C-Level Perspectives: Preparing for the Office of the Future

I think it’s safe to say that nearly every organization in the world is currently thinking about workplace transformation. And, it’s not just about redesigning office space. The COVID-19 crisis has and will fundamentally change how and where work gets done and it’s incumbent on business and IT leaders to prepare their organizations for what’s next.

But, what is next? What does the Office of the Future look like? If you’re like many executives right now, you’re actively seeking answers to these questions. And, that’s why I’m looking forward to moderating an upcoming C-level panel discussion on the Office of the Future and how organizations can ensure digital performance and productivity in an evolving workplace.

I hope you will join me on September 17 as I tap into the minds of prominent CXOs from Ellie Mae, Sophos, Kofax, and Conga to explore the lessons they’ve learned as their organizations shifted to large-scale remote work. We’ll talk about how their priorities and investments have changed as a result of COVID-19 and the technologies and cultural factors that will determine whether work-from-home, and eventually, work-from-anywhere models succeed or fail. And, with the spotlight shining bright on digital capabilities these days, it will be interesting to hear their perspectives on what the future holds for the IT profession.

As the Chief Digital Officer for Riverbed, I remember the early days of COVID-19 and the amount of pressure my organization faced as our entire company began working from home. Fortunately, we were already leveraging cloud-based collaboration tools like Zoom, Office 365 and Slack, as well as our own application acceleration and network optimization solutions to provide our employees with the same experience, if not better, as working in the office.

But, there’s planning and work to be done. The pandemic has set a course for long-term remote/hybrid working models, where employees will expect to be able to work when and where they choose and where teams can collaborate both physically and virtually. This means reexamining models of redundancy, resiliency and security based on new ways of working and it means a renewed focus on IT visibility and performance to drive the best employee experience and business outcomes.

I’m optimistic about what’s next and the elevated role IT will play in shaping the Office of the Future. You’ll have to register to attend the panel discussion to see if my fellow CXOs feel the same way.