The future workplace would be a truly inclusive heterogeneous workplace

Dr. Lopa Mudraa Basuu 
Advisor, APAC Research Advisory Council for Cloud Security Alliance 

Remote work – Key trends & challenges
Remote work has become an integrated part of operational strategy irrespective of industry sectors to ensure effective business continuity and sustainability in a cost-efficient way. It has become a necessity of a connected digital world supported by a huge remote workforce over virtual platforms. With this change, industry evidences an increased use of – cloud, collaborative platforms, meaningful audio-visual interactions, virtual onboarding & team building, growing need of cybersecurity & data protection. On One hand it enables the organizations to address resource crunch in niche skill areas, increase productivity, work time flexibility while on the other, it throws the challenges like – unrealistic expectation from technology, tech capability over estimation, emerging technology risks, sectorial compliance, digital inequality, digital power concentration. Protecting data & managing data localization requirements are the biggest challenges of this transformational verge.

Delivering paperless systems
One needs to have a clear strategy in place to adopt and drive paperless systems aligned with business requirements to enhance the end-user experience. Striking a balance between technology risks and opportunities is the key. Smartness, Security, Speed and Simplicity are the key differentiators. Managing & refreshing virtual workspaces without interruption and enabling effective collaboration are critical without compromising the security. Above all, choosing the apt technology and platform based on the business need & vision is of paramount importance. Customization too is an important key to success.

Strategies for business profitability
Cultural change adoption strategy supported by soft skill enhancement programs aligned with virtual workspace work culture will play the key role in this changing workplace. Focus needs to shift from time monitoring to time bound quality deliverables. Enabling digital support ecosystems including man-war to empower the employees without compromising on ease of use and Security are critical success factors to keep the workforce engaged and drive a profitable business.

Future of work and workforce
The future workplace would be a truly inclusive heterogeneous (both virtual & physical) workplace supported by highly skilled, distributed workforce including remote, on premise & gig. Emerging technology adoption will increase exponentially to reduce human errors whereas human capabilities will be invested in strategic, tactical & innovative activities. Risk will increase manifolds and remote forensic investigation will be the biggest challenge.