As part of its regular thought leadership programme, the North West Business Insider held a ‘Round Table’ this week, hosted by the TSK Group, focused on how the world of work is changing.

People have unprecedented freedom to find products and services and to assess value and competitiveness. They expect higher levels of flexibility and service. So how do business leaders make sure they remain competitive in a business landscape transformed by the digital age?

Ian Jackson, Managing Director of Imerja, attended the event amongst a number of business leaders from across the North West. Jackson comments:

“The round table was an excellent debate which challenged today’s – and tomorrow’s – workspace requirements, and considered expectations from both clients and employees.

So what does today’s workplace look like? From discussions held, I believe we are at a tipping point between a ‘traditional’ office workspace against a flexible, mobile workspace; the requirement for an ‘office environment’ is essential in my opinion. As a member of yesterday’s ‘Generation X’ the office is a place for comradely and motivation; tomorrow’s ‘Generation Y’ do not have the same needs and are quite comfortable liaising in the virtual world and more adept to working from home or remote from the workplace.

One thing is for sure, the traditional workspace is changing. Technology will assist in this change as will the needs and expectations from tomorrow’s employees. Visionary organisations like Google will push the boundaries of tomorrow’s workspace and whilst most organisations will not have the luxury or maybe the belief in the benefits of implementing ‘employee playgrounds’ or ‘creative thinking pods’; like Vivian Westwood creations on the catwalk, some of these ideas will make it to the mainstream.

All in all it was an excellent and extremely well hosted round table debate; thanks to hosts TSK Group and Insider Magazine – find the full debate in April’s edition of North West Business Insider magazine.”

IT experts disconnected GMP from the Police National Computer (PNC) after finding the conficker virus on Friday. It means officers have been asking neighbouring forces to carry out national checks on names and vehicles.

The conficker virus, a malicious worm, is believed to have infected up to 15 million computers around the world. It was identified in the GMP system on Friday and quickly spread through the force, leading to the decision to cut off access to the PNC.

Assistant Chief Constable Dave Thompson said the virus was not destructive and no data had been lost.

“A team of experts is now working on removing the virus, and will not reconnect until we are sure there is no further threat,” he said. “We have systems in place to ensure this does not affect our service to the communities of Greater Manchester. “At this stage it is not clear where the virus has come from but we are investigating how this has happened and will be taking steps to prevent this from happening again.”

Ian Jackson, Managing Director at Imerja commented on the story on North West Tonight regional news, stating: “If an organisation implements a very robust security policy that has many layers of protection for its network, and it polices and enforces it with rigor, and compliments that with awareness for its users then a lot of this can be avoidable.”

Conficker initially worked by exploiting a vulnerability in the Windows Server service, which Microsoft combated with a security update. However, the virus can spread via portable devices such as memory sticks.

Extreme weather, tube strikes, G20 protests, postal disruption: recent events have highlighted the need for all small businesses to be able to work away from the office. Imerja’s Mark Evans looks back at an eventful year for small firms.

Driving down cost is at the centre of most business decisions these days. Innovative firms have looked to implement flexible benefits to replace bonuses and help retain key employees. At the same time, a recent catalogue of man-made and natural crises has seen the mobile working revolution gather momentum. Businesses are increasingly recognising tangible benefits from working away from the office and have begun to see it as an essential part of an overall business continuity strategy.

A YouGov survey revealed that the recent extreme weather affected over 70% of workers in the UK and over a hundred million working hours have been lost by staff not being able to make it into the office or having a much longer commute than normal. The recent heavy snow has merely served to highlight the need for businesses to have flexible working in place; many events last year also demonstrated this very same point.

Anyone using the UK motorway infrastructure on a regular basis will have experienced gridlock, and probably frustration at being unproductive for long periods as the chaos clears. Although we may reluctantly accept the daily inconvenience of travel disruption and delay as part of working life, there is a direct cost to business.

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