Workplace devices are the new “free snacks”

This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.

 

Onsite gyms. Stocked refrigerators and gourmet cafeterias. Catered morale events and offsite retreats. Hallway conversations and conference room whiteboarding sessions. If workplace facilities and perks help people feel more comfortable, productive, and valued, those investments stop paying off when most people work remotely.

 

Let’s face it: the sudden global migration from on-premises to work-from-anywhere computing has transformed the device user experience into the entire workplace experience.

 

Many organizations have understandably deprioritized device user experience in the face of economic pressures and security threats that have strained IT bandwidth in the transition.

 

What does that look like? Devices that hang or crash, taking 10 or more minutes to reboot. Disruptive remote troubleshooting sessions. Important files getting lost in email – and worse: version control issues – as colleagues adopt digital collaboration tools.

 

When the device is the only conduit for literally all workplace experiences, there are no free snacks to balance out the inconveniences, disruptions, and frustrations adding up over the course of months.

 

More likely than not, your organization can relate. Analyst Josh Bersin finds the #1 employee concern is tech for remote work. IDG reports that 44% of organizations say they need new tech to address the new work dynamic. And AppDynamics says that 61% of IT professionals feel more pressure at work than ever.

 

Accelerating the journey to modern management

As a senior program manager with the Microsoft Managed Desktop customer acceleration team, I help customers modernize endpoint management to delight end users, protect data, and reclaim IT bandwidth for digital transformation..

 

If you share these goals, I encourage you to check out my session at Microsoft Ignite 2020, Accelerating the journey to modern management, which covers the following:

 

• How work evolution strains IT bandwidth, security, device user experience, especially in the context of economic uncertainty,
• How modern management is shown to help organizations resolve those issues,
• What Microsoft Managed Desktop does to accelerate the journey to modern management,
• Technical and non-technical considerations that affect deployment timelines, and
• Real Microsoft Managed Desktop customer onboarding journeys ranging from six weeks to six months.

As promised at the end of my session, this docs page will help you get ready for Microsoft Managed Desktop enrollment. It covers prerequisites, readiness tools, app preparation, environment configuration, and other tasks you’ll encounter as you work to modernize.

 

Additional modernization resources

Wherever you are on your journey to modern device management, you’ll want to check out this guide to Microsoft Endpoint Manager at Ignite. 

 

Here are several additional promising sessions on topics about managing the new workplace:

• Playing chess on a trampoline: How to innovate in an era of uncertainty
• Building a resilient organization on Microsoft 365
• Reimagining work with the Microsoft 365 platform
• Embrace a New Way of Work with Microsoft 365
• Employee Engagement and Communities in Microsoft 365
• Microsoft 365 administrator updates to enable secure and compliant work from anywhere
• Ask the Expert: Introducing modern admin capabilities to better service Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise
• What’s new in Microsoft Teams security and compliance
• Microsoft 365: Enabling virtual collaboration for the future of our hybrid work environment

Everyone can access these virtual sessions, which are available on-demand at your convenience. If you find them useful, please let me know in comments.

 

And if you’d like to start planning your enterprise journey to Microsoft Managed Desktop, please reach out to your Microsoft account team. My colleagues and I on the customer acceleration team look forward to helping you deliver a secure device experience that helps your people – and your IT organization – feel productive and valued in the work-from-anywhere environment.

 

How has the evolution of work affected your organization? Which customer deployment story best resembles your situation? Please share your comments below.

Brought to you by Dr. Ware, Microsoft Office 365 Silver Partner, Charleston SC.