Just in time for Christmas, Steelcase and Microsoft announced that they are expanding their partnership, introducing the “Smart + Connected Workplace.” The collaboration includes two new IoT products, called Personal Assistant and Workplace Advisor, both digital tools using cloud-enabled technology and big data.
The Steelcase/Microsoft partnership began with its Creative Spaces, introduced at NeoCon 2017 as an ecosystem of spaces “intentionally designed to support the needs of individuals and teams as they move through the different stages and activities of the creative process.”
“Creative Spaces is all about helping people perform at their best,” says Terry Lenhardt, vice president and CIO at Steelcase. “Now, we want to create a layer of technology that gives people tools to use to learn about their new space and make informed decision about their space.”
Steelcase researchers provided some helpful numbers to try to frame the issues people are having in the workplace.
“Most workers – 72% – believe their future success depends on their ability to be creative. However, 42% of employees say it’s difficult to do creative work in their office, citing issues such as lack of privacy, conference rooms unequipped for collaboration and uninspiring environments. At the same time, up to 46% of an office may go unused at any time as people search for better places to do their work. People say they can’t find the right places to work, yet valuable real estate sits empty.”
At the same time that we’re moving from process-driven work to more creative-driven work and other types of knowledge work, we’re also becoming more data-driven.
“All companies are becoming tech companies,” says Scott Sadler, manager of Integrated Technologies at Steelcase. “It’s becoming more and more important to gain these data-driven insights.”
The two new digital tools, working in tandem, are Steelcase and Microsoft’s way of putting big data to real life use – something that companies the world over are still trying to develop.
”Workplace Advisor is a sensor-based system that collects anonymous workplace data, with incredible accuracy. Built on the Microsoft Azure IoT platform, it delivers advanced analytics for real-time, 24/7 reporting, with enterprise-reliability and security.”
“Sometimes for facility managers, it can feel like a space always seems to be a step behind, and they have to constantly be defending their turf,” said Mr. Lenhardt. “Workplace Advisor enables you to know what types of things are working, and can cue you to make changes.”
Sensors are placed throughout the property being measured, and the data collected lives on a snappy dashboard that facility managers and real estate professionals can access to view critical building data at a high level – things like total space utilization, energy consumption, spaces measured, etc. We’re told the system and sensors are reasonably priced in the market. And people who purchase the product own their data and can access all of it at any time, with the freedom to share that information.
Leaders can also drill down to look at a specific floor of a building and compare spaces that are highly utilized with those that are not, viewing usage by specific time, day or number of events, peak usage, average daily use, etc. Based on those insights, Workplace Advisor then helps leaders understand why a space is underutilized and makes constructive suggestions for how to improve the space – for example, suggesting added privacy, additional lighting, and/or a height adjustable desk.
“It creates a deeper relationship with the space,” said Mr. Sadler. “It tells you which spaces are working and which ones aren’t. It gives you a more accurate picture of how you can provide a great/better experience in the space.”
The interface includes click-to-order technology that enables leaders to “upgrade the space by purchasing the suggested products for room improvements.”
It’s a smart move by Steelcase – creating a space that decision makers can step into to purchase additional products on an as-needed basis, at the click of a button.
Mr. Lenhardt notes that most of the changes Workplace Advisor cues owners and facility managers to make are simple tweaks that are often easy to execute.
“This is really an offering to organizations that want to learn how their space works, and how it could works best,” he says. “It gives you the ability to react in real-time, on the fly, and make changes.”
Switching gears, the Personal Assistant tool is a companion mobile app that uses the data collection to “give people more choice and control over where and how they work, and will encourage them to offer feedback about what spaces are effective and which ones need improvement.”
The Personal Assistant app helps workers find the people and spaces they need in a more timely manner. The product capitalizes on the urgency and high speed of collaboration that Steelcase says many of its customers are seeking.
>When workers need to meet quickly, the app locates team members and identifies their availability.
>It finds some attendees are in remote locations and suggests rooms with videoconference capabilities.
>The app suggests available rooms for the meeting and provides their locations, availability, features and capacity.
>Workers select the amount of time they would like the room for and the app sends out an invitation to meeting participants.
>As the end of the meeting nears, the app reminds the organizer of the time and provides an opportunity to extend the reservation if the room is available.
>When the meeting is finished, the worker is asked to rate the room, giving real-time feedback to business leaders.
These two tools are a clever entrance into a growing field of activated, real-life Internet of Things products that make use of big data. We’re excited to watch the field grow, offering customers new tools with capabilities previously impossible.