IT Needs to Prepare for $200 A Barrel Oil

Tech Republic is alerting readers to begin preparing now for the increased demand for for remote connections if oil continues to climb. Bill Detwiler states:

Many IT organizations, particularly in large enterprises, already support a distributed workforce. IT leaders within this category should ensure their infrastructure has the capacity to support increased demand. IT departments not currently supporting remote users should begin exploring their options now. At the very least, you should make certain your network can support existing remote workplace technologies. Also, IT will not be immune from this trend. IT leaders must develop the skills and techniques required to manage a distributed workforce.[1]

Unlike Mike Rhodin, General Manager of IBM Lotus Software, who sees the virtual workplace becoming the rule rather than the exception[2], Detwiler believes a hybrid model will emerge. Employees will work from home a few days each week.

As business and enterprise consider the trend towards the virtual workplace, educators and churches need to consider the virtual classroom. Anytime the words "travel" and "training" are used in the same sentence, we need to think "virtual." It will be too costly to send learners to remote locations for training...we must find effective methods to use technology to bring the learning environment to them.

From a church's perspective, we need to rethink models that require learners to travel to and from the church several times a week. How can the church employ technology to meet its teaching objectives? Leaders need to start exploring how to utilize the tools available to us now. Moreover, given that most churches rely on volunteer teachers, there will be a steep learning curve in helping volunteers develop the skill sets needed to communicate and teach to their classes via collaborative tools.

References

[1] "IT must prepare for $200-a-barrel oil and a rise in remote workers" - May 07, 2008. As transportation costs rise, organizations and workers will look for ways to reduce travel. For many employees, this will mean working from home to eliminate the daily commute. Tech Republic

[2]"IBM Predicts Five Future Trends That Will Drive Unified Communications" - March 19, 2008. Mike Rhodin, General Manager of IBM Lotus Software, made five predictions during his keynote address at the VoiceCon conference in Orlando, FL in March 2008. These include:

1. The Virtual Workplace will become the rule. No need to leave the office. Just bring it along. Desk phones and desktop computers will gradually disappear, replaced by mobile devices, including laptops, that take on traditional office capabilities. Social networking tools and virtual world meeting experiences will simulate the feeling on being there in-person. Work models will be changed by expanded globalization and green business initiatives that reduce travel and encourage work at home.
2. Instant Messaging and other real-time collaboration tools will become the norm, bypassing e-mail. Just as e-mail became a business necessity, a new generation of workers has a new expectation for instant messaging (IM) as the preferred method of business interaction. This will fuel more rapid adoption of unified communications as traditional IM becomes the core extension point for multi-modal communications.
3. Beyond Phone Calls to Collaborative Business Processes. Companies will go beyond the initial capabilities of IM, like click-to-call and online presence, to deep integration with business processes and line-of-business applications, where they can realize the greatest benefit.
4. Interoperability and Open Standards will tear down proprietary walls across business and public domains. Corporate demand for interoperability and maturing of industry standards will force unified communications providers to embrace interoperability. Converged, aggregated, and rich presence will allow businesses and individuals to better find and reach the appropriate resources, removing inefficiencies from business processes and daily lives.
5. New meeting models will emerge. Hang up on routine, calendared conference calls. The definition of "meetings" will radically transform and become increasingly adhoc and instantaneous based on context and need. 3-D virtual world and gaming technologies will significantly influence online corporate meeting experiences to deliver more life-like experiences demanded by the next generation workers who will operate more efficiently in this familiar environment.