Modern office, hybrid & remote working


Security followed the worker home When office work was contained within a building, the security perimeter was relatively clear. A firewall, a managed network, endpoint protection on company-owned machines, and a locked server room covered most of the bases. Hybrid work dissolved that perimeter almost overnight, and most organisations are still catching up. Te endpoint (the laptop, the monitor, the webcam, the headset)


is now the front line. And endpoint security has become a hardware conversation as much as a soſtware one. Physical webcam shutters, USB port management, and firmware-level security on peripherals: these are all considerations that channel partners increasingly need to address. Te days of assuming that everything behind the office firewall is safe, and everything outside it is someone else’s problem, are well behind us. What’s particularly interesting is how this plays out in


procurement. I’m seeing more RFPs that include security requirements for peripherals, not just laptops and phones. A monitor with a built-in webcam, for instance, now needs to answer questions about where the image processing happens, whether the camera can be physically disabled, and how firmware updates are managed. Tese are questions that didn’t exist in display procurement six years ago.


The meeting room problem nobody has solved Here’s a statistic that should trouble anyone involved in workplace technology: according to multiple industry surveys, the majority of hybrid meetings still involve at least one participant who can’t be seen or heard properly. We’ve spent billions on collaboration platforms, but the physical infrastructure (the cameras, microphones, speakers, and displays in the room itself) remains the weakest link in most organisations. Te issue is rarely the budget. Te issue is that meeting room


AV sits in an awkward gap between IT, facilities, and departmental budgets, and nobody fully owns it. Te result is rooms equipped with consumer-grade webcams taped to the top of a display, a speakerphone that picks up the air conditioning better than it picks up the person speaking, and a tangle of cables that guarantees the first five minutes of every meeting are spent troubleshooting. For the channel, this is an enormous opportunity, but only


if the approach is consultative. A reseller who can walk into a client’s office, audit three or four meeting rooms, and propose a standardised AV stack that actually works with their existing collaboration platform solves a problem that most internal IT teams haven’t had the capacity to address properly. Te technology exists. What’s missing is the integration expertise, and that’s exactly where the channel should be positioning itself.


Smart buildings, smarter procurement Te ‘smart office’ label has been applied to everything from occupancy sensors to AI-powered air conditioning, and a healthy scepticism about the term is warranted. But beneath the buzzwords, something genuinely useful is happening: organisations are starting to make technology procurement decisions based on total cost of ownership rather than unit price, and that shiſt is being driven by data that smart building infrastructure provides.


www.pcr-online.biz Occupancy sensors can tell a facilities team that a 40-desk floor


is only ever 60% occupied, which changes the monitor refresh calculation entirely. Energy monitoring can reveal that a fleet of older displays is drawing significantly more power than current- generation equivalents, making the sustainability case for a refresh in hard numbers rather than good intentions. Usage data from collaboration platforms can show which meeting rooms are actually booked versus which are used, informing AV investment priorities. For resellers, the opportunity here is in helping clients connect


these data points. Most organisations have the sensors and the platforms generating this information already. What they lack is someone to translate it into a procurement strategy. A channel partner who can say “your occupancy data suggests you need 25% fewer desks but better-equipped ones, and here’s what that looks like in practice” is operating at a level that pure online fulfilment can’t touch.


Sustainability as a procurement driver Te sustainability conversation in workplace technology has matured considerably. Two years ago, it was largely about recyclable packaging and energy ratings. Important, but surface- level. Today, the organisations I speak with are asking for product carbon footprint data they can feed into Scope 3 reporting, extended warranties that reduce replacement cycles, and evidence that the materials in a product meet independently verified standards like TCO Certified. Tis is significant for the channel because it changes who’s


involved in the buying decision. Sustainability officers and ESG teams now have a seat at the procurement table, and they’re asking questions that a traditional spec sheet doesn’t answer. Te reseller who can provide lifecycle data, warranty structures, and environmental certifications alongside the usual price-and- performance comparison is speaking a language that an increasing number of buyers need to hear.


Where this goes next The modern office is still being defined, and anyone who claims to have the final answer is probably selling something. But a few things seem clear from where I sit. The desk will continue to simplify: fewer cables, fewer separate peripherals, more functionality built into fewer devices. Security will become a standard part of peripheral procurement, not an afterthought. Meeting room AV will eventually be solved, probably by standardisation rather than innovation. And procurement decisions will increasingly be driven by data, sustainability requirements, and total cost of ownership rather than headline specs. For the channel, the thread running through all of this is the


same: the value is in consultancy, not fulfilment. Te organisations refreshing their workplace technology in 2026 aren’t looking for a supplier who can ship boxes quickly. Tey’re looking for a partner who understands how hybrid work has changed what a desk, a meeting room, and an office building need to do, and can help them make decisions that hold up for the next five years. Tat’s where the channel wins.


May/June 2026 | 17


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