workforce technology assessments

© 2011 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited1 © 2009 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited

Workforce Technology Assessment A Fact-Based Approach To Needs Analysis

Ted Schadler, VP & Principal Analyst, coauthor of Empowered

Phil Karcher, Researcher

February 15, 2011

© 2011 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited2Source: Foundation3D

Forrester makes IT leaders successful by helping them use data to analyze the real needs of employees and move beyond one-size-fits-all provisioning.

© 2011 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited3

Top reasons IT needs data on how employees use technology to get work done

Knowing if people are satisfied with our technologies and service matters to me

Ensuring strong adoption of workplace technologies matters to me

Having hard data to support my technology decisions is required by my company

Knowing how people use their computers impacts how I evaluate workplace tools

I’m concerned about software we’ve licensed going unused

I frequently need help justifying workplace technology investments

I’ve considered provisioning different tools to people based on their needs 33%

36%

48%

53%

59%

71%

82%

“How much do you agree with the following statements?” [Agree and Strongly agree]

Base: 123 IT decision makers


A Workforce Technology Assessment provides comprehensive & accurate data to support your key IT initiatives

Smartphone or tablet strategy

Telecommuting / teleworking investments

Collaboration needs assessments

Workforce segmentation projects

Technology populism, aka consumerization of IT

Virtual desktop and next-gen client

computing strategy

Windows 7 or Office 2010 upgrades

Information security risk assessments

Employee portals assessments


How Workforce Technology Assessments help

Save money on computers and software• Find out who really needs a laptop or smartphone• Decide which employees can use desktop virtualization• Negotiate on software licenses

Prioritize hardware and software deployments• Decide who gets the new computers first• Pick the right software to match what people really need• Identify which groups are eager and which will resist a new tool

Drive technology adoption and culture change• Find out why people aren’t using the new tools• Recommend and tailor training programs based on need• Identify problem areas early to avoid stalled projects

Use workforce personas to get business people on board• Define distinct user segments based on technology needs• Talk to business sponsors about their workers and personas• Be a consultant to the business to advise them on the best tools to use


Workforce Technology Assessment project schedule

Delivery eventPresent findings to drive decisions and action.

Prepare charts & make recommendationsReveal the stories hidden in the data.

Field survey; analyze results; create segmentsField survey to a representative sample of employees.

Design survey; build consensus on goalsBuild survey from proven question modules.

Interview business & IT stakeholdersGather information about goals and questions.


Questions tested and validated through real-world survey experience and analysis


Case Studies

1. Financial Services (150,000 employees)– Segmented employees on mobility & information risk to

inform the mobile strategy and investments

2. Government (13,000 employees)– Analyzed the opportunities and barriers to improve

productivity through collaboration and telework

3. Transportation (62,000 employees)– Segmented the workforce to define the next-generation

information workplace and optimize Microsoft licenses

4. Defense (100,000 employees)– Analyzed the opportunities to support social collaboration

and especially Gen Y employees


Example workforce segmentation

17%

28%

30%

25%

Low need for mobility

High need for mobility

Low information risk

High information risk

Connected – Confidential Data

Access

Connected – No Special Access

Mobile – Confidential Data Access

Mobile – No Special Access

Base: x,xxx employees


Behaviors• 74% use a laptop, 31% use a

smartphone.• 49% use IM; 25% use social networks

for work.• Use devices from 5 locations on

average.

Characteristics• 28% of the information workforce• Manager, marketing, sales• College or post-graduate degree

Opportunities• Provide more telecommuting support• Some would like mobile Web

conferencing• Candidate for bring-your-own

computer

“Give me the tools to stay in touch and be

productive no matter where I am.”

Example of a workforce persona


Workforce personas can save you money on licensing

Workforce persona # in each group

Edition Needed

Total cost(millions)

Mobile – Confidential Access 28,000 Enterprise $4.2

Connected – Confidential Access 17,000 Enterprise $2.6

Mobile – No Special Access, 25,000 Standard $2.5

Connected – No Special Access 30,000 Standard $3.0

TOTALS 100,000 $12.3

Savings over Enterprise Edition for all employees $2.7

Understand the right size of investment needed for each type of worker so you can make smarter purchasing decisions.


Forrester’s qualifications

Unique Workforce Technology Assessment methodology

12 years of experience with quantitative studies

Workforce survey design, fielding, analysis, and segmentation skills

A deep understanding of the needs of employees and IT professionals

Expertise in Information Workplace strategy and related technologies

Three years of experience doing workforce assessment projects

A prebuilt and tested library of question modules

Independence and objectivity

Research-based consulting


Relevant published research

Portrait Of A Government Information Worker

A Fact-Based Approach To Workforce Technology Assessment

Harnessing The Power Of Workforce Personas

Understanding The Influential Information Worker

The State Of Workforce Technology Adoption: US Benchmark

2009


“Your deliverables will be foundational to the technologies and hardware we want to introduce in

the next couple of years at [our company].”- Fortune 100 financial services company

© 2009 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited

For more information, please contact . . .

Ted Schadler+1 [email protected]

www.forrester.com

Phil Karcher+1 [email protected]

www.forrester.com