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The Frictionless Office Meets the Internet of Things: Using Data to Increase Productivity, Reduce Costs and Drive Better Outcomes A Frost & Sullivan White Paper

The Frictionless Office Meets the Internet of Things: Using Data to Increase Productivity, Reduce Costs and Drive Better Outcomes

CONTENTS

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Introduction .....................................................................................................................................................................3

The State of the Modern Workplace ..........................................................................................................................3

Frost & Sullivan Data Reveals Major Changes in the State of the Workplace .......................................................4

The Big Data Revolution ...............................................................................................................................................6

The Internet of Things and Big Data: A Primer ...............................................................................................................6

Where the Current Gaps Lie ...............................................................................................................................................7

How Rethinking Collaboration in the Office Can Improve Everything ..............................................................7

Data-based Analytics Lead to Thoughtful Decisions–Making People, Places and Processes Better ..................8

What to Look for in a Provider...................................................................................................................................9

Call to Action ...................................................................................................................................................................10

About Teem ......................................................................................................................................................................10

http://www.frost.com

3All rights reserved © 2016 Frost & Sullivan


INTRODUCTION

We’ve all been there: We’re invited to a meeting and head to the assigned conference room at the appointed hour, only to discover too late that the room we’ve selected doesn’t have the equipment we need or the leader never shows. Meanwhile, we struggle to find available space when we need to schedule our own collaboration sessions, only to learn that half of the meeting spaces aren’t actually being used when the system says they are.

This is not a rare occurrence. Teem (formerly EventBoard) data shows that 34% of meetings are no-shows. And the resulting impacts are more than minor annoyances—they measurably affect the bottom line. According to Frost & Sullivan research, collaboration is becoming a key differentiator within organizations that increasingly face global competition and pressure to adapt to a new way of working driven by younger workers and the need to create value out of commoditized products, services, and information.

When collaboration is the linchpin for business success, the need to enable meetings among workers and their partners and customers becomes critical. No wonder Frost & Sullivan research shows that 55% of companies have already deployed room-based video conferencing, and another 26% expect to do so in the next three years. Or that huddle spaces—small rooms in a larger office that give employees the space they need to meet in small groups on the fly or, sometimes, find the privacy they need to get work done— are a key part of the modern office.

But the same studies also show that employees and managers alike remain frustrated and hamstrung by the lack of innovation around the meetings that consume so much of our days at the office —whether remote or in person. That’s because while much has changed in the modern workplace, too much has remained the same.

While advanced conferencing tools—including room scheduling systems and digital signage— make it easier for employees, partners, and customers to work together in real time, many still don’t deliver the kind of intelligence and insight you might expect from a modern communications tool.

With the right technology employees can be more productive, getting their work done seamlessly and effectively. Enter the Internet of Things, which can help companies understand just how well their tech investments are serving their employees—and what to do to make them better. By leveraging data, analytics, and the IoT for the workplace, smart companies are able to improve productivity, increase retention rates, and positively impact the bottom line.

Without the data to help determine how best to optimize meetings, team rooms, and technology, many companies are not seeing the promised ROI for their investments. This paper will describe the state of the modern workplace, based on Frost & Sullivan research; highlight the challenges and opportunities inherent in creating a frictionless office; discuss the general and specific benefits of using data and analytics to assess and refine meeting room experiences and collaboration technology; and offer best-practice recommendations for choosing a provider and achieving success.

THE STATE OF THE MODERN WORKPLACE

If the 20th century was the “Information Age,” the 21st is the “Innovation Age.” The data is out there; what matters is what companies—and the people who work for them — do with it. But innovation requires two key components: creativity and collaboration. Today’s businesses are starting to realize they can collect, analyze, and act on a wide variety of information that might not have been accessible or usable in the years past; what they aren’t doing—at least not in large numbers—is using that data to make better decisions in real time, and in creative ways, to change the ways they get business done.

4 All rights reserved © 2016 Frost & Sullivan



And yet Frost & Sullivan research shows that most organizations are at once embracing new technology trends like the Internet of Things and Big Data Analytics, and unsure of what to do to make them work for them. More than a third of organizations report that one of their biggest challenges is in aligning IT with business processes. Companies that can figure it out will have a clear competitive advantage over the rest of the market until everyone else catches up.

Frost & Sullivan Data Reveals Major Changes in the State of the Workplace

For several years now, Frost & Sullivan’s annual survey of IT decision makers around the world has revealed that more than half of all employees are working in a non-traditional corporate location. Often, these employees spend one or two days a week in the office, and the rest of the time they are based out of their homes, a client site, or the road. When they do go into the office, they spend most of their time in meetings —with colleagues, managers, and direct reports; and with clients and partners as necessary and appropriate.

21%of companies will invest in IT to improve collaboration

2018

of IT decision makers report that improving collaboration is a top driver behind their IT investments

Indeed, collaboration is another huge trend among most organizations, regardless of where they are based, how many employees they have, or the industry they’re in. Today, 13% of IT decision makers report that improving collaboration is a top driver behind their IT investments, according to a recent Frost & Sullivan survey of nearly 2,000 companies around the globe; in 2018, 21% of companies will invest in IT to improve collaboration. The percentages stay consistent across company sizes and industry types—it’s a universal goal.

As a result, many organizations are investing heavily in meeting spaces and the technology to go with them. Frost & Sullivan’s most recent survey of more than 400 IT decision makers in the United States shows that 55% of respondent organizations have deployed room-based video conferencing, and 26% expect to do so in the next three years. Among 19% of companies, the technology is available all the time to all employees. In the rest, it is deployed based on job role (20%), geographic location (9%), or executive position (6%).

55%

26%

Deployed room-based video conferencing

Expect to deploy room-basedvideo conferencing in next3 years.




But despite its benefits, and the money companies are spending to implement it, room-based conferencing is grossly underused. Just 11% of companies report using the tool throughout the day, 12% say it is used daily, and 23% acknowledge it is used only weekly. In 8% of organizations, video conferencing-enabled rooms are used only monthly, if at all.

Availableto all

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executivepositionUse the

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Use thetooldaily

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Use thetool monthly,

if at all 19%20%

9%

6%11%

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23%

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Companies are also embracing the concept of huddle rooms—smaller spaces that can be created in small offices or cubicles, or even supply closets and hallways that previously went unused. These are generally equipped with low-cost but effective video, web, and audio conferencing tools, making them a great option for small-group meetings among co-located and far-flung workers. Research shows that meetings are most effective when they involve a small number of people—three or four is the ideal number—and huddle rooms enable that kind of close collaboration. They are also often used by employees who pop into the office for a few hours or a day here and there and do not have an assigned desk or office, and by people who work in open floorplan environments when they need a quiet, private room for conducting sensitive or strategic business.

According to Teem, 76% of meetings include one to three participants, 17% involve four to nine participants, and 7% have more than 10 participants.

And yet, we also find that these spaces often go unused or misused, making it harder for companies to see the promised return on investment and negatively impacting their collaboration goals. On average, according to Teem data, there are 3.3 hours of meetings per conference room per day.

The anecdotal evidence suggests that meeting spaces are underutilized not because employees don’t want or need to meet, but because they can’t get access to the facilities when they need to. Either the rooms appear to be always booked (even when they’re not) or employees aren’t aware of what each room contains and why it would be a good choice for a team meeting (say, with video- or web-enabled screens, an audio-conferencing bridge, and a smart board for brainstorming and note-taking).

That’s a clear opportunity for companies to improve efficiency and productivity around the facilities they already have, and something they need to keep in mind as they plan for future investment.




THE BIG DATA REVOLUTION

One of the best ways to change the way work gets done is to leverage the extraordinary amount of data available today. So-called Big Data analytics and the Internet of Things (IoT) are impacting how companies and their employees are designing and implementing business processes— so long as companies understand how to use them. While most current implementations of IoT are centered on back-office data such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) and supply chain management (SCM), creative companies are looking for innovative ways to improve everything from office design to communications and collaboration. The result can help them save money, increase productivity, and spur creativity throughout the organization.

The Internet of Things and Big Data: A Primer

The Internet of Things (IoT) is meant to support connectivity among devices, data, and applications to improve business process change. The IoT can help companies lower their environmental impact, use assets more efficiently, innovate based on data-driven action items, boost productivity, automate decision making, and transform the workplace experience.

Big Data and analytics tie into the IoT because collecting and aggregating all the information that’s out there is just the first step: companies then need a way to analyze the information they’re given, and then act upon it in real time to see the promised benefits.

A recent Frost & Sullivan survey of almost 2,000 IT decision makers around the world reveals that today, 35% of companies are using IoT and 45% are relying on Big Data and analytics. Those numbers will surely increase in two years, when another 39% of organizations expect to be using IoT and Big Data (though it is unclear whether it is the same 39%; some companies will likely use one but not the other, at least initially).

The majority of organizations are still in pilot stages with their IoT and Big Data deployments, but 34% have extended their IoT initiatives to customers, suppliers, and partners, and 22.5% have embedded IoT into their business processes. But even companies that aren’t ready for a full-fledged IoT deployment can figure out how to access, analyze, and react to so-called “dark data” to change processes and outcomes on the fly. They just have to deploy the right technologies.




Where the Current Gaps Lie

As useful as the Internet of Things and analytics are, most companies think of them as most valuable for classic business processes such as asset tracking, supply chain management, production optimization, and customer support. But innovative organizations are also looking to analytics to drive efficiencies in other areas of their business — including communications and collaboration.

One of the biggest areas ripe for improvement is meetings and the rooms in which they take place. Today, most organizations have a variety of conference rooms and other collaboration spaces available to all or some of their employees. Typically, users can reserve a room in advance and check a schedule to see whether a room is currently being used or is available for an ad-hoc discussion. But they may not know what each room holds and is good for—how many people it can accommodate, what technology it holds, whether it has whiteboards or easels, and so on. And they certainly don’t know when a room isn’t being used after all—perhaps the meeting got cancelled, but the booking did not, or it was scheduled for three hours and lasted only two.

As a result of these information gaps, most companies are not using their meeting spaces efficiently—which costs both time and money. Often, corporate leaders think they need to build or convert more meeting rooms because the ones they have appear to be in constant use—when, in fact, those rooms are regularly booked but not regularly used. Or managers may think that their employees are constantly meeting to collaborate on work, based on the appearance of a packed conference room schedule—when, in fact, those meetings get cancelled half the time or last only a few minutes.

The good news is, technology is helping companies close these gaps by relying on the Internet of Things and Big Data to capture, analyze, and act on real-time information about how, when, and where employees are getting together to get work done.

HOW RETHINKING COLLABORATION IN THE OFFICE CAN IMPROVE EVERYTHING

Meetings are often the target of frustration, derision, and Dilbert cartoons, but they remain incredibly important for the vast majority of businesses, non-profits, schools, and government organizations. Employees are more effective, innovative, and productive when they work together toward a common goal — and meeting to discuss plans, status, and action items is often critical to driving effective collaboration in the workplace.

This is especially true as the need for more collaboration in the workplace is coinciding with another trend: the virtual workplace. Frost & Sullivan research shows that more than half of all knowledge workers regularly work outside of a traditional office. When they venture into the main corporate location, these normally remote employees need to connect with colleagues, managers, and direct reports for both scheduled and ad-hoc meetings—sometimes with people they don’t know well and in rooms they are not familiar with. That makes it even harder for them and their managers to effectively use conference rooms and other public meeting spaces—whether they are trying to connect with large teams, brainstorm ideas with a small group, or simply find a quiet place among the open cubicles to actually get work done.




But that all changes when companies marry the IoT and Big Data analytics with their meeting infrastructure. Imagine knowing not just whether a meeting is scheduled, but also whether it actually took place. What if you knew, for certain, that one group’s standing Monday morning reservation happens only once a month? Or if you could identify exactly who attended a given discussion, and whether their presence was necessary or valued? That kind of data can help managers rethink facilities, open up meeting spaces to the people who really need them, and ensure that when employees are getting together to discuss business, they are using their time wisely and effectively.

Data-based Analytics Lead to Thoughtful Decisions –Making People, Places and Processes Better

Sensors and beacons inside meeting rooms can track who is actually in attendance or whether a meeting even took place, and then use that information to immediately open up the room to others or suggest changes for the future. This information can help companies reduce their physical footprint and related costs (by ensuring the number of meeting rooms they have meets, rather than exceeds, demand); improve productivity among employees (by reducing the amount of time people spend trying to set up, get to, and participate in meetings); and influence culture (by providing information to improve everything from meeting etiquette to the amount of collaboration occurring within the organization).

These updates and alerts can be done in real time so that, for instance, as soon as the system sees a scheduled room is not in use it can populate that new data to the public scheduler. But it can also be used to help managers and executives make better decisions about how they are deploying meeting spaces, what they need to invest more in, and whether they must do more to encourage collaboration among their employees.

Meeting check-in allows companies to recoup an average of 15% of meeting room hours that would otherwise be wasted.

For example, if a product team has a standing weekly meeting on the calendar, but it doesn’t actually take place for two weeks in a row, a smart system can alert the team leader (and others, as desired) and suggest she cancel the recurring event, reschedule it for another day or time that is more likely to work for all participants, or encourage




her team to attend regularly in the future. Her manager, meanwhile, can see that her team is not fulfilling its collaboration goals and step in to offer recommendations or advice for better communication and teamwork. Team members might get more frequent reminders about the weekly event, while the leader can get advice on making the session more impactful and, therefore, more likely to draw participants.

All this information is driven by data, and then analyzed according to pre-set algorithms and metrics chosen by the company. And when designed and used correctly, it can deliver all kinds of measurable benefits, including:

• Cost savings. Most organizations have the meeting space they need—they just aren’t using it efficiently to ensure all employees have access to team rooms when they need them.

• Increased Productivity. When employees don’t have to spend precious time trying to locate, occupy, and use a meeting room, they can put their time to much better use.

• Improved Collaboration. By making it easy for employees to find meeting spaces when they need them—and ensuring they get a room that can accommodate all their collaboration needs, such as whiteboards or video conferencing for inviting remote participants—companies can drive collaboration throughout the organization.

• Better Accountability. No one wants their movements tracked every time they enter a conference room (or don’t), but when managers can see who is actually attending meetings, they can better understand what’s working and what’s not, and then change their processes to drive more participation and stronger outcomes.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN A PROVIDER

The data-driven meeting space is a relatively new market, but that doesn’t mean you should settle for the first vendor to pop up in your Google search. Indeed, partnering with a company that understands the culture of collaboration and the workings of data analytics and the Internet of Things is critical to success. Here are three areas to focus on as you evaluate providers:

1. Meetings are the foundation of most workplace collaboration, whether they’re held in person or online, or a combination of the two. Look for a solution that offers a variety of features for employees to help them be more efficient and productive. This should include conference room displays to show when rooms are in use and allow for last-minute room reservations; calendar integrations for easy scheduling; maps to help employees find where they’re going and the tools they need when they get there; mobile booking apps; and visitor registration tools so customers, partners, and others can participate.

2. Management is critical to long-term success. A management dashboard will simplify tracking and analyzing of all events at the organization, while security tools should allow admins to control everything from who can see what, to data protection, to visitor access. Tools for filing and tracking work requests ensure facilities and technology problems are resolved as soon as possible. User permissions, management, and SSO integrations allow admins to easily add or remove users and control what they can see. And logs, alerts, and activity stream let you see who’s doing what in the system and why.

3. Measurement is where the bottom-line benefits come in. Analytics make it possible to see what rooms are being used and when; which meetings are cancelled regularly or just occasionally; recapture rates to see whether newly open rooms are going unused; and booking success to better understand the user experience. They also provide insights into the meetings themselves: how long do they last, what do they cost, and who’s participating? And they provide insights into resource demand and utilization to help with facilities planning and IT investment.




ABOUT TEEM

Teem is a SaaS platform that empowers businesses to help their people, places and technology work better together, creating a happier and more productive digital workplace.

CALL TO ACTION

In today’s modern workplace, meetings matter. They enable the kind of deep collaboration that lets employees work together to achieve success for the entire organization— across cultures, business units, time zones, and physical locations. But we all know that even now, most meetings leave plenty of room for improvement; they are not always as well attended or productive as we might hope, they cost money to support and deliver, and they can suck time and energy from employees who need to collaborate to get their work done.

By leveraging the Internet of Things and Big Data to track information and then use that data to improve results, companies can save money, drive collaboration, and see a much stronger return on their investments. Being able to see what rooms are being used, when, and why can help companies spend their money where it’s most needed. Understanding who is participating in collaboration sessions and who isn’t lets managers encourage the laggards to step up, as well as identify thought leaders who can help drive teamwork throughout the organization. And having deep, real-time insight into activities ranging from technology usage to help desk requests allows managers and executives to make data-driven decisions on everything from resource allocation to best practices for communication and collaboration.

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