit in an office, A careful plan according to where and how they behind an allocated desk, using old For organisations that have yet work best - whether that’s in cor- technologies, and they’ll just laugh. Culture Legislation to make the leap to more flexible, porate offices, customers’ premises, More to the point, they’ll ‘vote with mobile working arrangements - or out on the road or from their own their feet’ and go to work for anoth- those that feel they could improve home,” he says. That information can er company that’s more forward- Recession Environmental on what’s already offered to employ- then be used to map out the commu- thinking about flexible working.” and intensified sustainability ees - careful planning will be neces- nication and information technolo- With that in mind, flexible mo- competition objectives sary, says Laurence of Vodafone. gies required to enable them to work bile working looks like becoming a “When we have a new customer, “smarter, more productively and key weapon in the ‘war for talent’ in Source: Vodafone we work closely with them to assess more flexibly,” he adds. the years to come. 6 21ST CENTURY WORKFORCE The portable office

APPLICATIONS Today’s workers don’t just use their mobile phones to make and receive phone calls and texts. Increasingly, these devices provide them with a window on a wealth of corporate information, as Ron Condon explains

obile communications to photograph graffiti, for exam- make a real difference ple, and send the image back to to the way all kinds of central computers. workers operate - not Another example is utility serv- Monly by allowing them to be reached ice contractor Morrison Utility when they are out of the office (a Services, which is carrying out benefit we all take for granted these a nationwide refurbishment of days), but also by giving them access mains services for the electricity, to data just as if they were sitting in gas, telecoms and water indus- front of a PC in their own offices. tries. Its managers have mainly A combination of technologies iPhones, connected to an applica- is driving this trend and accelerat- tion built around the cloud-based ing the rate of change. Today’s 3G service from Salesforce.com. The mobile networks now span most of management system eliminates the country and offer high-speed existing spreadsheets, paper proc- delivery of data. Higher-speed 4G esses, and work management da- services are just around the corner. tabase systems with one unified, Widespread availability of WiFi browser-based system. hotspots also provides a perform- The Morrison staff can use ance boost and lower costs. the shared, real-time view of op- At the same time, the rapid de- erations to look up where mains velopment of smart portable de- repair contract jobs are located vices – including the BlackBerry, based on GPS co-ordinates, take Apple iPhone and iPad, Android photographs of the work and up- phones and other devices running load them into Salesforce CRM, Windows mobile or Symbian oper- and report on completed projects. ating systems – provide users with a The company says it has slashed small but powerful computing de- administration time, and has vice that is permanently connected given much closer control over and able to handle a bewildering the progress at each of the 700 new range of applications. projects it is running. These phones can also take pho- The list goes on, and includes tographs, and transmit them, and one-person businesses right up to most of them have a geolocation multinational corporations, all of function, so that users can pinpoint whom are managing to reduce costs their position to within a few yards. and deliver a faster, better service. Stir all those ingredients to- Any company or organisation gether and then add the collabo- that fails to take advantage of some rative ethos of social networking of these new capabilities is likely to

sites such as Facebook and Twit- lose business, says Peter Kelly, en- / Alamy © Illustration Works ter, and you have the basis for a terprise director for Vodafone UK. major revolution in the way we “Customers expect instant service all work – not just white-collar these days, so business is increasingly A workplace which basically means bringing is to reduce the time to make de- ible ‘hot-desking’ is already al- knowledge workers, but also a about real-time communications,” he that follows fixed, mobile and desktop com- cisions – whether to approve a lowing companies to reduce the whole range of mobile workers says. “Historically a lot of the systems you from munications together. commercial offering, to approve amount of office space they need, such as midwives, field service were not joined up. Customers would place to place “Unified communications can an investment or an appoint- says Kelly. engineers and parcel couriers. leave voicemails, emails, or send faxes bring the power of collaboration ment. That is the power of uni- It is also possible to have a sin- or letters, and days would pass before and team-working,” says Kelly. fied communications: you can be gle phone number to cover a fixed Clear advantages they got an answer.” “Companies using older technolo- agile and collaborative. “ and mobile phone. That may not Driving the widespread adop- He says the goal of any organi- gies can become siloed, and in sound very revolutionary, but tion of the new technologies are sation should be to get the right some cases, dysfunctional. People The UC benefit provides an easy answer to the clear savings on time, paperwork, information to the right person in the field find it hard to deal with At the most basic level, UC gives old question of “Which number money, and even petrol. Take, for at the right time. In other words, people in headquarters.” you fewer cables to manage in the shall I call you on?” instance, police officers, who have instead of having to go back to the With the newer capabilities, it is office, because voice calls travel When someone calls the long complained that, as ‘bobbies office to check the emails, access easier to achieve cross-functional over the office data network. That number, the recipient’s fixed and on the beat’, they are overbur- the customer contacts database, collaboration because people are can bring down costs and make mobile phones ring at the same dened with paperwork and spend or log an order that has just been easier to get hold of. “Compa- network management simpler. time. This is an invaluable feature, too much time form-filling back placed, the worker can do their nies can become uncompetitive It then delivers greater flex- say, for a service-based company at the police station. job from where they happen to be because it takes them too long ibility, because users can log on that wants to be available around Now, several forces have begun – at home, in a motorway café or to get the right people together from any desk in the organisa- the clock. And for the customer, issuing BlackBerrys to their offic- on the customer’s premises. to make decisions quickly,” he tion and the extension is theirs there is just one number to call, ers, allowing them to access police The key to making this happen says. “The power of unified com- – remember how long it would regardless of the time. databases easily, report back on falls under the umbrella term of munications, such as Vodafone’s take to move an extension with UC can also bring people togeth- incidents, and to use the camera ‘unified communications’, or UC, One and One Net UC solutions, an old-style phone system? Flex- er in more subtle ways, too. For in- 21ST CENTURY WORKFORCE 7

call without disturbing him. Jim Companies are also now bor- tions; if they change, the individual Mobile working may also want to bring James and rowing from social networking will immediately be alerted. Sally into a quick phone con- sites to create a more collegiate That kind of informal connec- ference with John, and seeing a and collaborative environment, tion can go a long way in making in numbers green light by both their names, even where individuals may rarely up for the isolation that remote is able to activate the conference meet face-to-face. For example, workers often feel, and can provide from his handset (fixed or mo- Saleforce.com has recently intro- them with the kind of informa- bile, it doesn’t matter). The fact duced the Chatter function to its tion that traditionally is picked up that all four people may all be out system to allow users to interact during conversations by the water- 1.2 billion and about is no barrier to com- electronically in the same way as cooler. Older workers may take a munication. They can have their they would on sites such as Twit- while to adjust to that way of work- Number of mobile conference call without delay, ter, Facebook and LinkedIn. ing, but the new generation of com- and then carry on with what they Users can set up their profile, fol- pany recruits are more than happy workers worldwide by were doing. low other people in the company to conduct their relationships in cy- With presence, participants in (as in Twitter) and be informed berspace - in fact, it may be some- 2012 (IDC) a meeting don’t need to be in the immediately of any new thing that thing that they expect. same building anymore - or even person does. They can also post It is huge opportunity for organi- the same country. That reduces requests for help, and anyone is sations of all sizes to rethink how time spent travelling, helping the free to chip in with advice. They they do business and organise their organisation they work for to re- can also ‘follow’ documents such staff. They just need the vision and 235 million duce its carbon footprint. as price lists or company presenta- imagination to make it happen. Number of smartphones Case study: Halcrow Group expected to ship globally by the end of Engineering consulting giant, Halcrow Group led to a radical rethink. Working with Vodafone has 7,000 workers spread around the world, UK, Halcrow has adopted the Vodafone One working on large construction projects from the unified communications [UC] solution, which 2010 (Topology CrossRail infrastructure in London to flood de- essentially brings all the communications needs fences for St Petersburg. together in one contract. Research Institute) Providing those professionals with the right “We have totally replaced our existing infrastruc- tools to communicate with each other across ture in the UK. We had 25 disparate telephone thousands of miles is a key element in mak- systems, but we are migrating them all into a sin- ing the company effective and keeping costs gle UK-wide telephone system, part of the Voda- Percentage of under control. fone One solution,” he says. “We have upgraded 41% The company’s group IT director Chris Farmer our data network to be able to handle both voice explains the task: “We constantly need to look and data traffic, and we are deploying Microsoft European multinationals at how to take advantage of the skills we have Office Communications Server to give us desktop in all our staff, and how to get better collabora- collaboration tools that people will need. This is all with a mobile working tion. And we need to ensure we get the right glued together by Vodafone One.” communication between various members of As well as providing estimated savings of £1 solution already in place our project teams.” million over the next five years, the unified sys- He says that 15 to 20 years ago, the com- tem will make it much easier for members of (Vodafone Global pany might ship out a whole team to deliver a the Group to collaborate remotely and to pool project somewhere in the world, but in today’s their skills for specific projects when needed. Enterprise) cost-conscious world, a more streamlined ap- “We want our staff to be reachable wherever proach is required. “Now we look for ways to they are. Everyone will have a single phone have people collaborating from their desktop. number – so if someone rings me, my mobile We can’t afford to fly people around the world will ring, as will the phone on my desk, and the Percentage to participate in short meetings when we can soft client on my PC,” Farmer says. 85% use other technologies, and save the carbon “The aim is to provide a flexible toolkit for all footprint. We can save money and be more of our staff, and over time we’ll find that staff of workers who say cost-effective for our customers.” will select the technologies that best reflect To achieve that, he needed more effec- their working styles.” they would be more tive and flexible communications systems. With one tariff for all phones, he says there “We have always had a solid data network- is no impediment to people using or calling likely to stay with their ing infrastructure,” he says. “We had reliable each other’s mobile phones, and this will also email, file transfer and document sharing. But encourage greater communication, as well as a employer if they we felt we needed to move to a next step to greater use of hot-desking. “With this technolo- leverage our skills better.” gy, their phones follow them wherever they go. introduced flexible A review of the voice networks, data networks They can work from anywhere with no impact stance, they can deliver the notion and the company’s use of mobile phones has on customer experience,” he says. of ‘presence’, a feature that allows working options. (Hays) everyone to see whether their peers are available for a call, in a meeting, or offline at any one moment. If someone – let’s call him Jim – wants to contact John and sees that John is currently free (usu- ally with a green light next to his name), he knows it’s OK to

Peter Kelly, Vodafone: Customers expect instant service these days, so business is increasingly about real-time communications 8 21ST CENTURY WORKFORCE Pinning down costs

FINANCE As employees increasingly view the mobile phone as their primary means of communication, the pressure is on for their employers to keep a keen eye on costs while allowing them to work flexibly. By Rod Newing

etting the best value but at the same time utilise the or if they are using a mobile or a out of each and every company’s existing infrastructure fixed line, for example.” investment is crucial more in order to help trim costs.” By consolidating communica- for any organisation In a recent survey of 100 UK IT tions suppliers, he adds, businesses Gand rarely have costs been under directors commissioned by Dam- pay a flat rate for each user for both such pressure as they are today. The ovo and conducted by independ- fixed and mobile combined, giving benefits of flexible, mobile work- ent research company Vanson them “total control of costs and ne- ing are well established, but experts Bourne, respondents estimated gating the need to restrict employ- warn that they will not be realised that almost half (42 per cent) of ees from using one method of com- unless costs are carefully managed, corporate mobile calls are made munication over another.” through control of equipment, bet- within the office. ter visibility into where costs are Companies need to have the A new approach incurred and greater influence over technology in place that allows The benefits of an approach based users’ behaviour. them to make those calls in the on unified communications, or Today, too many organisations most efficient manner possible. UC, is echoed by Guy Lidbetter, lack the level of oversight they There are now new ways to do chief technical officer for man- need, according to Glyn Owen, this, Gary Butler, head of Voda- aged operations at systems in- portfolio manager at UK sys- fone’s Unified Communications tegration company Atos Origin. tems integrator, Damovo: “Many Group, explains: “With unified With a UC strategy, he says, “rath- businesses need to re-think their communications, you can actu- er than trying to force behaviour, mobility management strategy, ally enable employees to commu- you find a way of working that so that employees can keep the nicate in the way that best suits leverages the cost benefits.” convenience of using their mo- them and the job that they do – “The system knows if some- bile devices wherever they choose, regardless of where they are based body is in the office, on the move

Mobile apps prioritised for corporate investment

Four out of ten CIOs say that developing and improving the performance of mobile business appli- cations is a key investment priority for 2010, according to recent research commissioned by Vodafone. The survey was conducted by polling company Opinion Matters in June 2010 among 210 CIOs and 1,200 workers in private and public-sector organisations with more than 500 employees. The overriding consensus among those surveyed was that they want the tools necessary to do their job from their mobile devices, rather than ‘gimmick’ tools from app stores. Many responses focused on improving access and interaction with existing corporate systems, such as customer relationship management (CRM) and time management (job scheduling). A large number also cited unified communications-style apps, for locating colleagues, contacting team members and conferencing capabilities. The good news for workers is that nine out of ten CIOs polled said that their organisations are in the process of developing various business-specific mobile applications, as outlined in the graph below.

Mobile business apps under development Percentage of CIOs developing them

CRM 45%

Data collection 44%

Database management 43%

Task management 42%

Financial management tools 34% e-commerce 32%

Inventory management/order tracking 27%

Consumer apps for customers 21%

Sales forecasting 19.5%

Lone worker/employeee tracking 13%

We are not developing any apps 11% Source: Vodafone/Opinion Matters, June 2010 21ST CENTURY WORKFORCE 9

or at home and an appropri- Employee expense systems may be ate device would ring to contact used for home broadband, WiFi The analyst view you, depending on what you are hotspots in hotels, fixed data con- doing, taking the decision away nections or fixed line calls. from the user and putting the in- “The real challenge is under- “The trend is to harmonise communications. Give every mem- telligence in the platform.” standing where all your costs lie, ber of staff the right tool in their hand for the job they need to Frank Modruson, CIO at man- end-to-end,” says Lidbetter of Atos do, where they need to do it from,” says Katja Ruud, an analyst agement consulting giant Accen- at IT market analyst firm, Gartner. ture, points out that many PCs to- For her, cost control involves not just consolidation of net- day provide handset capabilities. works, to end ‘duplication of dial tone’, but negotiating with Gary Butler, Vodafone : The company’s mobile workforce providers; making the handsets work harder for the organisa- is equipped with laptops that have tion; and using all available tools. built-in microphones and new With unified Negotiating with providers depends on the competitive situation laptops have built-in webcams. in each country. Ms Ruud says that it may be possible to negotiate Microsoft Office Communicator communications, a regional agreement covering, say, ten countries. However, it can software turns the laptops into be harder for a truly multinational company with 150 sites spread full-featured office telephones, you can actually around the world. The largest contracts so far only cover about 110 providing peer-to-peer voice and countries. “They can be done by some of the larger providers,” audio conferencing capabilities enable employees to she says, “but they have to go off their own network and there is a and desktop video conferencing. cost associated with having to manage other providers.” “We provide our mobile work- communicate in a way She advises her clients to be aware of current competitive rates force with anyone, anywhere, any- before starting to negotiate. She also advises building in expec- time mobile access to everything,” that best suits them and tations of future consumption. The operators’ offers are usually he says. “We average more than based on the previous year’s spending, but as mobile devices are 20 million minutes of desktop the job that they do being used for much more than voice calls, usage can increase. video and audio conference calls Making handsets work harder means harnessing the increas- per month. It has slashed mo- ing number of smartphones by loading applications that enable bile and land line expenses; helps Origin. “If you ask a chief financial the mobile workforce to become more efficient. “Providers are [employees] to communicate and officer how much mobile workers looking for manual processes within an organisation that they collaborate more effectively; and are claiming back on expenses for can mobilise,” she says, “to reduce manual effort, cut down on reduces travel.” hotspot connections, they don’t the number of errors caused by manual input and to speed up One way is to enable handsets know, because it is buried deep as the processing cycle.” to switch automatically between a line item on an expense claim or It is also important to use all the tools available from oper- mobile networks and fixed net- included in a hotel bill. Unless you ators to manage mobility. These cover works. The Unlicensed Mobile can extract the true cost, it is really areas like expense management, Access protocol provides access hard to measure.” telecommunications expense to voice and data services over He points out that there is no management, bill analysis unlicensed spectrum technologies way of knowing whether at a par- and invoice management. like WiFi or BlueTooth. Femto- ticular time in a particular place it They help companies to cell technology, such as Vodafone would have been cheaper to make track how much is be- Sure Signal, uses home and fixed a mobile call, use a PC data card, ing spent and can raise broadband to boost the mobile use a WiFi consolidator or use the alerts for high usage, she signal in the home or small office hotel’s WiFi connection. Never- points out. for up to four people at the same theless, he believes that there are She adds that device time. That means that staff who definite costs savings to be real- management systems are cannot get a sufficiently strong ised, as long as the organisation important to ensure that signal at home are still able to use can be sure that it understands all each device has the their mobile. the costs in the system, especially right version of the those that are hidden. right applications. Better billing “People save ‘headline’ costs They also enable an For many businesses, reviewing the because they are visible and organisation to main- monthly mobile bill can be a time- measurable,” he says. “They move tain control of the use The great consuming and complex task, mak- costs around and make them in- of functionality, by dis- escape: do ing it hard to identify where costs tangible and unmeasurable. It is abling functions like mobile costs can be cut and usage made more hard to measure the intangible cameras or helping to need tying effective. In Damovo’s survey, for costs of putting more effort onto enable WiFi usability. down? example, more than a third (37 per individuals with new ways of cent) of the IT directors surveyed working, to save up-front costs. If confessed that they didn’t bother to you don’t understanding the hid- of time,” says Marie Puybaraud, from the office and often the need scrutinise mobile bills. den costs in the system you will director global for workplace in- to encourage them to do so.” “In order to start reducing their change the thing that is most ob- novation at Johnson Controls. Puybaraud says that in an in- mobile costs, many organisations vious without realising that you “Psychological barriers, such as creasingly knowledge-intensive need to have better visibility over are having an impact somewhere an attachment to having one’s economy, rather than having an their mobile usage,” says Owen. else and introducing extra costs own desk-space and the routine autocratic structure, where in- “This is where UC can really elsewhere in the system.” of working from 9am to 5pm formation is passed down a fixed make a difference to management often need to be overcome. The chain of command, organisations of communication suppliers and A question of culture organisation’s leadership has to must behave more like networked costs. It allows businesses to work Organisations have to choose foster this change by embracing enterprises with a series of inter- with one supplier for all their whether to use technology to force technology and this new, mobile connected ecosystems. This chang- communications and get one users to communicate in a certain way of working, which involves es the organisation from a static bill,” says Vodafone’s Butler. “It way, through devices or function- both an element of trust that em- place where individuals perform a cuts the time it takes to deal with ality, or give them a choice. Choice ployees can work effectively away specific role within a defined hier- multiple suppliers and also gives a involves influencing users to take archy into a collaborative hub. transparent view of costs. It also cost into account when making Owen of Damovo concludes that means that businesses can realise decisions. It is further complicated organisations require greater con- their mobility strategies, as they by the fact that many corporate In order to reduce trol over their mobile costs, while aren’t dictating to employees how users want to exercise their choice costs, organisations allowing end users the freedom to to connect or communicate, but to use their own personal devices, use their mobile phones where ever instead allowing them to work in such as smartphones and tablets, they chose. “This should form part a way that makes them more ef- to access corporate systems. need to have of an overall mobility management fective and efficient.” “To fully realise the benefits strategy,” he says, “including device, Another complication is that of enterprise mobility, a change better visibility into service and security management, mobile costs also flow into the of culture and behaviour needs which are ever more important for

© pintailpictures / Alamy © pintailpictures company through other sources. to take place over a long period mobile usage today’s mobile deployments.” 10 21ST CENTURY WORKFORCE The green perspective © Deco / Alamy

ENVIRONMENT Sustainability may not be potential is enormous and has not otherwise be the case,” says Michael yet been recognised,” he says. As we move to new Rendell, head of human resource the primary driver of flexible working, but According to the report, increas- transnational targets on services at PWC. “It doesn’t have to it’s an attractive knock-on benefit for many ing virtual meetings and telecom- mean allowing all staff to spend more muting today could, “without any time working from home,” he adds. companies, says Nick Martindale dramatic measures”, help to save carbon emissions, mobile Technology company Logica has more than 3 billion tons of CO2 gone from having just 1 per cent emissions in a few decades; this is working will become a key of its staff working from home at lexible and mobile work- A report published last year by equivalent to approximately half of least one day a week in 2007, to 80 ing is already a reality for the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the current US CO2 emissions. area of sustainability per cent in 2010, across its network at least a sizeable minor- meanwhile, also argues that remote of 5,500 UK staff. ity of UK companies. A working has a sizeable role to play in A sizeable opportunity “As a result of that, we decided surveyF by management consulting The most obvious savings associ- home than they would in an office meeting carbon reduction targets. to close down 12 of our 28 build- company PricewaterhouseCoopers “All too often, the discussion ated with mobile working come in in terms of energy use. ings across the UK, as much to (PWC) found that 42 per cent of about reduction of greenhouse the reduction of energy required Yet significant savings can also be get our headcount down as our businesses now allow employees to gases is caught in an old dichot- for heating, cooling, lighting and made on travel, through not having environmental footprint,” says work from home. omy, where increased quality computing power for their em- to commute to the office at all or Tony Rooke, head of sustainabil- There are many benefits to this of life is presented as if it is in ployer, although research by con- by avoiding peak hours. “A mobile ity at Logica. Despite subsequently new approach, as this report has conflict with the need to move sulting firm WSP Environmental working strategy may enable some opening two new premises, Rooke outlined - it’s good for workers and away from a dependency on fos- suggests the average homeworker employees to take fewer journeys by estimates the company has re- their employers, too. But could it sil fuel,” observes Dennis Pamlin, emits nearly 30 per cent more at car, train or even plane than would duced its energy consumption by also be good for the planet? a WWF global policy advisor, in A recent report by Accenture and his preface to the report, ‘From Vodafone Group predicts that ‘de- workplace to anyplace’. But to- Carbon connections materialisation’ – replacing physi- day, he adds, new and innovative cal goods, processes or travel with technology solutions exist that virtual alternatives – could reduce can both provide a better quality Quantifying mobile’s role in tackling climate change in five key areas carbon emissions by 22.1 million of life and contribute to dramati- tonnes per year by 2020, saving cally reduced emissions. Opportunity Carbon abatement potential Energy cost savings Total connections required to achieve EU-25 in 2020 (Mt CO e) (€ billion) these savings (million) €14.1 billion (£11.8 million) in en- Virtual meetings and telecom- 2 ergy costs along the way. muting are two of the most interest- Dematerialisation 22.1 14.1 139.3 Combined with other initia- ing and innovative climate solutions Smart grid 43.1 11.4 495.1 tives to reduce emissions, a total that can contribute to a higher qual- Smart logistics 35.2 13.2 83.7 of 113 million tonnes could be ity of life and decreased ecologi- Smart cities 10.5 3.7 3.3 achieved (see graph); equivalent cal footprint, according to Pamlin. Smart manufacturing 1.9 0.8 318.6 to 2.4 per cent of the expected EU “Lately these solutions have begun Total 113.0 43.0 1,040.0 emissions for 2020. to be used on a wider scale, but the Source: Vodafone/Accenture Carbon Connections 21ST CENTURY WORKFORCE 11

are found in Scandinavian and most effective route to a custom- such an approach, including an Michael Rendell, PWC: Nordic countries. er’s house and alerts them when assessment of energy consumed The benefits of flexible and mo- they are on their way to cut down by staff in their own homes dur- A mobile working bile working do not have to be on wasted trips. ing the day. Professor Peter Co- confined to larger companies, how- “Because we know where our chrane, former chief technology strategy may enable some ever. Four years ago, Norfolk-based technicians are at any point in officer at BT who now works as start-up advisory group NWES time, we’re also able to send the a futurologist, adds that a lack employees to take fewer calculated its annual mileage as an person who is nearest to the job,” of bandwidth in homes is still an organisation was 150,000 miles. says Claire Hamon, CIO at Rok. obstacle to technologies such as journeys by car, train or “We made a commitment to re- “That cuts down the amount of videoconferencing. duce mileage and one of the key wasted travel as well.” Overall, though, there can be lit- even plane than would strategies was to use technology,” The organisation has also im- tle doubt that flexible and mobile says Gary Hewitt, head of sup- plemented a new network to en- working can – if undertaken and otherwise be the case port. “We now have business advi- able staff to work from home, monitored correctly – deliver tan- sors that can dial into our servers, building sites or their nearest of- gible reductions to energy usage using secure VPN access either via fice – all of which now operate a and carbon emissions, as well as Travel-related emissions have home broadband or USB dongles, ‘hot-desking’ system – as part of bottom-line savings. fallen by around 23 per cent over the and a company mindset of al- plans to reduce its carbon foot- “In conducting energy audits past year, he says, even allowing for a lowing and trusting staff to work print by 30 per cent this year. with our clients it is clear that 15 per cent reduction in headcount. from home.” Annual mileage per There are, however, challenges the carbon footprint of the work- employee has fallen by 30 per cent that need to be overcome for force, both travelling and then A knock-on benefit as a result, he adds. businesses that are serious about consuming energy-hungry office According to Ghislaine Caulat, The use of mobile technology delivering environmental ben- environments, is very high,” says head of the virtual working prac- also extends to helping organi- efits through flexible and mobile Gregory at IBM UK. tice at Ashridge Business School, sations with workers who spend working. “Significant economic advan- the environmental benefits are much of their time on the road Sak Nayagam, head of climate tage can be achieved by reducing not yet a key driver of flexible operate more efficiently. Prop- change solutions and sustainabil- consumption of traditional office and mobile working. “It has been erty maintenance business Rok ity services across Europe, Africa space. As we move to new tran- an important by-product benefit Group is currently rolling out and Latin America at manage- snational targets on carbon emis- to add to our clients’ credentials, PDAs across its mobile work- ment consultancy company Ac- sions, this will become a key area but not the main motivation,” she force, which use an application centure, points out the need to of sustainability when organisa- says, although exceptions to this from ClickSoftware to plot the be able to measure the benefits of tions plan their settings.”

Recent research

Mobile workforce to surpass 1 billion Smartphones to overtake laptops The world’s mobile worker population is set to pass the one billion mark By 2012, sales of smartphones will surpass sales of laptop PCs, driven Could this year, according to recent research from IT market analyst company, by changes in the way most people hop onto the Web , say analysts the daily IDC. By 2013, the company’s analysts predict, it will rise to almost 1.2 at IT market research firm Gartner. commute billion people - more than one third of the world’s total workforce. They expect smartphone sales to shoot past $191 billion that year, soon be The majority of those workers are predicted to come from the US and while laptop sales will total $152 billion. a thing of Japan, where 75.5 and 74.5 per cent the workforce, respectively, will Currently, smartphones account for just 14 per cent of overall hand- the past? be mobile, with Western Europe trailing on 50.3 per cent. set sales, but Gartner’s analysts expect that proportion to have risen The most significant gains, however, will be in the emerging econo- to 37 per cent by 2010. mies of Asia-Pacific (excluding Japan), where a strong economic recov- Roberta Cozza, principal research analyst at Gartner, believes that as around 10 per cent, reversing what ery and new interest in unified communications is expected to drive mobile PC and smartphone capabilities converge, smartphones will was previously a growth trend. healthy growth in all aspects of mobility spending. By 2013, only 37.4 increasingly represent a market opportunity that most PC vendors IBM, too, reports similar progress. per cent of the region’s workforce will be mobile - yet this group alone will feel unable to ignore. But they may struggle to get to grips with Around 75 per cent of managers will represent 62 per cent of the world’s total mobile workforce. the market opportunity, he adds: “The smartphone and notebook now work with remote employees, In Canada and the emerging-market countries of Central and Eastern markets are governed by different rules when it comes to success- says Alison Gregory, senior manag- Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America, the mobile worker fully marketing and selling products.” ing consultant in global business population will represent 13.5 percent of the total workforce by 2013, services at IBM UK, and around 40 but the opportunities mobile presents for these regions should not be Sales of devices, 2012 (in $ billion) per cent of its global workforce is underestimated, according to Sean Ryan, a research analyst at IDC. n Smartphones n Laptop PCs equipped for mobile working. “Vast opportunities exist for bringing a variety of mobile technologies “Our offices now have enough to the world’s workforce,” he says. “Underserved mobile workers across 240 capacity for only 40 per cent of our all regions stand to benefit from the reach and flexibility offered by -mo workforce at any one time,” she says. bile solutions. While some barriers to adoption will still have to be over- 220 In the US alone, this accounted for come, the potential market for mobility solutions is enormous.” a reduction of more than 5 million 200 gallons of fuel and 50,000 tonnes of Mobile workers as proportion of total regional workforce, 2013 carbon emissions, she adds. n US n Japan n Western Europe n Asia-Pacific (excl. Japan) 180 $ 191 billion Like many organisations, com- n Rest of World munications provider KCOM 160 Group did not go down the route 70 140 $ 152 billion of implementing flexible and mo- 75.5% 74.5% bile working purely for the envi- ronmental benefits. In its case, 60 120 the main motivation was to use itself as a case study for potential 50 100 clients, as well as to deliver pro- 50.3% ductivity gains. 40 80 “There was a line in the busi- ness case which said it would sup- 30 37.4% 60 port our “Greener Me” agenda, but we didn’t actually realise that 20 40 it was going to be a key piece,” says Dean Branton, group CIO. 10 20 “But we have a reduced number 13.5% of people in the offices we’ve got 0 0 and we’ve been able to close floors Source: IDC, 2010 Source: Gartner, 2009 down in offices.” 12 21ST CENTURY WORKFORCE

Case study: Lancashire Constabulary

It’s hard to imagine information more confidential than data Securing the mobile workforce relating to crimes, suspects and victims. For officers within Lan- cashire Constabulary, however, that’s exactly the kind of infor- mation they need on a constant and reliable basis in order to SECURITY Smart keep the streets of north-west England safe. In the past, the risks of using intelligence systems across companies safeguard open networks were deemed too great. As a result, officers mobile data rigourously depended on desktop access at local police stations, reducing the time they spent out in the community. – but they don’t let Officers working from home had to rely on broadband-based security measures virtual private network (VPN) links that were expensive and time- stand in the way of user consuming to set up. Those in community-based neighbourhood police teams had to travel back to headquarters to access systems. convenience, as Sally The lack of remote access to data also posed a major problem Whittle explains for the constabulary’s senior officers, who spend much of their time on the move, travelling to meetings with government agen- cies and with their peers from other police forces across the UK. With these challenges in mind, Lancashire Constabulary ran a hen staff arrive for tender to find solutions. Of the responses received, only Vodafone work at Vodafone met the force’s exacting security requirements, according to Stuart this morning, they Fillingham, head of information and communications technology. probably won’t headW for a specific desk or an al- Three separate projects were piloted. In the first, 25 police officers are accessing intelligence systems using existing lap- located office space. The company tops or lightweight netbooks. Vodafone Secure Remote Ac- has a philosophy of flexible work- cess (VSRA) gives them reliable, secure connectivity through a ing that allows staff to work from choice of networks. The IT team, says Fillingham, can set poli- anywhere on any of its sites, ena- cies for each user, preventing browsing outside the VPN and bling them to sit face-to-face with prohibiting the use of specific applications. relevant colleagues from else- In a second pilot programme, Vodafone has proposed a solu- where in the business, according tion for neighbourhood policing teams, who frequently occupy to the project they’re currently temporary sites within local communities and often share these involved in. It also allows them to with partner agencies. Remote access to intelligence systems work from home when needed. via desktop computers on these premies will meet the technol- This presents a massive chal- ogy needs of neighbourhood teams and increase their com- lenge for Brian Burton, head of IT munity presence. The solution will also enable fast set-up of security at Vodafone UK. Like all incident rooms at crime scenes. listed companies, Vodafone has re- The third pilot scheme, meanwhile, focuses on automatic sponsibilities to protect informa- number plate recognition (ANPR) technology. By connecting spe- tion security and ensure that cus- cialist ANPR cameras with back-office systems through Vodafone tomer data remains confidential. mobile broadband, Lancashire Constabulary has found an inex- But the company doesn’t base its pensive, simple way to extend its use of ANPR in crime prevention. security policy on devices, he says, Real-time access to intelligence data will transform the way but on the nature of the informa- How can officers interact with citizens, says Fillingham, and because data tion involved. “Our employees use companies will be updated remotely, they will always be working with the a combination of 3G and wireless keep data most recent information. access, but our wireless security safe when it’s “If a member of the public asks a question at a community policy is based on the idea that we always on the meeting, our officers will be able to locate the information they look after all information in the move? need to give a thorough, accurate answer on the spot. A Chief same way, regardless of how it’s Inspector making a presentation at the Home Office will have being accessed,” says Burton. access to up-to-the-minute reports,” he says. Managing security is a vital part At the same time, any security we can configure the network to only Out on the streets, meanwhile, police officers will be able of any wireless deployment. The or- applied to wireless users must allow access to specific devices, but to monitor incidents without driving back to the station, and ganisation needs to protect the mo- balance security with usability. it’s equally important to educate us- make decisions based on timely, accurate data. “VSRA will also bile device itself, the access route Requiring users to undergo fre- ers about the consequences of infor- enable us to create shared sites and incident rooms at a sig- back into the corporate network, quent or complex security checks mation leaks,” he says. nificantly lower cost than with any other solution we have con- and any data that may be stored on just to log in to networks might At Deloitte, a significant part sidered,” says Fillingham. It will also allow the force to deploy the device, or transmitted between frustrate or confuse them, damag- of Sehmbi’s budget is allocated to ANPR camera quickly and inexpensively. the device and corporate systems. ing productivity and potentially creating a series of hard-hitting And within individual homes, officers providing out-of-hours “Organisations need to keep causing some workers to seek out messages about the consequences cover will use secure home connections to view incident logs, every aspect of their IT landscape ways to bypass carefully thought- of poor wireless security, with rather than travelling to the station, helping them to respond safe and secure to enable flexible out security procedures. simple slogans and attention- faster, and also improving work/life balance. working in a way that is robust “There’s no point making some grabbing photographs strategi- But above all, the fact that no compromise is made on data and protected, by using tools such inconsequential information very cally placed around the building. security is one of the biggest benefits of this relationship. These as Vodafone Secure Remote Ac- secure if it means someone can no “We focus on the impact of the projects will enable the Lancashire Constabulary to provide re- cess (VSRA) and smartphone se- longer do their job effectively,” says breach on the firm, and on the mote access in compliance with curity,” says Burton. Tarzey. “At every level, you need to individual - and it works, because National Policing Improvement At the very least, the security of ensure that you are protecting in- people do stop and read, and ask Agency (NPIA) standards. such information should be at least formation, but also doing whatever questions,” Sehmbi says. as good as the security provided you can within that to help people One of the most popular op- to non-wireless users, but in many do their jobs productively.” tion for providing secure wire- cases, it might need to be even less access to corporate networks greater, cautions Bob Tarzey, a re- Tactical measures is an SSL VPN, or virtual private search director with Quocirca. One way to maintain the delicate bal- network. This technology allows “If your staff are connecting to ance between security and usability companies to securely identify re- public WiFi networks in coffee is to actively educate workers, so that mote users and devices, and then shops, airports or hotels, then you they understand the importance of applies strong encryption to data need to ensure that very strong information and wireless security. that is transmitted wirelessly be- security is applied, so data should That way, they are less likely to try tween the user and the corporate be encrypted and there should be and find ‘loopholes’, says Avtar Sehm- network. Effectively, information strong tools to authenticate both bi, head of security and IT risk man- can be sent through a secure ‘tun- the user and device,” he says. agement with Deloitte. “Of course, nel’ on the public internet. 21ST CENTURY WORKFORCE 13

Case study: Bowman Riley

Securing the mobile workforce Bowman Riley is a 42-year old architecture firm, based in the Yorkshire market town of Skipton. It employs more than 50 staff who regularly need to visit clients around the country. “We rely heavily on technology to enable staff, and most people are working off laptops and docking stations,” explains Michael Feather, the firm’s associate director. “We also need re- ally robust and reliable communications, because people aren’t just sending emails; they need to access CAD (computer-aided design) applications and drawings.” Traditionally, providing mobile access to this sort of informa- tion in a secure fashion has been a challenge, but recent de- velopments in the availability of public wireless access has dra- matically changed the way a firm like Bowman Riley operates. “The size of files we transfer is significant – even a photo of a site might easily be 2MB,” says Feather. “But we’ve found over the past two years we’ve been able to send drawings and graphics files over wireless without any real problems.” Bowman Riley has invested in a secure SSL VPN [virtual private network] from Star Internet, which allows staff to log on to a secure internet connection to the corporate network. “With the VPN, staff are able to use wireless connections to access the servers,” says Feather. “Because it’s a VPN, we know that the connection is completely secure, and they have to use that to access anything other than their email.” Occasionally, the company issues employees with 3G smart phones when they need to work on building sites where there will not be WiFi access, but because of the complexity of infor- mation that staff need to access, most prefer not to use phones for anything other than basic messaging. Alongside the technical security provided by the VPN, the firm has a robust QA [quality assurance] policy that specifies how and where staff can use wireless connections and how information can be kept secure. “For example, our policy dictates that information is never stored locally, everything is based on the server. The moment you stop working, it all goes back up to the server, so the C drive on your machine remains virtually empty,” says Feather. Providing wireless access to staff has transformed productiv- ity for the firm, adds Feather. Previously, if a client was based in Somerset, the architect might have a 12-hour round trip during which they wouldn’t have access to any information based on the company’s servers. “Now, people can ring, and send draw- ings or files very quickly, which is important because if you’re working on-site, it can be days before you physically get back into the office,” says Feather. With an SSL VPN, once the user logs-in to the system, all data

© Ray Tang/Rex Features © Ray Tang/Rex is securely encrypted during transmission, effectively creating a secure tunnel through the public internet. The VPN provided by Star Internet has been particularly useful to Bowman Riley, Mobile VPNs are also available, based on their preference for a Mac to the corporate network, depending Feather says, because it can be embedded into a browser so which are designed specifically for laptop, or an iPhone, or whatever,” he on how far a user and device meets that anyone using a device capable of running Internet Explor- lower-bandwidth devices and can explains. “It seems silly for us to say the Trust’s security policies. er can access the VPN. optimise these kinds of connec- to our employees – who aren’t gener- “For example, when someone logs tions. A VPN is a highly effective ally expert computer users – that they on, the network looks at their device wireless security tool, but must be can’t use something that would make and assesses whether it meets our re- combined with a a comprehensive their job easier for them.” quirements, and will either let them security management policy and The majority of staff working at have access, only let them have ac- back-end security management South Manchester NHS Trust are cess to browser-based information, tools that support that policy. mobile and all have access to a cam- or just provide them with simple pus-wide wireless network. The net- web browsing,” says Hewitt. Mass consumerisation work, which uses Aruba technology, This is important, because it en- Increasingly, IT security chiefs face is configured to provide ‘tiered’ access sures that patients who might access a new problem: members of staff the network using their own laptops who insist on bringing their own and devices cannot compromise the handset to work and wish to use network’s security. “A patient who Bob Tarzey, Quocirca: it to access corporate information. brings in their laptop will have inter- There’s a growing feeling that this net access, but the moment they try to trend - the consumerisation of cor- At every level, you do anything else, the security system porate IT - may be unstoppable. will block them. It’s very rigourous.” In recent months, Ryan Hewitt, need to ensure that Although the system is highly senior network and security sys- sensitive, Hewitt says that wireless tems engineer at South Manches- you are protecting security is always a balancing act for ter NHS Trust, has become more IT departments. “Of course we need relaxed about the prospect of staff information, but also to provide a wireless network that is accessing corporate networks with secure, but from the user perspective, their own mobile devices. doing whatever you can having multiple log-ins and authenti- “Initially, we planned to be very cation methods reduces productivity strict about the issue, but you’ve got within that to help people to such an extent that you lose most to go with the times, and we have of the return on investment from the people who buy their own device do their jobs productively wireless technology,” he says. 14 21ST CENTURY WORKFORCE

be there for the lifetime of the device into which it has been installed.” “While the revenues associated with the actual connectivity are small, operators believe that they can create a service in the M2M area which they can charge for such as setting up systems or providing for the seamless addition of devices to an existing project,” he adds. Vodafone, which claims 40% of the UK market, has invested consid- erable sums of money in building an international M2M platform. “The next major growth stream for us will come from M2M,” confirms Peter Kelly, enterprise director at Vodafone. “We know it is a market that is here today. Most of our research tells us that the two big growth markets are first transportation and logistics and second smart metering. Telemedicine is still in its earliest stages.”

A smarter grid Large-scale programmes look likely to kick-start M2M. In the US for example, President Obama has earmarked $4.5 billion to develop a smart electricity grid using two- way digital communication. Wire- less M2M is also at the heart of an

© Illustration Works / Alamy © Illustration Works even larger UK project to replace an estimated 46 million gas and elec- tricity meters with smart meters Applications range from the I’m fine, that monitor energy as it is con- quirky – dog collars fitted with thanks. And sumed and transmit the informa- tracking devices to locate lost pets how are you? tion directly to suppliers. – to the life-saving – monitors at- The UK government has set 2020 Talking machines tached to heart patients that alert as the deadline to complete a project doctors remotely to abnormal costing around £9 billion that is likely readings. Most M2M applications, to be as demanding as the introduc- M2M TECHNOLOGY From vending machines to heart new services, which is why compa- however, are more down-to-earth: tion of North Sea gas in the 1970s. nies are incorporating M2M tech- they involve collecting readings The pay-off is potential savings of monitors, devices that can share information over nology into utility meters, medical previously gathered by human in- £17.8 billion over 20 years for domes- mobile networks have the potential to transform sensors and in-car electronics. In spectors from meters, car consoles tic and smaller business customers. the process, say technologists, they and vending machines. Savings will come from moni- working lives. John Lamb investigates are rapidly creating what might be The number of M2M connec- tors in premises that give customers dubbed an ‘internet of things’. tions in Western Europe could immediate feedback on how much n a world where machines, That is why smart companies are M2M-enabled systems are fitted quadruple over the next four years energy they are using. Suppliers will monitors and meters are increasingly adopting machine-to- with a specialised SIM card that re- from 25m to 100m, according to also use two-way M2M to change tar- able to automatically report machine (M2M) communications ceives and transmits information, communications research firm Ju- iffs and eventually control how appli- on their status, convey data over mobile phone networks to au- via cellular networks, to a central niper Research. “Smart metering ances are used: turning machines off Ito other devices and receive in- tomate a wide variety of mundane server where it is analysed and acted is the largest segment in the M2M at peak periods, adjusting settings on structions remotely, employees data collection and reporting tasks. upon. Some of these connections market,” explains Anthony Cox, boilers or restricting the time when are free to work on more pro- This improves efficiency, saves occur over a relatively short range, senior analyst at Juniper Research. an electric car may be recharged. ductive activities. costs and creates opportunities for others over a distance of many miles. “It is followed by consumer and The metering project will be the commercial telematics (M2M in first step in creating a smart grid vehicles) and connections designed for energy in which the activities of M2M at a glance to monitor buildings for security generators, suppliers and consum- purposes or against flood or fire,” he ers are more intelligently managed. says. Eventually, he predicts, the con- Smart grids will be vital in coping M2M communications is the networking of in- mote asset is being used, which features are cept of the ‘smart home’ may take with rising demand for energy that telligent, communications-enabled remote as- most popular and what problems such as errors off, where heating, lighting and se- is increasingly produced from less sets. This technology allows key information to or breakdowns typically arise. This information curity can all be managed remotely predictable, renewable sources. be exchanged automatically without human in- is useful for shortening the lead time to an im- through a cellular connection. Smart grids will match supply tervention, and covers a broad range of technol- proved or updated version, thereby providing a The technology is nothing more closely with demand and al- ogies and applications that connect the physical competitive edge. new: M2M has been around for low excess capacity from private world – whether machines or monitored physical M2M communications are made possible more than twenty years. What has energy sources such as heat pumps, conditions – to a back-end IT infrastructure. by the use of intelligent sensors or micro- changed is the arrival of reliable, These remote assets, which can be fixed or processors that are embedded in the remote ubiquitous mobile networks, cheap mobile, include cars and truck fleets, utility me- SIM cards and a clutch of applica- asset. These sensors include a SIM card that Anthony Cox, Juniper Research: ters, copiers and printers, kiosks and wireless is able to receive and transmit data wirelessly tions that look set to boost the take- displays, ventilation and air-conditioning sen- to a central server where it can be analysed up of M2M considerably. sors, home medical devices, fitness monitors and acted upon. “As the mobile market becomes Once an M2M and CCTV cameras. Wireless communications technologies used more and more saturated, operators The physical conditions they monitor can to enable this connectivity include GSM, GPRS, are looking for new revenue streams connection is in place, it include temperature, location, consump- EDMA, 3G, LTE, or WiFi and WiMAX. Some of and M2M is one answer,” says Cox. tion, heart rate, stress levels, light, movement, these connections occur over a relatively short “While M2M will rarely provide rev- is likely to be there for the altitude and speed. range, some over a distance of many miles. enues to match a human subscriber, M2M communications can be used to gain device volumes can be huge and lifetime of the device into Source: Vodafone Global Enterprise white paper, ‘Global Machine to Machine Communication’ immediate feedback on how a particular re- Find this white paper at: http://tinyurl.com/2cbmgkb churn rates are much lower. Once a connection is in place it is likely to which it has been installed 21ST CENTURY WORKFORCE 15

solar panels and wind generators to “Industry data suggests that in- be fed into the national network. vehicle telematics can produce fuel Case study: British Gas They will also play a big part in re- savings of up to 20 per cent through ducing CO2 emissions. better driving; a 15 per cent reduc- The Department of Energy and tion in overtime claims and insur- British Gas stole a march on the rest of the energy industry Climate Change (DECC) and the en- ance premium savings of up to 30 earlier this year by announcing a plan to begin work on an M2M ergy regulator Ofgem published their per cent,” says David Yates, market- smart metering network for its 16 million customers. requirements for smart meters in July ing director of ALD Automotive. The company signed a contract with Vodafone UK to provide 2010. In response to industry pres- “Over £1 milion worth of vehicles network connections and to encrypt and send data from almost sure, the government bought forward has been recovered in the last two one million households as part of a trial of smart meters that will its original ten-year timetable by two years using the system’s vehicle loca- take place over the next two years. years, allowing energy companies to tion functionality following vehicle “There is a lot of hype about M2M, but smart metering is begin installing meters immediately theft. We have also seen business mile- something that is real, now: we have already installed 135,000 (see case study on British Gas). age claims fall significantly, with one SIM cards,” says Petter Allison, director for Smart Metering for Meanwhile, the government plans company recently reporting a £90,000 British Gas. “Smart meters help customers become far more to work with energy companies to fall in business mileage claims as a di- aware of the amount and cost of energy they use, which encour- develop standards and set up a cen- rect result of using the business mile- ages people to reduce their usage and save money,” he adds. tral data management and com- age capture feature within the system.” A cross-section of British Gas customers will have their homes munications body to coordinate the fitted with Zigbee network technology to connect their smart transfer of smart metering data. A healthy outlook? meters to an in-home monitor which will display information Medical applications of M2M are an- from the smart meter, such as the day’s energy use. Meters will On the move other area where proponents see rich send readings to British Gas via the GSM [Global System for Fleet owners have long used M2M pickings. US doctors already routinely Mobile communications] network, rather than having them col- technology to track vehicles, collect using sensors to track the heart rate, lected by human meter readers. data from them and manage servic- blood pressure and other vital signs “Smart meters will save us money in terms of processing data ing and repairs. Car leasing com- of patients who are considered ‘at risk’. and the costs of looking after the customer. All our internal pany ALD Automotive has installed In the UK, the NHS has been processes will become much cheaper,” says Allison. “But it is telematics (as M2M applications are slower to adopt the technology. Peter Kelly, Vodafone: not only a positive business case for the suppliers. There are known in the automotive industry) However, the savings in collecting two other benefits: customers will be able to manage their en- in over 20,000 company cars and light and processing information more ergy better and utility companies will be able to manage their commercial vehicles. The firm’s in-car Most of our research rapidly and making scarce medical energy networks better.” system - ProFleet2 - was originally in- skills more widely available could For the trial, British Gas has developed ‘traffic light’ style dis- troduced six years ago to remind driv- tells us that the two be considerable. plays that indicate the amount of energy a customer is using at ers to service their vehicles on time Broomwell Health is a telemedi- any given time, how much they are spending and the amount and make service booking easier. big growth markets are cine company that collects and of CO2 they are generating. The company plans to develop a Since then, the system has been up- processes readings from patients variety of displays with different levels of complexity. Custom- graded to record information about first transportation and with heart problems. Around ers will also be able to download data from displays to their when and how far a vehicle has been 1,000 electrocardiograms (ECGs) home computers so that they can monitor and control appli- driven, as well as information about logistics and second per week in north-west England ances such as boilers. British Gas plans to help customers set its speed, acceleration and braking are collected by skilled nurses up these home networks. on any given journey. The data is re- smart metering and transmitted to the company’s “In the long term, smart metering does present a real op- layed to fleet owners via a system de- processing centre. Twelve different portunity,” says Peter Kelly, enterprise director at Vodafone veloped by British company Airmax sensors are connected to a patient UK. “But it is not just about providing M2M, but lots of new and is used to compile data on how a from an ECG device that the com- value-added services as well, such as using your smartphone vehicle has been operated. pany calls a ‘stethoscope for the to switch appliances in the home on or off, to control your This information is used to reduce chest’. Data can be processed in five heating or to tell you where the nearest charging point is for fleet costs by monitoring employees’ minutes and the results sent back your electric car.” use of their cars and negotiating lower to a physician in a PDF format. Large corporate customers already get half hourly bills, but insurance rates. More accurate record- “Normally, a patient would be M2M technology will bring that level of control to household us- keeping ensures that cars are better sent to an outpatient department ers. M2M will allow network companies that generate electricity maintained and keep their value longer. and would have to wait for the re- to incentivise customers not to consume heavily at peak periods. sults,” says Joshua Rowe, chairman They will also get a better picture of when and how elec- of Broomwell Health. “There are tricity is consumed and be able to charge a variety of tariffs. The future of M2M massive financial savings to be made: For example, electric car owners may be allocated specific normally it costs £155 to carry out an charging times, paying much higher rates to recharge out- ECG. This way the cost is £21.” side their allocated slots. Number of connections according to monitoring use in Western Europe (millions) Rowe’s company also moni- Standards will play an important part in ensuring the suc- n Cellular connected buildings n Meters with cellular connection tors patients with suspected ar- cess of smart metering. British Gas has taken the unusual n Telematics and in vehicle applications n Other rhythmia (irregular heartbeat) by step of publishing its technical specifications in the hope means of a wrist watch-style cuff, that other companies will adopt them. “We want to pro- 100 which gathers data while a patient mote a level of interoperability by encouraging others to is going about their daily routine. apply our open standards,” explains Allison. 90 The patient presses the device when a palpitation occurs and 80 the data is later downloaded for processing. According to Rowe, 70 arrhythmia patients usually have to be observed for 24 hours in 60 hospital and wait for four to six weeks for the results of their tests. 50 For now, organisations that adopt M2M must solve issues such as how 40 to connect to different networks and the security of sensitive data for 30 themselves. The result is that most projects are developed from scratch. 20 In the longer term, M2M will have a major impact on the way people work, 10 whether it is by freeing company car drivers from the drudgery of filling in 0 their mileage reports, giving doctors up-to-the-minute information on 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 the health of their patients or making Source: Juniper Research meter-reading a thing of the past. 9,500 British Gas engineers are closer to their customers with Vodafone’s secure remote connectivity vodafone.co.uk/totalcomms

24084_VF_GasEngineer_TimesAd_338x264_AW_v1.indd 1 17/9/10 09:35:55