Going Places

What we think of as work has changed dramatically during the last 20 years. “Work is no longer a place,” says Kirk Godkin, director of U.S. Corporate Product Solutions for HP, “it’s an activity.”

He explains that the workforce is completely changing, partly because Generations Y and X want to work wherever their device is. “The workforce’s work style is changing,” he says. “The work place is changing. Work is wherever a person happens to be when an e-mail comes through. You can work on a treadmill, on a couch, in a coffee shop or in an office. Because of this, we have to change the work flow so businesses can be more effective.”

The answer? True mobility. And HP and Pride Technologies are partnering to bring true mobility solutions to the TriState and beyond.

“HP has been viewed from a device standpoint only,” says Godkin, “but we’re not just going to take away your desktop and give you a tablet. If that’s all that’s addressed, it will not impact the workflow. You have to go through a whole litany of services to implement mobility into your workflow. It’s much more than just the device.”

At the heart of true mobility is the ability to do your work anyplace, anytime, anywhere, says Godkin. “There are six different top-level pillars for mobility: applications, devices, services, infrastructure, the cloud and data.”

Pride Technologies and HP cover all those pillars -- from mobile application management to mobile security, device management and mobility structure. Pride Technologies’ experts implement HP’s world-class solutions and help business owners address secure wireless networking, unified communication and collaboration. They’ll also help assess how businesses can best use the cloud and process big data.

Scott Bowling, a senior consultant for Pride Technologies, agrees this is one area where the HP and Pride partnership is helping companies make huge strides in improving IT and work flow processes.

“All IT legacy has been around device management,” Bowling says, “but now it’s about application and data management. The focus is changing to users because now they have their own devices and have choice. You’re seeing companies compensating employees for devices so employees can choose their own device. You have to give them the access they need to do the work on their terms.”

When clients come to Pride Technologies for help implementing mobility or other improvements, Pride begins by assessing the organization’s current strengths and areas for improvement.

“We have a three-prong approach,” says Bowling about Pride’s workshop methodology that encompasses a technical assessment, meeting with stakeholders and then meeting with end-users before evaluating and setting tactical plans for improving work flow.

“We have two workshops that we complete with customers. One with stakeholders and IT, who are positioned within the organization to create strategy and understand the challenges,” explains Bowling. “We find out where they’re taking the organization and what the initiatives are to dove-tail with the assessment. The other is a much larger group where we look for a collection of end-user customers within the organization, from HR to design to call centers and other areas to get an idea of where there is room for improvement. This process allows us to see how the company is doing business and clarify strategic positioning with IT as a success factor.”

Godkin and Bowling emphasize that while they can provide exceptional hardware, it is vital that companies look at the big picture and what makes sense for different groups of users. This is where the experts at Pride shine.

“A lot of what needs to be done up front is user segmentations,” says Godkin. “Every user is going to tell you they need a tablet, but the reality is that a company that’s going to be successful in mobility is going to understand upfront all of an organization’s user segmentations. HP and Pride will help you do that.”