How Modern Cloud Software Makes Hybrid Work Models Possible - News, tips & guidance for agile, development, Atlassian-Software (JIRA, Confluence, Bitbucket, ...) and Google Cloud

Traditionally, corporate offices were considered the places where employees could work most productively. However, this is changing. Now with digital tools such as modern Cloud technologies, people are able to ensure work-life balance and high productivity regardless of where they are working.

Recently, during the pandemic, organizations realized that this kind of flexibility creates value: teams are able to organize themselves as efficiently as in the office, which increases employee satisfaction, and consequently overall productivity. Based on this experience, more and more companies are now willing to promote hybrid approaches.

Back in 2020, a study found that 55 percent of American employees would expect their employers to support hybrid models, while 67 percent of organizations said they understood this desire and wanted to implement it. Now, three years later, this is even more evident.

The evolution of employee requirements

With the breakthrough of the internet in the workplace, a central location with network access was essential for most employees. But today, more than 90 percent of all European households have broadband connections; in addition, free Wi-Fi is available in many public places. This has made it much less necessary to go to the office to access private servers. Of course, this does not mean that all employees are now very excited to work from home. The office location is just no longer an absolute prerequisite for securely accessing company information and communicating with other team members.

On the other hand, it would be unwise to predict the imminent death of physical offices. Physical interactions have their own benefits. For one, most people want to meet and interact with other people face to face - people are by nature social. Also innovation is often spurred when people are together within physical proximity.

Nevertheless, the fact is that Cloud solutions have made the entire globe a potential place to work. Companies that face up to this fact and embrace it as an opportunity are more attractive to top talent, who in turn enjoy the luxury of being highly selective in their job choices.

Modern Cloud software supports hybrid work on three levels.

Identifying key efficiencies and making them replicable

The traditional ideology around office presence stems from the need for managers to micromanage the daily work of employees. In the end, this often leads to people acting particularly busy and bustling as soon as a manager comes into view.

Researchers at Columbia University Business School conducted experiments to investigate the effectiveness of this "busy look" and uncovered a direct correlation between business and higher social status in the company, regardless of actual work performance.

The features of modern Cloud software increase the visibility of truly productive work and create more transparency into which teams are working most effectively and which success factors, methods and practices are worth emulating for other groups.

The ability to more easily identify what is working well and what is not can lead to organic productivity growth across the organization. Access to a well-developed pool of applications in the Cloud enables employees to work more effectively and can inspire innovation as ideas flow better and more freely through organizations.

Smoother collaboration, also driven by machine learning, analytics tools and seamless integrations, enables leaders to identify the best strategies to empower teams, break down silos and focus on producing real results rather than 'business'.

Generating business value through employee benefits

Hybrid models and the availability of virtual workplaces expand the pool of talent the company can draw from. Long ago, not every promising candidate was willing to commute daily or change their place of residence for a job.

By reducing office time, companies can offer their employees a healthier work-life balance while increasing their recruiting reach. This outreach manifests itself in several ways. Organizations are "always on" and collaboration is not limited to standard office hours. The company can assemble the best possible teams - regardless of the members' geographical locations.

The acceptance of hybrid work is symbiotic between employees and employers. Employees have the freedom to work in the environments that best suit their diverse, changing needs, while having full access to the work tools and information they need at all times. In turn, organizations benefit from a wider range of talent, modern tools and more efficient processes for teams to work together. And as a side effect, hybrid work can save or repurpose office spaces.

Building resilience for hybrid work with Cloud software and technologies

In organizations where many employees switch between home and office, or even work remotely altogether, protecting corporate data is a top priority. Fortunately, the days when Cloud solutions were considered vulnerable and insecure are long gone. Modern Cloud software meets or exceeds the requirements that IT teams would also place on on-premise systems. Sophisticated user provisioning solutions ensure that users can only access the data that is relevant to their roles.

For example, admins are able to block the system access of an employee or partner who leaves the company, even before they officially hand over their computer. This gives administrators more control over what data users have access to, while ensuring that all relevant information and tools are available from anywhere at any time, as long as users have the appropriate permissions.

In short, Atlassian Cloud solutions enable organizations to meet the highest security industry standards, while providing the ability to work from a laptop anywhere in the world.

The future of work is hybrid

When it comes to new technologies, concepts and processes, many companies hesitate - true to the motto: If it ain't broke, don't fix it! But a system doesn't have to be broken to benefit from improvements. We live in a time of fundamental change in the way we work. How a company responds to this change will help determine how competitive it will be in the future.

Take off in the Atlassian Cloud - with Seibert Media as the air traffic controller

Do you want to learn more about the Atlassian Cloud or are interested in migrating to Confluence Cloud, Jira Cloud or Jira Service Management Cloud? Then simply send your questions by e-mail to atlassian-licensing@seibert-media.net or arrange a consultation appointment with us directly (available in German or English). As a long-standing Atlassian Platinum Solution Partner, we are happy to help you evaluate your project, plan the migration and move your existing systems.