Orchestrating automation
The promise of automation has always been the ability to do more in less time, with fewer resources. The extent to which this has resulted in the need for more people to do less, or for less people to do more, and the ultimate social consequences of workforce virtualisation, is still being debated. However, those businesses which have been able to integrate technology into their workplaces from the outset are at a clear advantage.
Created on the premise that it was possible to cut overheads by offering end users "built-to-order" computer systems, PC maker Dell Computer has relied heavily on a comprehensive technological infrastructure.
Rob Small, marketing director for Dell Australasia, says the company is second only to HP/Compaq when it comes to unit sales in the region, yet functions on roughly a tenth of the workforce.
In a similar vein to the approach McDonalds takes to hamburger sales, Dell begins by installing identical manufacturing infrastructure in every country in which it operates.
"Regardless of whatever factory you visit around the world the production lines are exactly the same," Small says. "We have a much smaller workforce in terms of head count which contributes to our lower cost base, and around the country we have customer facing sales reps who are on the road rather than in offices."
Customer support in turn is provided through two call centres, one in Sydney Australia, the other in Bangalore India.
"The direct model is pure and simple to explain to our competitors, but they will not be able to make it work because it relies so heavily on the way we keep a track of each unit as it is ordered, built and shipped," Small says. "We are big on leveraging resources rather than replicating them globally."
Similarly Oracle, which supplies the software on which Dell's operations depend, places a heavy emphasis on its ability to manage global operations via a single instance of its Oracle ebusiness suite which is physically located on a server in the US.
Unlike Dell, which implemented the virtual work practices from the outset, Oracle was forced to navigate the treacherous straits of change management in order to reorganise its business processes.
Roland Slee, director of business and technology solutions for Oracle in Australasia, says the implementation procedure began with a simplification of the management infrastructure which enabled employees working in physically separate environments to operate within the same virtual team.
"Virtualisation enables global collaboration, where a team distributed across the world pursues a single objective," Slee says. "This way we can take advantage of the best skills at the lowest possible cost."
Slee believes the technological integration of Oracle's global operations is an economic imperative.
"It is the only way to be competitive on a global scale," Slee says. He concedes, however, that the approach provides some challenging management scenarios.
"It is important to encourage the global work force to see themselves as part of a global team. This level of global integration has to be driven from the top. There is definitely a need for high level executive sponsorship."
Hi,
Working as an IT contractor i've worked for quite a few clients on jobs that easily could have been done remotely.
The unfortunate reality i have found is that bosses want to see you sitting at a desk in their offices otherwise they don't seem to consider the work being done.
Just my 2 cents..