Remote Working Solutions Resetting the way we work for business continuity

April 2020

In this issue

Introduction 2

Business Continuity – Digitization Impacting Organizations 3

Benefits of Remote Working 5

Use Cases: Video Conferencing for Every Industry 7

Research from Gartner 10 Reap the Benefits of Remote Work for Your Midsize Enterprise 10

About Cisco 18

Introduction

Businesses globally are quickly adopting remote working solutions

for seamless business operations, and to provide flexibility to

employees, so they can connect from anywhere at any time.

Encouraging employees to reduce travel, and work from home is a

rising trend among companies. In-person meetings and events are

giving way to virtual conferences and meetings.

This paper explores how organizations are making a paradigm shift,

and the way people work and conduct business is transforming on a

global scale.

The Paradigm Shift

For most, digital is already part of daily life, creating new

possibilities, and introducing new ideas from brain storming to

executing projects. While the switch to digital meetings is already

a growing trend globally, the current situation has accelerated

the adoption of collaboration technologies that not only enable

employees to connect and share content in real-time on any device

but also facilitate seamless group work, both in-office and outside.

What’s impressive is the ease and pace at which companies

are adapting to safeguard their employees, their customers,

and their business. While the underlying technical ability was

always there, the size and scale of this transformation is new.

More importantly, all of this is happening without significantly

impacting productivity and quality.

If you look around, you will see events going digital overnight,

MoUs being signed virtually, companies urging employees to work

from home, students being asked to learn from home, and more.

Industries like media and entertainment are also adapting. Recently,

popular K-pop band, BTS, decided to hold a virtual news conference

over YouTube to launch their latest album. At Venice Opera House,

when COVID-19 forced performances to be cancelled, a string

quartet played Beethoven to an empty theatre, streaming their

concert online to virtual applause from hundreds of fans.

The world is certainly transforming to digital.

Business Continuity – Digitization Impacting Organizations

Disruptions and discontinuities never stop businesses.

It creates new possibilities and paves the way for

innovation. Imagine how disruptive businesses will

become in the days to come.

There are moments in time, where singularly pervasive

events have redefined everything we once took for

granted—for instance, getting up, getting dressed, and

going to work. In the last few weeks, the core concepts

of going to work and how we work have changed. While

remote working is not new, the focus it’s receiving now,

globally, is unprecedented.

What’s interesting is that we are witnessing business

and government leaders taking bold decisions to

enable work from home, something that seemed

outlandish just a few weeks ago. In India, the

Department of Telecommunications relaxed

regulations for IT service providers, to allow employees

to work from home. The Central Government ordered

50 percent of its employees to work from home; the

Assam Government instructed teachers to impart

lessons over WhatsApp and more doctors are treating

people over video such as Webex Meetings. Many of

these changes happened almost overnight.

The world is quickly transitioning and getting used to

working from home.

So, what does this mean for employees and employers,

and more importantly, the economy?

For employees, there is a direct impact on their daily

lives, giving them more flexibility and opportunity

for us to balance time with families, but reducing

commute time and tiredness from traffic.

4

Cisco leads by example. The leadership team was

able to boost productivity and innovation within the

teams. “I held a six-hour-long virtual workshop over

Webex, with a flurry of ideas emerging from every

participant. As a bonus, I now know whose dog loves

sleeping on the couch, whose kid is just learning

to walk, and who can cook! That’s the beauty of

working and connecting from home – it humanizes

the employee experience” says Sameer Garde,

President, Cisco India & SAARC.

For companies, apart from the obvious benefits

of reduced operational costs, this would mean

having a more diverse pool of talent, which will have

a positive impact on revenue and innovation. For

example, as companies start getting used to the idea

of Work From Home (WFH), they will become open

to employing gig workers who can contribute from

anywhere. This trend could also bring more women

into the workforce. Commuting to work still happens

to be one of the biggest challenges for working

women; according to India’s 2011 Census, 60% of

women limited their job opportunities to within 1km

of their homes. WFH could help move the needle

towards an equally distributed workforce. Additionally,

by casting the net across geographies, companies can

gain in-depth, real-time insights into evolving market

realities.

Lastly, the economy – as companies start actively

building a geographically agnostic and diverse

workforce, the economy will benefit from this

transformation. For instance, if the Indian IT sector,

which employs over 4.5 million people, were more

dispersed, rather than concentrated in Bangalore,

Hyderabad or other IT hubs, it would drastically

reduce pressure on city infrastructure and lead to

balanced economic growth across the country. More

importantly, as more women join the workforce, it

will boost the overall GDP. Besides, remote working

will create new business models and revenue

streams.

Learn More.

Source: Cisco

Benefits of Remote Working

More companies are becoming open to supporting

remote working style. The new practices at the

workplace continue to replace old processes,

however the acceptance of change is subject

to increasing scrutiny. Distributed and remote

workforces are among the changes that have the

biggest impact on organizations as employees are

the most valuable assets.

Cisco’s inherent culture supports work from home.

Almost 60% of employees of Cisco, work remotely

or are mobile, reporting to the office twice a week.

Here are some of the benefits of working from home

or from any location:

Brainstorming is Effective

Traditionally, remote working posed limitations

in communications, especially those that

required interpretations, views, counterpoints,

and discussions. The tone and urgency behind

discussions is often lost in text messaging tools.

Similarly, the inability to share drawings or suggest

changes to images was a handicap. This created

perceptions that tools were incapable of replacing

‘in-person’ meetings. Work space live sharing tools

including whiteboarding and video conferences,

empower remote participants with powerful

capabilities that give the experience of in-person

meetings.

6

Work is still constructive without fully functional home offices

Prior to the mid-digital era, when desktops were

the only options and devices offered connectivity,

the experience was poor. This is no longer the case.

Technology has made handheld devices as versatile

as desktops, and, innovative tools like Webex

Meetings App, Webex Teams App, work on handheld

devices with full functional use. This combination has

turned devices into extensions of offices.

Remote workers value the company culture

The human centric experience of new age digital

tools has built a strong case for remote working.

Companies now possess the ability to organize video

conferences specifically for customer meetings,

town halls, socializing, product launches and many

more. New age digital tools permit organizations to

take activities to remote locations. This is primarily

because the employees are valuing the flexibility

given to them by their managers to work from home

and work from anywhere.

Remote workers are as productive if not more

In the knowledge economy, workplace productivity

is no more linked to the number of hours put in

by employees. Output has become more result

oriented. Traffic congestion, distractions at the

workplace hamper productivity—employees in Indian

metros spend an additional 1.5 hours just getting to

offices (likewise in many other countries). The present

suite of tools take the workplace to remote locations,

achieving productivity aligned with business outcomes.

A study by Cisco on benefits of remote working clearly

underscored this as it was found that remote working

increased workplace productivity by 14%.

Companies are more open to hire remote workers

It makes perfect business sense for organizations

to encourage employees to work remotely. As

mentioned earlier, 60% of employees of Cisco, for

instance, work remotely or are mobile, reporting to

the office twice a week. Real estate, office space,

commuting time, energy, and overheads are just a

few compelling reasons that make remote attractive,

slashed budgets by $ 196 million, reducing real

estate utilization and another $200 million in travel

expenses. Most organizations, including Fortune 500

companies are actively encouraging remote working.

Source: Cisco

Use Cases: Video Conferencing for Every Industry

Remote working is possible due to the video

technology enabled in the digital tools and

solutions. Today every industry, manufacturing,

education, retail, healthcare, IT/ITES and even

the Government is adopting video conferencing to

encourage the remote working.

“In the first 11 business

days of March 2020,

we have had 5.5 billion

Webex meeting minutes,”

says Chuck Robbins on

Squawk on the Street.

Use Case #1 : G20 Summit – Government Connected over Video Conferencing

Cisco made history on 26 March 2020, as the

first ever virtual G20 Summit, chaired by King

Salman, was held using Cisco Webex technology.

27 leaders from the 20 member countries of

G20 attended the Summit over video conference

and discussed ways to fight COVID-19 together.

Use Case #2 : Digital Schools – Educational Institutes Networking over Video

We understand how to help schools innovate to

drive higher levels of student engagement and

improve learning outcomes. We also understand

the power of networks. That’s why we have

applied our knowledge and expertise to create

the Digital Schools Network, a community-based

8

program designed to enable educators and students

to connect, collaborate, learn and share experiences

and resources within a secure digital collaboration

platform – to transform traditional schools into

Digital Schools. Learn More.

Use Case #3 : CEO Board Meetings - Large IT Firms Connect over Video

Indian Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and

promoters are making full use of working from home

by attending board and management meetings

9

through video conferencing during the COVID-19

days to stay safe and yet connected.

Indian CEOs like Tata group Chairman N

Chandrasekaran, Mahindra Group Chairman Anand

Mahindra, RPG Enterprises Chairman Harsh Goenka,

Bajaj Auto CEO and MD Rajiv Bajaj are working from

home and are making sure that all office staff are

also safe and sound while company’ operations are

not affected.

As told to Business Standard “For the past few days,

I see almost no loss of efficiency so far, barring my

inability to review new product sketches models and

prototypes. All other discussions are often sharper

and crisper,” said CEO and MD Rajiv Bajaj, Bajaj Auto.

Ramesh Nair, MD and CEO of JLL, says he created

a designated place in his house as ‘home office’.

“I believe this is extremely essential for each one

of us to do as we begin working from home. I have

also shifted my Cisco DX80 from office to home that

enables me to connect frequently with my leadership

team via video conferencing.”

Source: Cisco

Research from Gartner

Reap the Benefits of Remote Work for Your Midsize Enterprise

CIOs in midsize enterprises can use remote work

technology to drive organizational resiliency

against world-impacting events. MSE C-suites are

hesitant to allow remote work for fear of a drop-off

in productivity. Work with HR to dispel fears and

highlight benefits.

Overview

Key Challenges

■ MSEs that limit talent acquisition for the newest

skills types to only their physical location will be

limiting their talent pool and must compete with

other local organizations that can provide better

flexibility.

■ MSE CEOs and executives fear that the potential

negatives of remote work outweigh the positives,

slowing or even stopping remote work initiatives

before they have started.

■ Lack of direction and understanding of remote

work practices have led to immature policies and

programs that have failed due to poor adoption

by business employees and management.

Recommendations

As MSE CIOs looking to establish a remote work

policy, you should:

■ Collaborate with HR to determine what the top

barriers are for your organization and how best

to address them.

■ Identify the benefits of remote work for your

organization by working with HR to determine

the roles that lend themselves to remote work,

and with finance to determine the potential cost

benefits.

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■ Create your remote work policy by taking your

findings from barriers and key benefits, and work

together with executive peers to craft a policy

that makes sense for your specific needs.

Introduction

MSE CIOs must take the lead in building remote

work strategies in the organization. In many cases,

the close-knit nature of MSEs has been one of their

key advantages. By switching a subset of employees

to remote work, it can raise concerns over the

cohesion of the organization. This could lead to

disagreements with executive peers, as well as the

CEO or ownership, as to the validity of remote work.

Younger generations of workers are looking for

remote work flexibility. The Gartner’s Digital

Workplace Consumer Survey asked respondents,

“If you could make the schedule yourself, what

proportion of time would like to spend working

…?” The data shows that over 40% of Gen Z and

millennial respondents in the U.S. and Europe

currently working for MSEs wish to work in a more

nomadic way. It also shows that over 30% of Gen X

and baby boomer respondents want the same (see

Figure 1).

Figure 1: Proportion of Time Would Prefer Working From ...

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MSE CIOs need to understand the reality of sourcing

new and emerging roles such as those in artificial

intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML), as well

as automation specialists and Internet of Things

(IoT) architects. Gartner’s Midsize Enterprise Talent

and Skills Survey shows the main sourcing approach

is to reskill internally either from within, or outside

of, IT. For several emerging roles shown in Figure 2

(selected out of the 14 tested in the survey), 30% or

more of MSE CIOs surveyed said they will look for an

external hire.

Gartner has significant research on remote work best

practices. In this research we contextualize those

practices to key areas MSEs should focus on.

Analysis

Work With Human Resources to Address the Fears of Remote Work

Refer to Gartner’s research, “Overcome the Fears,

Embrace the Benefits and Launch a Remote Work

Pilot Program,” which provides a list of the eight

most common fears leadership has in regards to

remote work. Of those eight, based on Gartner

interactions with MSE clients, the most common

three for MSEs are included in Table 1.

Figure 2: Midsize Enterprise Skills Sourcing

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Also consider the fears that employees may have and how you will need to mitigate

them (see Table 2).

Barrier/Fear Why MSEs Should Care How to Address

Culture doesn’t support it MSE leadership

consistently names culture

as the No. 1 barrier for

digital growth.

This will require a cultural change to some

degree. Managers will need to be educated

about leadership and management principles

that are appropriate for the age of digital

business. They need to move away from a

command-and-control approach to one that

manages employees toward results.

Managers must also be aware of the benefits

of providing remote work, particularly the

ability to widen the pool of high-caliber

talent. This is a critical reward element in the

competition for talent.

Creates a “haves and have-

nots” perception

In sub-1000 employee

organizations malcontent

can spread easily and

have significant impact on

employee productivity.

Determine which roles and what kind of work

can be performed remotely. Give employees

the option, when possible, to opt in or out.

Create a marketing communication plan

to explain the purpose of the program and

criteria for eligibility.

Employees misuse the

program

Misuse of the program can

lead to time and money

lost on projects. With

limited resources to begin

with, this can be highly

detrimental to MSEs.

Focus on the deliverables and outcomes of

remote workers, rather than the amount

of time people work. Note: There are some

exceptions where work is tracked for client

purposes (e.g., in consulting for billable

hours), but the point is to focus on outcomes.

Table 1: Top MSE Barriers and Fears for Remote Work

Source: Gartner (March 2020)

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Barrier/Fear Why MSEs Should Care How to Address

Isolation Isolation can be a major

problem for MSE employees

switching to remote work.

Going from a close-knit

community to no community

can be a shock to them and

hinder initial productivity.

Encourage remote workers to:

■ Take a break and get out of the home office, if only

for a walk.

■ Get together for coffee or lunch if they work near

other employees.

■ Attend local events, such as industry association

meetings.

■ Text, email and have calls formally and informally

with colleagues.

■ Participate in virtual celebrations.

■ When possible, employees should meet face-to-face

when it makes sense to have in-person interaction.

Negative impact

on career

opportunities

and professional

development

It can be easy for employees

to be out of sight and out of

mind, especially if they are

doing good work. As openings

in MSE are limited in most

cases if career opportunities

and development are not

addressed, good employees

may leave the organization.

■ Discuss how to maintain a remote worker’s career

and professional development opportunities.

■ Employees will need to be proactive to ensure they

are not invisible. They should take advantage of

any opportunity that will raise their visibility. This

includes volunteering for projects (high-visibility

ones, when possible) and using email and other

electronic communication to maintain visibility in

critical social networks.

Work too much/

distractions

This can go in one of two

directions, both of which lead

to less productivity. Either the

employee works too much and

burns out or has too many

distractions and does not

complete tasks in a timely

manner.

Encourage remote workers to:

■ Set appointments on a calendar for work hours, and

maintain control and discipline in managing the

calendar.

■ Once the work day is completed, turn off the

computer and leave the home office.

■ Take frequent breaks to remain refreshed and

focused.

■ Have a dedicated office and separate phone line.

■ Get day care, as needed, and ensure others know

they are working and not to disturb them when

working in the home office.

Source: Gartner (March 2020)

Table 2: Addressing Barriers and Fears of Employees

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Identify the Benefits of Remote Work for Your Organization

In the “2020 CIO Agenda: A Midsize Enterprise

Perspective,” we show the responses from MSE

respondents to the 2020 Gartner CIO Survey,

including what disruptions they had experienced and

Effect of Disruption Benefits to MSE Needs How to Address

Thirty-seven percent of MSE

respondents to the 2020

Gartner CIO Survey indicated

that it was difficult to attract

the right talent for their needs

following a disruption.

Access to a wider talent pool: Limiting the hiring

search to just the immediate geographic location

could lead to a significant fight for local talent with

other local enterprises. By using remote work,

you have the potential to pull from a national and

international level for new hires.

Determine with HR

which current and

emerging roles may

lend themselves to

remote work.

Thirty-five percent of MSE

respondents to the 2020

Gartner CIO Survey named the

ability to fund new business

initiatives as an issue in the

wake of a disruptive situation.

Twenty-five percent of these

same MSE respondents named

operating cost competitiveness

as a postdisruption issue.

Reduced real estate cost: As remote work

becomes more commonplace, the need for

physical office space may drop. This will also drop

the associated cost for things such as furniture,

maintenance and security. These costs can then

be reallocated to other business initiatives to stay

competitive.

Work with your finance

department to identify

the cost benefits

associated with

reducing real estate

costs taking into

account secondary

costs, such as

furniture.

Thirty-four percent of

MSE respondents to the

2020 Gartner CIO Survey

indicated that the speed at

which business initiatives

are successfully completed

suffered as a result of a

disruption.

Increased employee productivity and better

employee satisfaction and retention: There is

consensus that a clear benefit of remote work to

the enterprise is retention, particularly of talented

people. Often there are also valuable savings on

employment costs and a reduction in unproductive

time, including travel and less absences from

work. In the case of unplanned events and

disruptions, such as severe weather, damage to

the office or pandemic concerns, remote work can

help with organizational resiliency by not tying

employees to an office.

MSE leaders must

fairly and transparently

measure remote

work productivity and

performance, and as

stated previously, focus

on the deliverables and

outcomes of remote

workers, rather than

the amount of time

people work.

Source: Gartner (March 2020)

Table 3: Falling Behind Due to Effects of Disruption vs. Remote Work Benefits

what the effects of disruption have been on their

enterprise’s abilities.

The inherent benefits of remote work can tie well to

alleviating some of the effects felt from disruption

(see Table 3).

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Work With Executive Team to Establish a Remote Work Policy

Review your findings with the executive team on how

to mitigate fears and drive benefits of remote work.

Continue to work on fears and values the executive

team may also have. Use Gartner’s “Toolkit: Remote

Work Policies,” as a template to create your policy.

How you plan to address barriers and fears, as well

as cultivating the benefits of remote work, should

all be highlighted in the policy. A further goal of

the policy should be to help prepare employees

for remote work and to clarify what demands will

be made of them. The policy will also help enable

supportive interactions between workers. Consider

the following key policy points in Table 4.

Table 4: Key Policy Points

Key Policy Point Why MSEs Should Care How to Address

Determining the appropriate

equipment and resources.

Many MSEs have tried

to stretch out the use of

technology to keep costs flat.

This may cause issues for

remote workers. Conversely,

remote workers may need to

provide specific hardware and

services of their own.

Work with your IT team to determine what

the hardware minimum should be for

remote work. Establish if the business, the

employee or a combination of both will

provide hardware and resources. Define

the mandatory minimum bandwidth the

employee home internet must provide.

Availability and

communication requirements

To help maintain the close-

knit nature of MSEs, proper

communication planning will

help ensure that employees do

not lose their connection to the

rest of the organization.

Make clear what communication

technology is available to employees to

connect with one another. Set mandatory

minimums that remote workers must

connect with colleagues on a weekly

basis. Ensure that direct managers are

connecting with remote workers, at

minimum, biweekly.

Source: Gartner (March 2020)

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Evidence

Gartner’s webinar, “Midsize Enterprise Approaches

to Talent Management,” was held on 1 October 2019

with a total of 115 attendees, with 45 responding to

the question “Does your organization have or plan to

offer a remote work option?” Note that it is possible

for attendees from large/global enterprises to attend

these webinars.

■ Yes, full implemented: 56% (25 votes)

■ Next 12 to 18 months: 18% (8 votes)

■ Next 19 to 24 months: 2% (1 vote)

■ No plan to implement at this time: 24% (11

votes)

Gartner conducted the Midsize Enterprise Talent

and Skills Survey in June and July 2019 in order

to discover the current staffing and skill levels of

midsize enterprises. The respondents, 303 CIOs, or

the most senior IT leaders in midsize organizations,

were considered qualified and surveyed.

The sample by country coverage is as follows:

■ NA (n =113) — U.S. (n = 80); Canada (n = 33)

■ Europe (190) — France (n = 62); Germany (n =

39); Italy (n = 36); U.K. (n = 53)

■ By size: Small IT Organization (n = 87); Medium

(n = 166); Large (n = 50)

The survey was developed collaboratively by a

team of Gartner analysts who examine IT’s role in

business, and was reviewed, tested and administered

by Gartner’s Research Data and Analytics team.

The results of this study are representative of the

respondent base and not necessarily the business as

a whole.

The 2020 Gartner CIO Survey was conducted online

from 4 June 2019 through 5 August 2019 among

Gartner Executive Programs members and other

CIOs. Qualified respondents are each the most

senior IT leader (CIO) for their overall organization or

a part of their organization (for example, a business

unit or region). The total sample is 1,070, with

representation from all geographies and industry

sectors (public and private), including 258 MSE

(excluding government and education) CIOs. The

survey was developed collaboratively by a team

of Gartner analysts, and was reviewed, tested

and administered by Gartner’s Research Data and

Analytics team. Results do not represent “global”

findings, or the market as a whole, but reflect the

sentiment of the respondents and companies

surveyed.

The 2019 Gartner Digital Workplace Consumer

Survey was conducted online from March through

April 2019 among 7,261 respondents in the U.S.,

Europe (France, Germany and the U.K.) and APAC

(China, India and Singapore). Participants were

screened for full-time employment in organizations

with 100 or more employees and were required

to use digital technology for work purposes.

Respondents’ ages ranged from 18 through 74

years old. Quotas and weighting were applied for

age, gender, region and income, so that results

are representative of working country populations.

The results of this study do not represent “global”

findings, or the market as a whole, but are a simple

average of results for the targeted countries covered

in this survey.

Gartner Research Note G00718929, Joe Mariano, 13 March 2020

Remote Working Solutions is published by Cisco. Editorial content supplied by Cisco is independent of Gartner analysis. All Gartner research is used with Gartner’s permission, and was originally published as part of Gartner’s syndicated research service available to all entitled Gartner clients. © 2020 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. The use of Gartner research in this publication does not indicate Gartner’s endorsement of Cisco’s products and/or strategies. Reproduction or distribution of this publication in any form without Gartner’s prior written permission is forbidden. The information contained herein has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable. Gartner disclaims all warranties as to the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of such information. The opinions expressed herein are subject to change without notice. Although Gartner research may include a discussion of related legal issues, Gartner does not provide legal advice or services and its research should not be construed or used as such. Gartner is a public company, and its shareholders may include firms and funds that have financial interests in entities covered in Gartner research. Gartner’s Board of Directors may include senior managers of these firms or funds. Gartner research is produced independently by its research organization without input or influence from these firms, funds or their managers. For further information on the independence and integrity of Gartner research, see “Guiding Principles on Independence and Objectivity” on its website.

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