Exchanging a physical office for an office in the cloud

Peter du ToitI'm the founder of FutureWork IQ where I spend my time assisting businesses to design digital workplaces or “offices in the cloud.” These environments enable companies to allow flexible and remote working for their teams. I also teach the digital literacy, fluency, communication and collaboration skills needed to work in these modern technology-rich workplaces.

This piece is from The Guardian in October 2013 entitled Is cloud technology making physical offices obsolete. Even back then there were companies that were experiencing the benefits of moving their offices into the cloud.

“Parekh says his business costs have fallen by 15% as a result of closing his office, yet the company has expanded its revenues by over 20% per annum since 2007. He credits the decision to allow his staff to work more flexibly as part of the reason the company has been successful. “The flexibility has had a hugely positive effect on our staff as our employees enjoy a greater work/life balance. This in turn has ensured we have happy, more productive employees. For me personally, this has been a godsend, particularly when it’s my turn to do the school run.”

Today, 6 years later, many more organizations are making the switch. Logging onto work, from anywhere, has replaced driving to work.

I don’t know about the cloud making physical offices obsolete but it has definitely created a situation where they are not a necessity.