Offices on way out as UK goes wireless
BRITAIN is moving towards a wireless society that could see the end of office-based culture, according to local IT chiefs.
As a survey revealed 63% of North-east SMEs offer employees some form of flexible working, Teesside bosses claim sophisticated IT solutions are connecting multiple offices and allowing off-site staff to work more efficiently.
But they also say an improvement in IT infrastructure and security is necessary to help firms get the best out of new technology.
Neil McShane, IT manager at Middlesbrough logistics firm A V Dawson, said the firm used wireless technology to connect 130 staff across two sites.
“It’s secure and cost-effective”, he said. “We also use ‘tracker’ technology which locates our vehicles without the need to contact the driver.”
The vehicles contain a ‘watchbox’ which alerts the company’s transport desk when the drivers near their destination. Customers and suppliers are automatically updated when goods are dispatched.
Mr McShane believes the effectiveness of IT solutions could be compromised by an infrastructure which is not upgraded at the same rate.
“Companies could be battling for the same space,” he said. “Broadband speeds are definitely an issue but security is even more important. A lot of businesses are buying point-to-point technology, which doesn’t allow a third party to intercept data going from A to B.”
A V Dawson is a long-standing customer of Powerdial Systems Ltd, which supplies IT solutions to Teesside firms including Wilton-based Sembcorp and Dickinson Dees in Stockton.
Ian Byron, sales director of Powerdial, said IT solutions were changing working practices in sectors which traditionally have required staff to be office-based.
He said: “Call centres are weighing up options to allow staff to work from home. Technology is bridging the distance between the desktop and the corporate database.
“If you have a mobile phone in one hand and a computer in another, it doesn’t matter where your desk is. But you do need decent bandwidth to enable certain software systems to run effectively.”
According to the ‘IT Skills for Flexible Working’ report, the proliferation of wireless hotspots, mobile technologies and broadband has led to the emergence of a ‘virtual office’, where staff are given greater autonomy in the way they manage and plan their work.
But the report, commissioned by The Centre for Future Studies, said this revolution has created a skills problem, with 62% of North-east SMEs claiming staff lack the appropriate IT skills and training to properly exploit existing technology.
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