Virtual Workplaces and Technology Management

Virtual Workplaces and Telecomutting are not necessarily new concepts, but they have been more adopted in these last few years as a way to decrease costs and increase productivity. Before, telecommuting was only a way to help employees work without having to commute to work. These days Telecommuting has turned into Virtual Workplaces, which are designed not with the employee in mind, but with the company in mind. There exists so many technologies in the world that it has become more cost effective to pay for the equipment to set somebody's home up rather than spend money on the overhead of finding a work place. The benefits of this virtual workplace do not just end at decreased overhead costs, but also include the ability to have workers from farther away. Most people keep to a 30 minute or less commute to their jobs. A virtual workplace allows companies to employ people that may live more than 30 minutes from the local office. This gives the company the ability to pull from a more talented pool of people.
Despite all these reasons of why virtual workplaces are a great alternative to traditional workplaces, according to "Telecommuting, Telework &Telelifestyles", companies in Germany have been slow to accept virtual workplaces and telecommuting as a viable option for their work environment. This is largely due to TeleKom, the largest monopolizing ISP which has very high monthly rates for internet access. For most German companies "They just aren't realizing the savings that they are getting due to high overhead costs."

Technology Management, as stated in the Bank Technology Network website, technology can be incorporated into a wish list of ideas that will bind the banker to the bank as they manage their banking practices with todays technology. For example, they stated that instead of giving out household items that they can get for cheap to first time bankers, they should give cell phones with their online banking service application built into the phone. If the person signs a 2 year contract for the phone, they will need to also stay with the bank for 2 years. Another idea that was listed was for banks to partner up to auto companies and make EZ- PassFobs a built in technology that will link to your bank. This makes the bank able to deduct funds from the drivers account on toll roads. As people will not have to hand the money to somebody, not only will transactions be faster, but they will also be more frequent. Another good example of this is Microsoft's Sync that is installed in Ford cars and links to the drivers applications on their computer. This partnership between Ford and Microsoft has been a success in the United States and is being tried by other manufacturers in other parts of the world. It is possible that we will see this appear in Germany.


Sources:
Telecommuting, Telework & Telelifestyles
http://faculty.washington.edu/krumme/telcom/commuting.html#german
"Wishes for the next twenty" By Greg Goth
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