At our recent 8×8 webinar ‘Operate from Anywhere’ we were joined by business leaders keen to understand what the changing world of work will look like now many of us are set to welcome employees back into the office – and crucially why the conversation is changing from work from home to work from anywhere with hybrid working set to become a more permanent way of working.
Opus and 8×8 lead the way in providing users with a solution that allows them to effectively work from anywhere
Ben Murphy, Opus SME Sales Manager and Graham Kedzlie, 8×8 Director – VAR Channel, talked through the strong relationship that Opus and 8×8 have and the way they are providing many businesses with the right communications infrastructure to cater for business needs whether that be in the office, home based or a hybrid of the two.
“It’s in 8×8’s DNA to allow its users to work effectively from anywhere across both UC and CC on a worldwide scale”
Ben Murphy
Changing the conversation
Chris Angus, Senior Director Commercial Sales at 8×8, went on to lead the discussion on how the conversation is now changing from work from home to work from anywhere – a conversation that is evolving at pace!
Underpinning this discussion was the ‘mad dash panic’ to move to home working just over a year ago when businesses rushed to put technology in place to ensure staff were fully functional at home. We know now that some of these solutions can only now be seen as ‘band-aid fixes’ not capable of withstanding the long term shift to hybrid working which we are now seeing as a more permanent solution.
And that’s why conversations are now quickly changing from how do we make work from home “work” – to how do we operate from anywhere – and not only that, but how do we set ourselves up to be more agile and successful in the next normal?
In early 2020, we all did what we needed to quickly respond to Covid-19 and the requirement to work from home. Now, we need to transition to recovery mode where we assess where we’re at and what we need for the long term – and then set ourselves up to thrive.
The pandemic has levelled the playing field for companies wanting to make the shift to cloud technology
Investing in cloud technology is undoubtedly going to be the enabler for a work from anywhere strategy over time and one thing that the pandemic has done is to ‘level the playing field’ when it comes to businesses wanting to embrace this cloud technology. Cloud is no longer reserved for larger enterprises, explained Chris, but it is there for the taking of businesses of all sizes from SMB through to enterprise.
Common themes – what if you could…?
Chris outlined how IT leaders who are looking to align their digital transformation going into the second half of 2021 have a number of top of mind priorities to consider:
- Increase productivity and business agility
- Monitor and analyse data to improve and increase revenue
- Increase security and resiliency of your communications infrastructure
- Stand out as an employee and customer experience leader while reducing costs
With a fully consolidated Cloud Platform Solution, IT leaders can start to address these needs. In terms of operate from anywhere, the benefits of a Cloud Platform are summarised in the diagram above.
What will hybrid working look like going forward?
Matt Dudleston, Sales Director Mid-Market at Opus, closed off the webinar and once again emphasised the speed at which developments are taking place. He described them as being ‘nothing like we’ve seen before’ and emphasised how crucial it now is to remove the ‘band-aid technologies’ put in place at the start of lockdown and replace them with scalable and agile cloud communication services.
“Technology needs to be able to support the new hybrid world and there is certainly a difference between semi-permanent home working and providing a flexible, agile solution that can facilitate working from anywhere. What we’re seeing is that across all industries, businesses are looking to understand what hybrid working will look like going forward.” Matt Dudleston
As companies move back into the office in whatever way, thought needs to go into what communication and collaboration technology is needed to leverage effective hybrid working.
How can Opus help with your operate from anywhere strategy?
Opus and 8×8 are already having conversations with many businesses about what hybrid working is going to look like for them – a consultative approach to this is needed as to do it right there isn’t a one size fits all solution. If you would like to start the ball rolling and have a conversation with us about your requirements to operate from anywhere, why not get in touch and book a free no obligation consultation today.
“For me the biggest takeaway is that I would urge all businesses to look at if your communications stack and wider applications allow you to access them effectively from anywhere without intervention, and do you have the hardware in your offices to provide the end user experience to collaborate effectively”.
Matt Dudleston
