18 technology
Is flexible working really working for your business?
The move by Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayar to ban ’telecommuting’ and bring everyone back into the office has generated a lot of debate in the media about the pros and cons of a workforce working remotely and flexibly on mobile devices. Even if reports about a reversal on the decision are correct, there is little doubt that the debate will go on for some time
demand and to any device. It
underpins our entire business communication effectively and efficiently, which helps streamline productivity.“
The final piece of the jigsaw is Blue Chip’s use of cloud technology. As a user of its own Infrastructure as a service platform, Blue Chip and its customers reap the benefits of predictable costs that are lower than the total cost of upgrading and maintaining on-premise hardware. The flexibility to expand with a growing workforce, employ only the contracted services required by a business and the ability to pay-as-you-go, makes the cloud solution scalable and cost effective.
Joining it, as an advocate of a mobile technology and its benefits, IT specialist Blue Chip has not only been implementing the solutions for a flexible workforce for a vast array of customers over several years, it also uses the technology itself. The company has found that creating an environment that advocates a more flexible and productive workforce also saves on business overheads.
Anthony Green (pictured), sales and marketing director at Blue Chip, explains: “There is no doubt that the advent of mobile technology has changed the working environment forever. Flexible working has become a mainstream requirement for both employers and employees. While being family friendly and enabling people to work from home as required, it has also driven our productivity and allowed us to take on more staff without expanding our existing office space. As a business, this
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has enabled investment in the opening of more locally-based offices to better service our clients across the country – most recently in London and Bristol in addition to our existing headquarters in Poole and offices in Bournemouth and Leeds.“
Blue Chip uses virtualisation and collaborative solutions. Citrix XenDesktop virtualisation technology works hand in hand with the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy. Whether staff are working from home, on the road or at customers’ sites, XenDesktop provides them with the virtual desktop they need to work, on any device, any network, anytime and anywhere through a single, secure solution.
Green explains: “Our engineers working on site, sales staff attending meetings or scoping projects and even administrative staff who work from home to enable hotdesking in the office, are all able to work in exactly the way they would if they were
located in the same building, with full access to desktops, applications and files.
“In addition, adopting a BYOD policy and Citrix solution has simplified our IT, since we can deploy applications once for use on any device. The result is threefold – improved productivity, collaboration and mobility. From a security perspective, using Citrix we are also able to secure and control business information to maintain protection, privacy and compliance.“
Meanwhile, Microsoft Lync enables Blue Chip staff to work closely together on projects, even if they are miles apart. Green continues: “Microsoft Lync allows staff to interact and collaborate with co-workers as easily as if they are physically located in the same place. The technology delivers phone communication, video conferencing and instant messaging, on
Green concludes: “More and more of our customers are also realising the many benefits the cloud has to offer. By centralising software updates and with maintenance taken care of with minimum interruption to the working day, productivity is enhanced. Our own cloud solution leverages Citrix to deliver applications over the Internet. This is important because applications must be optimised for low bandwidth and currently a large percentage of core business applications cannot be delivered over the Internet without the use of such technology. Customers opting for the cloud therefore naturally reap the benefits of flexible working from the implementation of Citrix alongside their cloud solution."
As an experienced provider and highly-accredited Citrix and Microsoft partner, Blue Chip is offering businesses a free-of-charge flexible working consultation during which a highly-trained consultant will share vast knowledge and experience so you can make an informed decision on whether flexible working is the right solution for your company. Those simply considering cloud technology as a more progressive and cost-effective solution will also benefit from a consultation.
Details: Blue Chip’s IT team 0845-034-7222
ict@bluechip.uk.com www.bluechip.uk.com
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – SOLENT & SOUTH CENTRAL – MAY 2013
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