The technologies enabling the workplace of the future

Keith Hudgell and Greg John share how Hewlett Packard Enterprise Services and Microsoft’s joint Cloud Productivity and Mobility programme is driving Windows 10 and mobile adoption in EMEA

By Rebecca Gibson on 12 January 2017

The technologies enabling the workplace of the future

This article first appeared in the Winter issue of The Record

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Services (HPE-ES) and Microsoft are running a major campaign to show clients in Central Europe new ways to work more intelligently and empower employees.

“HPE-ES is taking over the lobbies of major companies, changing everything from screens and devices, to the furniture so they can envision exactly what their digitised future workplace could look and feel like,” says Greg John, go-to-market lead for EMEA Mobility and Workplace Practice at HPE-ES. “We’re showing employees how they could use smartphones and mobile apps to access corporate data and systems when they’re working remotely and then seamlessly transition to their laptop or desktop at the office. Plus, we’re showing how sensors and cloud-based collaboration technologies can transform the meeting experience.”

Supported by individual client meetings, social media campaigns, roundtables and advisory workshops, these roadshows form a central part of HPE-ES and Microsoft’s jointly funded Cloud Productivity and Mobility (CPM) programme.

Launched in November 2015, the three-year CPM initiative allows enterprises to adopt HPE-ES’s integrated portfolio of services and solutions to increase productivity and develop new ways of working using Microsoft’s enterprise cloud, productivity and mobility technologies. Windows 10 plays a key role in the CPM initiative, opening up new opportunities to improve user experience and efficiency.

“Enterprises want to save costs by migrating from on-premise legacy systems to cloud-based platforms and they understand that Windows 10 provides the opportunity to digitise and mobilise legacy and non-IT business processes,” comments Keith Hudgell, senior director for EMEA Mobility and Workplace Practice at HPE-ES. “Our advisory and consultancy services help clients understand the benefits of digitising traditional processes so they can develop new ways of working and create new business models. Alongside Microsoft, we’re investing part of our CPM budget to create prototypes of enterprise mobile apps to kick-start clients’ business transformation journeys.”

Certainly, the CPM campaign seems to be working. HPE-ES’s mobile business has increased 300% in EMEA in the 12 months since it launched and enterprise mobility is now the fastest growing area of HPE-ES’s EMEA business.

“When clients can test a prototype app to see first-hand how it will make their daily tasks quicker and easier, and also provide innovative customer solutions, they’re much more likely to buy into it,” remarks Hudgell. “Now that the CPM programme has given us the funding and resources to develop prototypes of Windows 10 mobile apps and showcase them via roadshows and other marketing initiatives, we can lead with business-oriented conversations. We’re definitely expecting future growth.”