Renewed Focus on Productivity

We’ve all heard of “costs and standards of living” as it relates to wages, salaries, and benefits, but did you ever think about how that amount is calculated? It actually all boils down to productivity and the fact that in any given hour, you can produce more in terms of products and services than your grandfather could 30 or 40 years ago. Through increased costs of production, processes have become more efficient which, in turn, increases the cost of goods as well as the consumer price index.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, our current business cycle is going through a lower rate of labor productivity growth than normal. This means limited gains for Americans in recent years. Unfortunately, we’ve all had to work more hours in order to produce the current supply of goods and services than we would have if we had higher productivity growth. This slow growth period will cause many to pay closer attention to productivity stats in years to come as these trends will play a major role in our lives and those of our children and grandchildren.

SHORT TERM IMPACT ON PRODUCTIVITY OF TECHNOLOGY

Given how far we’ve come in innovating technology during the last few decades, it’s actually hard to believe we haven’t seen an increase in these numbers, but we also need to consider the bigger picture. Just because a certain technology exists, doesn’t mean a manufacturer doubles its production overnight. In fact, when a new technology comes to fruition, there is often a defined period where only innovators and visionaries are jumping on board, while the pragmatists and skeptics are waiting for a second iteration that they believe will be significantly enhanced and maybe even more affordable. Basically, the time it takes from the launch of a new technology to it becoming an industry standard could be many years. Add on the additional time it might take for organizations to ramp up on qualified staffing as well as the period of time they spend training and waiting for their employees to become highly efficient in this new trade. What you’ll see in the long term is the return to make an organization more productive is worth the investment. However, when looking at the short term, the time spent waiting on technology, implementing it, staffing up, and training can cause productivity measure to be average at best during those planning years.

EXPECTING MORE DURING THE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

For some, the productivity forecast is total doom and gloom. People fear the major wave of technology creation and adoption has passed. We’re happy to say we know this is not true, and we’re excited about the many new advances already in place that are bringing employees back to a standard, if not increased, level of productivity.

Consider that just two decades ago cell phones were still considered a luxury item. The average working-class American wasn’t carrying a mobile phone with them all day every day, and they certainly weren’t returning work-related phone calls and emails while they were commuting to and from the office. Fast forward to 2017: not only do most Americans have cell phones, but more organizations than ever before are adopting bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policies. This new wave of thinking—and a result of consumerization—empowers employees to work on their own devices (smartphones, tablets, laptops, etc.) which will ultimately help companies increase productivity and reduce costs.

HOW WE CAN HELP GROW PRODUCTIVITY

Helping you learn how to use proven technologies that make sense for your business is our job, and we know the Hitachi Content Platform (HCP) Anywhere will mobilize your team with minimal risk so they can be more productive through collaboration. HCP Anywhere will

• Support bring-your-own-device (BYOD) initiatives while maintaining visibility and control of business data
• Eliminate shadow IT risks with a secure and protected private cloud solution at a cost comparable to public cloud services
• Reduce cost and capacity requirements and IT overhead with compressed, backup-free object store

Because the demand for file sharing and collaborative solutions is not going away anytime soon, the Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG)—an IT analyst, research, validation, and strategy firm that provides market intelligence and actionable insight—evaluated HCP Anywhere. They discovered that because our current society is accustomed to easy access and the immediate gratification of finding information online when they want it, workers will find ways to use their own tools and devices if it makes them more efficient. HCP Anywhere empowers them to do just that while still maximizing data protection. According to ESG, “forbid{ding} employees to use any solution outside of the corporate domain…erodes employee good will without providing them services that they clearly want, and in most cases truly need.” Still don’t believe us? See how these cloud-based tools compare.

DSN Group designs, implements, and supports converged infrastructure solutions with the best available hardware and software to meet your organization’s needs. DSN Group uses a five step approach to deliver a consistent, reliable, and predictable converged infrastructure solutions. If you’re interested in getting the most out of your virtual, unified data center contact DSN Group at 888.445.2919 for more information.

How is your organization focusing on increased productivity in 2017?