Here’s the interview snippet from the interaction with the Mr Ashish Gupta Vice President, Head of Software, Barco India
Saumya: How have Indian organizations evolved in terms of research and innovation in the post pandemic period?
Ashish: The Pandemic has impelled organizations into the future, quickly accelerating digital transformation across industries. Organizations are now focusing on creating a balance between in-personal and virtual work, driving engagement, and providing employees the flexibility to work from anywhere. There’s an increased focus on collaboration platforms capable of creating seamless connections across organizations, and one example we can consider is Barco Click Share Conference, an enhanced collaboration technology offering customers the possibility of ‘Bring Your Own Meeting’ and epitomizing seamless hybrid collaboration.
Further, organizations are now turning towards next generation technologies like Machine Learning, Software as a Service, Cloud Infrastructure, and Internet of Things, to boost resilience and business continuity. In addition to these technology trends, we can see a rapid evolution in the accepted work culture and norms. Surveys around hybrid workplace indicate that technology is empowering offices and employees to be more flexible, efficient, and resilient, over the longer term. Agility is highly valued in today’s hybrid work culture and this has led to an explosion in the gig and contractual economies.
Saumya: Please share details about the Software Labs by Barco.
Ashish: As part of our digital transformation initiatives, Barco has invested heavily in expanding the Software Labs team in India and we remain committed to this aim. Our Software Labs has been developed in line with the hybrid collaboration and agile mindset as these are the guiding principles to promoting innovation and ensuring faster value delivery to the customers. Barco’s software capabilities have also enabled us to successfully transform into a more resilient and healthy platform, while becoming a successful solutions company leveraging hardware, software and services.
Barco India has a strong port of technology talent that develops software products and solutions across the Enterprise, Education and Healthcare verticals, using diverse technology stacks from embedded software on hardware devices, to SaaS solutions deployed in multi cloud environment (Azure, AWS).Barco’s premium visualization and collaboration solutions, such as Click Share Conference, we Connect etc., help transform enterprises by enhancing productivity and continuity for businesses, while facilitating a hybrid and resilient model that can withstand future challenges.
Keeping the Hybrid Workplace model in place, the two-floor Barco Software Labs is designed to enhance efficiency and showcase a common lab area offering flexibility for expansion or addition of new labs. One floor is divided into the lab zone, silent work areas, and collaboration zone, with each team having a personal space next to their sitting area, fully- equipped with display, whiteboard, and Barco Click Share Conferencing Solution. The infrastructure also features a full-fledged experience and demo centres for meeting room, healthcare, control room and education solutions, offering customers the actual feel of the experiences enabled by Barco.
Saumya: What will be the organization’s strategy towards R&D in coming years?
Ashish: Since its inception, the Barco Software Labs has focused on enabling bright outcomes for employees, partners, and customers, with a keen eye on creating excellent hybrid experiences in the enterprise collaboration vertical. This will remain the core of our R&D strategy, in the years ahead. We are offering customers quality products at competitive prices, by leveraging India- specific solutions, market outreach, value definitions, and price points. Barco is harnessing its extensive R&D capabilities, and local manufacturing and commercial ability, to foster local product management capable of handling and optimizing India-specific opportunities and we are keen on taking this forward in the next few years.
With our research-based facility in Noida, we are investing in local talent and fostering growth by unlocking bright and brilliant outcomes for our customers. The Software Labs focuses on delivering a combination of hardware, software, services and experiences. In the coming years, Barco is fully prepared to be the service-provider of choice and we have aligned our solutions with the exact needs of our customers, including the IT industry.
Saumya: How do you see the future of hybrid workplace solutions? What solutions does Barco offer in the niche?
Ashish: Employees and organizations expect hybrid solutions to be just as intuitive, flexible, and easy as their home offices. They also expect a higher quality of service from these solutions. Organizations are continuously investing in tools that increase productivity and maintain a sense of connection between a diverse workforce which is widespread in its needs and preferences. Hybrid workplace solutions have grown progressively since before the pandemic and, as per industry reports, the global enterprise collaboration market is estimated to reach a valuation of 101. 7 billion dollars by 2028, growing at a compounded annual growth rate of 12. 1%.
Barco is among the foremost players catering to the hybrid collaboration segment, with solutions such as the ClickShare series existing in the market even before the pandemic made hybrid collaboration a necessity. Being a leader in the hybrid collaboration space, Barco is set to drive adoption of technology on a global scale, to empower a new- generation work model and enable organizations to meet their continuously evolving business requirements. Currently, we also have offerings in the Software as a Service category, to further aid organizations on their hybrid workplace journey.
Saumya: How is the new workplace culture unfolding? What is the role of innovative products and technologies in the process?
Ashish: Surveys demonstrate that technology is empowering offices and enabling employees to be more flexible, efficient, and resilient. Hybrid work is here to stay, with a majority of the employees preferring working from home as it allows them flexibility and a better work-life balance. Now, the workforce shares a curiosity for multidimensional thinking, digitally untapped skills, problem-solving mentality, and a space of empathy, and Indian organizations are actively adopting practices that enable their workforce to be more productive will working from home.Hybrid collaboration has introduced new ways of asynchronous brainstorming on a digital platform, enabling employees to incorporate ideas over video conferencing solutions. A new process may include a period of asynchronous brainstorming on a digital channel and incorporating ideas from across the organization, followed by a multi-hour period of debate and refinement on an open videoconference.
For boardroom discussions, team building conferences, and virtual meetings, human interactions within the conference room can be enhanced with an effective setup of audio-visuals. Such technologies aid in seamless communication, and boost commitment, accountability, and dispute resolution. Further, collaborative solutions like Clickshare enable the remote working solution, offer enterprise-grade security, and ensure seamless applications. Hybrid workplaces will see a boost in the adoption of virtual collaboration tools, communication tools, and video conferencing tools in the years ahead and Barco is poised to be the solution-provider of choice in this evolving landscape.
Saumya: What trends can we expect in the collaborative technology and solutions?
Ashish: The future trends that Barco expect in the hybrid collaboration space include enhanced collaboration and communication, seamless connectivity between remote and on-site workers, and social collaborations where employees can collaborate over internal social media platforms. These innovation trends will play a major role in future workplace functions in the coming years.
Among all the latest trends, flexibility is the foremost need of hybrid workplaces. Now, employees look for better work-life balance, agile workplaces, and flexibility while finding a new position. We expect leaders to adopt to the changing times and create a workplace that focuses on productivity,and inclusive hybrid experience addressing the needs of both the remote and in-office workforce. Also, another important trend we see involves greater focus on key results rather than the actual time spent on the job. OKRs and productivity metrics are being determined through different methods, based on the needs of hybrid workplaces.
