But thin clients limit choice and effectiveness. Spaces that are
devoid of a terminal cannot be used for work, and so activity
based working concepts fail. Thin clients are a compromise,
still limiting people to work at ‘desks’ with fixed technology,
albeit that those desks and terminals are now shared.
A similar conflict resides with telephony and communications.
People want to speak to people and so desk-to-desk
communications through fixed IP handsets is increasingly
archaic. People now report that they use their own mobile
(cell) phone inside buildings for most calls and so we predict
a move towards mobility through either the mobile smart
phone or software phones (softphones) that reside on
desktop or tablet – Microsoft’s Lync for example. And there
is a growing trends towards unified communications and
collaboration (UCC) solutions, where telephony is converged
with instant messaging, video and social media into one
interface – which should necessarily be mobile.
4.4.2. The cloud and data centre
As banks move some or all of their services, data and software
to the cloud to enable remote working, increased agility, and
better business continuity, there is a question they face about
the security and compliance issues of the different cloud
options. Does the cloud provider enable you to avoid sharing
servers in the cloud environment, where is the data stored,
is there continuous back-up in several locations (and where
are they), how secure is the encryption of the data stored,
retrieved and sent, and what are the downtime guarantees?
In light of this, many large banks have told us that their long-
term strategy is based on creating and running their own cloud
data centres so that they both reap the benefits the cloud
brings, and remain in complete control of the data storage,
transfer, encryption and security. However, for many smaller
banks, and to some extent smaller geographically remote
operations of larger banks, this is a cost-prohibitive solution.
But servers, hosted in a private cloud or data centre start
to provide the flexibility and adaptability that banks will
require in the future. It also signals that there will be less
technology infrastructure housed in future offices, and so the
requirements for cooling, power, UPS, fire suppression, raised
floor and risers can all be revisited.
4.4.3. Rise of the Chief Digital Officer (CDO)
There has been a rise in the number of Chief Digital Officers,
with McKinsey & Company’s annual global survey in 2013
14
stating that 30% of respondents report a chief digital officer
(CDO) on their company’s executive teams. The report
concludes that Chief Digital Officers are already playing
critical roles in major global organisations.
CDOs have been described as the new ‘it’ position, having
grown organically from the explosion in new technology and
the essential role digital technology has in all aspects of the
business and particularly in the lives of the customer.
4.4.4. Big Data
One of the key assets of any bank is customer data. And
while confidentiality concerns have so far prevented the
commercialisation of customer data, the potential for
future innovation is substantial. The pioneer was Tesco
with their Club Card loyalty scheme where 18 million
customers shared their data with the retailer, allowing
an understanding of purchasing patterns but also
lifestyle and demography. Most retailers and now mobile
phone operators have followed with, for example, O2
commercialising its locational data with ‘Smart Steps’.
Banks know what people buy (and where if they use anything
other than cash), they know customer addresses and so
home typology, their income and their spending habits and
patterns, together with credit history and so on. Very powerful
information that we believe will be used in the future.
This may well have an impact on workplace as new types
of teams and activities emerge, monitoring customers in
new ways. For example, National Australia Bank has a Social
Media Command Centre in their Melbourne headquarters
to monitor all social media about the bank and its products.
Through clever tracking software, displayed on huge screens,
they can track positive traffic about a brand or product and
react to any negative sentiments.
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The future of the financial workplace
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September 2014
