An office that aims to be both flexible and ‘future-proof’ needs to have the right equipment to enhance efficiency and productivity.
According to ITPro, “the one-size-fits-all approach rarely works” and company executives and their IT departments “need to think about how they support new working practices” and look at their technology from “a more activity-based point of view.”
Laptops
Laptops are a crucial part of a flexible office as they are “affordable, reliable, powerful and robust”; they also come with “a variety of screen sizes” as well as helpful features such as “the connectivity to work with external screens and peripherals”.
Convertibles
2-in-1 devices “suit a wide variety of users” and offer a winning combination of “extreme portability, long battery life, the choice of traditional or touch and pen-driven interfaces and enough power to be seriously productive.” In addition, these kinds of devices often have “either built-in connectivity or docking options to support peripherals” and are ideal for both travelling and hotdesking in the office.
Desktops and workstations
Desktop devices are not passé, despite what some might think; scientific and financial applications, video, CAD, software development and more all still “thrive” on GPUs and multi-core processors. What’s more, “with a new breed of high-performance but compact computers, power no longer means finding space for a large machine.”
Mobile devices
Standalone tablets may not be as popular as they once were but “for certain tasks and certain roles” they can still make both a “portable and practical” solution. Some businesses may prefer to offer “corporate-owned and issued devices” while some may want to opt for “a secure policy for Bring Your Own Device”; either way it must be remembered that these devices “will still need supporting infrastructure” such as fast wireless networking and business-ready cloud-based services.