The changing workplace

In a previous post I mentioned how we?re seeing some fundamental shifts in people?s work practices, ripples caused by the ?always available? nature of cloud-based applications and mobile technologies.

The way we work, and especially how we interact with computing devices, has changed a lot since we embarked on building the first version of Saasu. At the time, we wanted to provide the benefits of online applications to business owners and accountants in managing their finances. I?m probably showing my ?internet age? here, but this was when Hotmail was one of the few (and by far the biggest) web application, and ?the cloud? meant the fuzzy things in the sky you dreamed of having time to watch on that perpetually delayed holiday

Since then, web applications have become the norm for many people in business and personal life. Social networks have exploded, shifting the way we work?tools like Basecamp, wikis, social intranets, and Salesforce; networks like LinkedIn, Twitter and its more business-oriented ?cousin? Yammer, among others, changing the way we communicate.

Touch-based devices (like the iPad and Android-run devices like Google?s Nexus 7) are having a dramatic impact on the way we interact with the web and applications, and where we do so. No longer do we need to pull out the work laptop?we can access our information wherever we have a 3G (or 4G) mobile internet connection, swipe through a document and fire off a quick response. (This type of mobile internet access was just an expensive dream for most of us when we started building Saasu.) Not only that, the way we navigate using these devices, using gestures etc. create a tactile environment in which to interact with the data and tools we work with, opening up new possibilities that go well beyond just ?eye candy.?

Voice recognition and device capabilities, such as cameras and geo-location, change how we get information into the digital realm. This data ?capture? (rather than ?entry?) can be transformational?consider Shoeboxed and Invitbox, for example. These and other technologies combine with APIs and Connectors to enable myriad systems to communicate with one another to synchronise data seamlessly. All of these hold the potential to radically reduce the time spent getting data into a system, and enabling real-time exploration of financial data.

We are an increasingly visual culture. The popularity of Flipboard, Pinterest and other visually-oriented tools provide a useful case in point. But more than just providing pretty images that please the designer set, visualisation and infographics (see, for example, Information is Beautiful) change the way we engage with large datasets, providing clarity and meaning in contexts where previously such data could just feel like more noise.

In the same way that companies like Saasu applied the thinking behind consumer tools like Hotmail to the challenges of business accounting, these social/collaborative and visual approaches will be adopted (or at a minimum adapted) to provide value to business and accounting in the near future. Grid is just one leading-edge example of this thinking applied to the humble spreadsheet:

GRID by Binary Thumb from Josh Leong on Vimeo.

This is all to suggest that the shift to the cloud is just the first step towards a more fluid, engaging, and ultimately productive, workspace. Our sense is that clever businesses are already starting to adapt to and harness these deeper trends to inform their work practice, to determine ?what?s next? and get a step ahead of their competitors. Is your?s one of these businesses? If so, we?d love to hear your thoughts?

Source: http://www.saasu.com/2012/12/04/the-changing-workplace/

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