Michael Chill, HBM’s VP of Information Technology, along with two other IT leaders from St. Louis, discuss the mobile and connected workforce of the future.
Michael Chill recently participated in the Fourth Annual St. Louis CIO/CISO/Chief Data Officer Summit. Mike was joined on the panel by Mike Gibbons, CISO at Edward Jones. The discussion focused on the rapidly evolving workforce and workplace networks and how companies are adapting to an increasingly mobile worker population. The conversation, moderated by Ed Walton, Vice President at Cradelpoint, centered around three main themes: 1) how companies are managing cloud software, 2) BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) policies and 3) implementing best practices for keeping company data safe and monitoring employee activities.
The panelists kicked off the discussion by presenting the challenge of having four generations in the workforce, each of whom has a different way of working and delivering assignments. IT is tasked with finding a solution that ensures technology will not impede employees from delivering their best work. This is not an easy task considering employees use everything from desk and mobile phones, video conferencing, virtual collaborative workspaces and instant messaging.
Coupled with this is the rapid growth of cloud software. Today, employees can easily select and implement their own cloud-based solution to help them deliver completed work assignments, presenting a challenge for IT professionals. Mike Chill explained, “IT is faced with the dilemma of striking the right balance between empowerment and control – not a simple conundrum considering these solutions need to be connected and made accessible securely to employees anywhere and at any time.”
BYOD policies are creating similar challenges for IT executives. More often, employees are using their personal device to perform their day-to-day work activities, raising the question of how IT balances the security of company data on a device they do not own.
Panelists agree that while evolving workplace networks are creating challenges for IT professionals, they are also creating efficiencies for employees and companies alike. Cloud-based technology solutions are enabling workforce collaboration and document sharing at a relatively low cost, empowering employees to deliver their work efficiently and on-time. By remaining flexible and implementing best practices for technology use, companies will be able to keep company data and assets safe while building trust among their employees through empowerment.
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