80% of our work force are telecommuters and we've been supporting this model for over 4 yrs. It works well for us.

Couldn't agree more! The gadgets and remote technology is out there but most of the information workers armed with these items don't know how to use them! If IT and the Help Desk issue or authorize information workers to purchase mobile devices and other remote gadgets to ultimately enhance productivity and efficiency, the IT should have a 24/7 support plan in place, or at the very least find a support provider that can assist them.

There is another, very viable alternative for remote and/or mobile workers -- the transformation of enterprise applications for use on handheld devices. Webalo (which is a client of our agency) has devised a way to map enterprise functionality so that it adapts to the UI of virtually any device -- BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, Pocket PC, Palm, Symbian, and Java-enabled -- and it does it without programming. The security that's already being used for mobile devices remains in force, the backend systems are unaffected, and the process takes only a couple of hours (less once the wizard-based process becomes familiar). Employees gain access to the enterprise from any location that has a cellphone signal, they can (potentially) avoid using (and carrying around) a laptop, and the cost of supporting additional hardware and software goes down significantly.

Remote workers are not new, remember traveling sales people? The major difference from 30 years ago and today are the toys and tools available to support these people. Having owned a business and worked many days out of my second office also called a Volvo, to currently managing large enterprise systems where the majority of the employees are in satellite offices, I have watched the spider web of technology go crazy. The most important things that I have noted are how the spider web is managed – or not. If the planning is not there, you will have a mess - this includes what equipment will be supported and allowed to connect, what standards and conduct will be maintained, how future systems will interact with the current systems, how the enterprise will evolve, to the disaster recovery when something goes wrong – like upgrading some software on a remote PC. Nothing is taken for granted.

Manage the spider web well or it will manage you, your organization and employees depend upon your decisions to be profitable.

Thanks

I don't appreciate the tone of this article. Telecommuting has been resisted for many years. It should be embraced because of proven productivity gains, massive office space savings, and now the enormous potential for fuel cost savings. The real issue is, not everyone is cut out for Telecommuting and there are documented ways to determine this. Some employees are simply unable to be productive in or out of the office, and telecommuting exposes this very quickly. Highly successful companies in the future will aggressively create and support telecommuting tools, and it should be an important IT function to do so.

I live and work in the DC-metro area. I worked for a large non-profit and successfully managed individuals who were allowed to telecommute for all or part of their work week. I currently own a small IT consulting company. We have no office spaces - we all work remotely. This works well because we have only hired individuals that we know can work in this environment. Our staff all gave up long, unproductive, stress-inducing commutes -- and believe me, we all appreciate very much the life-enhancing benefits of being allowed to work remotely. Remote workers can be counted on to work when and as needed to. Sure, we're available to our clients during regular business hours. But you can't put a price tag on having the freedom to take your kid to the dentist at 11 am and then work on a project at 9 pm. I think we are more productive for it. Big business -- and the feds -- need to wake up before all of the real talent packs up and leaves for a flexible environment guaranteed to improve their work-life balance. We have the technology, we have the collaboration tools, we have processes ... not to mention the environmental benefits of getting the cars off the road. What's the hold up??

I manage an enterprise of 70,000 teleworkers and our company has taken teleworking service to a whole new level, providing our users an always-on highly secure connection coupled with unified communications. The seamless experience of voice, wireless and video have been noted by our users as simply indispensable. In an era of globalization, generation X'ers who are obsessed with superparenting-- and generation Y's who 'must have' a flexible work environment, this is inescapable for any IT organization. We get an average of 25-35% response rates on our surveys largely because users are willing to tell their stories on how this service has touched their lives. Instant Messaging is the new hallway and watercooler so forget the myth that users get out of touch. Our enterprise has leveraged the additional hours people put in who give it readily as a token of gratitude for the support they get in enabling them to strive for that work/life balance. Furthermore, our workforce is enabled to handle site event disruptions such as weather or pandemic issues. During an icestorm in Dallas where the advisory was not to travel, 100% or our workers were able to work simulating their office environment at the comfort of their home including handling Voice over IP calls. With the ubiquity of broadband and the availability of unified comms, messaging, VPN and hardware VPN solutions, the office/cube walls have been torn down. Security and Support are no longer issues if you choose the right solution. Plus you save mother earth. Go check out the Cisco Virtual Office (aka ECT) for the ultimate teleworking solution for the enterprise.