IT in Canada November/December 2014

PETER GRECH

Getting on board with BoardSeat p.8

ALYSON GAUSBY The rise of multiscreening p.17

November/ December 2014 VOLUME 5 NUMBER 4

INSIGHTS FOR TECHNOLOGY PROFESSIONALS

CITRIX Publication Mail Registration Number: 42169527

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Contents

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Vol 5 No 5 November/December 2014

Features 8 Getting on board with BoardSeat An in-depth look at the new social media platform for corporate executives 10 Protect the endpoint Eric Jacksch explores why there’s more to security than malware defence 17 The rise of multi-screening The results of a Microsoft study explain why we’re reliant on multiple mobile devices 20 Mobile workers more productive and engaged A TELUS study suggests that going mobile can be beneficial for employees and businesses 13 Cover Story: Citrix makes a case for cloud Mitch Parker discusses why more enterprises have their heads in the cloud, and Citrix’s plans for this emerging technology Departments 4 Editorial

8

6 News Our roundup of news stories

Online Extras: www.itincanadaonline.ca

20

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November/December 2014 IT in Canada Online / 3

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Heads in the cloud Although it pains me to say it, welcome to winter. The return of the white stuff was inevitable, unfortunately. As much as I wish it wouldn’t have to arrive, it did, and boy, did it ever make an entrance. The snow made its presence known early on with a large-scale blizzard, tying up traffic and causing problems for many.

Inclement weather aside, we have a flurry of exciting features in this installment of IT in Canada that I think you will enjoy.

Snow comes from the clouds, and ‘the cloud’ has been on the minds of many as of late. More businesses are integrating cloud computing into their daily work habits, as it promotes collaboration and allows them to share files and transfer information seamlessly between wired machines and mobile devices. Citrix has some ambitious plans for cloud technology, and Mitch Parker sat down with us to discuss them in our cover story. Check it out on page 13.

The continued development of new social media platforms has led to the creation of several interesting projects. One of them is BoardSeat, a platform designed exclusively for C-level executives. Learn how BoardSeat is helping to promote collaboration and partnerships between executives on page 8.

Do you use multiple mobile devices to communicate with others or search for information? If so, you might be a multi-screener. On page 17, Microsoft’s Alyson Gausby talks about the results of a recent study and the factors that have led to the rise of multiscreening among certain age demographics.

Eric Jacksch returns with an in-depth look at why protecting the endpoint is vital for enterprises. There’s more to security than just protecting against malware threats, and Jacksch argues need to call their protection strategies into question as a result. Read what he has to say on page 10.

Finally, Rachel Levy Sarfin examines the results of a TELUS study that shows that mobile workers are more engaged and productive on page 20.

As cold and snowy as the weather might be, we offer you our warmest wishes for a safe and happy holiday season.

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in the news

HP slims down with new business notebooks

A

brand new series of notebook computers from HP are designed to be as thin as possible, but they certainly aren’t thin on features.

Designed with C-level executives in mind, the HP EliteBook Folio 1020 and 1020 Special Edition (SE) weigh in at just 2.68 lbs. The EliteBook 1020s feature 8 GB of memory, and are equipped with Intel’s CoreM 4.5W processor, which boosts both their speed and responsiveness. They are also among the quieter notebooks on the market, due to the elimination of interior fans.

The EliteBook 1020 is scheduled for a January 2015 release, while the 1020 SE will follow in April.

“The EliteBook brand stands for durability and security, as well as manageability,” said John Groden, director of product management for HP business notebooks.

Executives will benefit from using these laptops for their daily work functions, as their batteries provide up to nine hours of usage, making them easier to use while working remotely. The 12.5-inch QHD display

6 / IT in Canada Online November/December 2014

and built-in 720p webcam add to the EliteBooks’ mobile capabilities, assisting with meetings and video conference calls.

In addition, the 1020 and 1020 SE include three main features that enable them to be integrated into the workplace atmosphere. “(They) have enterprise-level docking, making them integrated HP docking solutions,” Groden said. “They have a wide variety of security and manageability features that are built in, utilizing the Intel Core-M processor. Lastly, a business-class device is one that is durable.”

Before they hit the shelves, the EliteBooks are put through a battery of tests at HP’s facilities to ensure their durability.

“With the EliteBook, we do the MIL-STD testing, which is our standard for durability,” said Groden. “The test that I think is most relevant to our customers is the drop test, where the units are dropped from a certain height.”

Another new feature being introduced with this series is the Premium Keyboard.

Building on the functionality of the key-

boards seen in previous product releases, the Premium Keyboard provides users with increased speed and more consistent key response.

“We’ve had great keyboards on the EliteBooks to date. We’ve tried to build on that success by refining them even further, (focusing) on two primary aspects of the keyboard, the travel and the pressure that’s required,” said Groden. “In looking at the travel and the pressure, we’ve tried to make the customers more accurate and comfortable as they type over long periods of time.”

Previous HP products were often targeted towards specific industries, such as graphic design, film production and oil and gas.

That’s not the case with the EliteBooks, explains Groden.

“Rather than taking an industry focus, we’re more focused on the customer segment, which includes executives and mobile pros,” he said. “The EliteBooks are (designed) around the use cases they’re supporting, such as collaboration and productivity while mobile.”

in the news Hook up to back up As the digital storage market continues to gain traction, the variety of available products is rapidly increasing.

Whatever the security measures are, it’s often difficult to find full protection, making it vital for enterprises to have a backup or data recovery system at the ready, just in case.

To address this, HP Enterprise Services and Symantec have joined forces to develop a Disaster Recovery as-a-Service (DRaaS) solution.

“Partnering Symantec’s industry leading business continuity software with HP’s world class enterprise services will create a unique disaster recovery solution that will have a positive impact when any disruptive events occur,” Doug Matthews, VP of information availability for Symantec said in a press release.

“This collaboration will help our customers to protect their workloads no matter if they run on traditional IT or are hosted within HP Helion OpenStack-based cloud environments,” Matthews continued. “This new DRaaS solution focuses on business continuity, failover and

failback and will monitor the most widely used applications and databases in the market.”

DRaaS and HP Helion OpenStack are designed to help businesses reduce recovery time, data loss and downtime costs.

The new DRaaS solution leverages HP’s cloud as the disaster recovery mechanism. This service will help users to recover system and application SLAs to stay at par with industry standards for security.

“HP clients want to leverage cloud as a disaster recovery target for cost savings and operational efficiencies, while helping customers to achieve recovery SLAs for systems and applications and providing a simplified experience,” said Jim Fanella, vice president of workload and cloud for HP Enterprise Services.

“Bringing a DRaaS solution that is powered by Symantec and HP Enterprise Services, leveraging HP Helion, will give both companies a strong go-to-market advantage in this fast growing market category.”

The need for speed

Getting the job done is good, but getting it done faster is better.

In fact, when it comes to working, speed is a necessity these days. Competition is everywhere today, and in the business world is all about survival of the fittest. Network equipment manufacturers (NEMS) need to accelerate testing and streamline network operations because of this heat.

As a solution to this problem, EXFO has announced the extension of its FTB/IQS-85100G

Packet Blazer Series, with its multi-stage ODU multiplexing and SONET/SDH client mappings over OTU4. This is an essential function needed by the NEMS to test the inter-carrier handoff in between the network element muxponder cards.

“EXFO has been a leading provider of highspeed multi-service testing solutions and continues to be committed to providing the best 100G test solutions for our lab customers,” Claudio Mazzuca, VP of EXFO’s Transport and Service Assurance Division said in a press release. “Because our customers are under pressure to deliver their services faster and more reliably, we are more determined than ever to provide our customers with value-added test solutions to help them meet these challenges,” Mazzuca added.

The series also delivers SONET/SDH client mapping into OTN containers. This new feature enables faster validation of the lower speed Ethernet-based interface.

EXFO also offers FTB/IQS-88100NGE which is the only 10M to 100G test module available on the market, along with Fibre Channel test capabilities ranging from 1X to 10X. Fibre Channel 16X is available immediately on FTB/IQS-8830NGE module.

November/December 2014 IT in Canada Online / 7

C-lEvEl insigHt

By Mark david

getting on board with

Boardseat

In the business world, it’s not always about what you know, but about who you know. Various platforms make it possible for business people to establish and maintain key connections, but a newcomer to the field is looking to change that.

BoardSeat is different from other professional networking platforms in the sense that it is specifically targeted towards C-level executives. For an annual fee, executives can join this new social network to create connections with like-minded individuals and create groups to compare and discuss business strategies and boost collaboration. Also included are access to analytics and access to a personal assistant who can provide users with assistance and support for the platform.

Founded in 2012 by Peter Grech and Greg Silas, BoardSeat is eyeing a launch in early 2015. The company has recently started collecting names of interested parties on an online waiting list.

Grech, who also serves as BoardSeat’s chief relationship officer, spoke to IT in Canada about BoardSeat, its mission, and how company decision-makers can benefit from it.

8 / IT in Canada Online November/December 2014

Q: Why is now the time to launch a

social media platform targeted towards c-level executives?

Grech: LinkedIn has done a wonderful job of creating this wonderful category that is a platform for networking and connections, and a result, there a hundreds of millions of people on this platform, including senior executives. In my discussions with senior executives, they’ve said that they’re on LinkedIn, but it’s not where they go to solve their complex strategy issues or build relationships. It’s more like an online Rolodex or résumé, and people can find them when they need to.

Now is the time for a platform like BoardSeat because executives, more so than ever, are under enormous amounts of stress to do more with less, and they all acknowledge

the need to be able to reach out to someone who has their back outside their organization who can help them solve problems, vet ideas, and so forth. So there is that need for executives to be able to connect; they just don’t do it effectively.

Q: how can executives benefit from using BoardSeat?

PG: A good analogy I use to explain what BoardSeat is that it’s similar to the model used for online or offline dating services.

You tell the service what you’re looking for, they match you, and they you pay a fee for a certain number of introductions. BoardSeat also puts you in that same driver’s seat and says, “Tell us the types of leaders you want to meet.” Your requirements are unique to you, and will depend on what keeps you up

C-level Insight at night and the types of ideas you want to vet. That’s basically what we’re doing.

(Users) will pay a fee to get access to individuals that they would normally have access to. We are selling access to people who are relevant to you, as opposed to other services where you’re being introduced to people who are junior to you. They may be lovely people, but they don’t walk in your shoes, and therefore, they don’t understand what you’re going through. They’re also not in a position to provide you with advice and counsel that will help you solve your problems and be successful in your role.

Q: Why is it important for executives to have a platform like this?

PG: It’s important for them to have a platform like this because executives need access to relevant people when they need them. Currently, executives have their own networks of small groups of individuals that they trust, but that’s usually not enough because you can tap out the resources of that network pretty quickly. They need it so that they can continue to grow their network and relationships because like everything, relationships can become stale, so you need to be continually on the hunt for individuals that are relevant to you, and can help you to continue to be successful.

Q: What are some of the key features of BoardSeat?

Peter Grech, chief relationship officer, BoardSeat

PG: Most notable is concept of small group interaction. This isn’t like LinkedIn, where you have 1,600 connections and an extended network of 1.7 million (people).

That’s not relationship building. We’re human beings; we can only handle so much at a time. Our groups are called Societies, and Societies can have up to 25 people. All the research we’ve done shows the ability for a group to develop ties, relationships and bonds breaks down after 25 (members). You can be part of multiple groups, depending on your interests and the nature of those Societies.

The second point is given that there is a social media component to this, and this means that executives need to be online. The reality is that no matter how brilliant your user interface and your UX is, when it comes to technology, executives need support.

They don’t need chat support or a phone number they can call; they need a human being. Every member is assigned their own personal aide. In their day jobs, executives have an executive assistant to support them with all their meetings and manage all those sort of administrative activities. Similarly,

when it comes to networking, you also need an assistant, and we call that assistant a personal aide. This person is there to ensure that you maximize your membership, coordinate meetings and ensure that a certain amount of time is carved out for you to be able to build those relationships.

The third point that makes this unique from a feature perspective is analytics.

What our platform does is it sets certain performance targets for you and for the group, and it measures you against those performance targets. You’ll make a commitment to your group about the number of interactions you’re going to have, both online and offline, and then our platform will demonstrate to you in real time how you’re performing against those commitments that you’ve made to the group.

Q: What advantage does BoardSeat have over other professional social media platforms?

PG: Probably the biggest advantage is relevancy. The advantage for us over anything else that’s out there is your ability to connect with people that are relevant to you. As a senior vice president of marketing at a $10 billion company, there’s a good chance that you’re going to want to be able to collaborate and develop relationships with other senior vice presidents in similar industries.

We provide that opportunity, as opposed to LinkedIn, which is for your next-door neighbour, your son, or a recent university graduate. It’s really about creating a niche that is targeting the top one per cent of a company’s organizational hierarchy.

Q: What are the future plans for BoardSeat?

PG: What we would like to become is the de facto standard worldwide for executives.

We’re starting in Canada, and we’re building a platform and a private leaders’ club for Canadian executives. It’s not just for Canadian executives in Canada, but for Canadian executives around the world. Immediately thereafter, we’re going into the U.S. and Shanghai so that over time, we can achieve that goal. Similarly, Facebook has become the standard for friends and LinkedIn for professionals, we’ll become the de facto standard for senior leaders.

November/December 2014 IT in Canada Online / 9

sECurity sHElf

By Eric Jacksch

ProtECt tHE EndPoint People concerned about recent revelations on malware and global surveillance tend to focus on the details of each newly publicized threat.

But closing the barn doors after the horse is gone does not prevent future security breaches. Instead, the focus should be on the capabilities and motivations revealed.

r

eign is a stealthy, top-tier espionage tool. As Symantec published on their blog, “It is likely that its development took months, if not years, to complete and its authors have gone to great lengths to cover its tracks.

Its capabilities and the level of resources behind Regin indicate that it is one of the main cyberespionage tools used by a nation state.”

This sophisticated malware is multi-stage.

The first stage decrypts and loads another, with this process continuing until up to five stages are loaded. It is also modular, allowing the tool to be tailored to indi-

vidual targets. According to Symantec, “The threat’s standard capabilities include several Remote Access Trojan (RAT) features, such as capturing screenshots, taking control of the mouse’s point-and-click functions, stealing passwords, monitoring network traffic, and recovering deleted files.”

Reign’s design makes it quickly adaptable to different targets. Symantec reports finding various infection vectors. This suggests that the first stage was likely designed to allow many different exploits to be used. In other words, this is very expensive malware used for targeted attacks.

Other revelations have exposed an array

10 / IT in Canada Online November/December 2014

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“The threat’s standard capabilities include several Remote Access Trojan (RAT) features, such as capturing screenshots, taking control of the mouse’s point-and-click functions, stealing passwords, monitoring network traffic, and recovering deleted files.”

12 / IT in Canada Online November/December 2014

of cyberweapons targeting the endpoint. In November 2014, Dutch media outlet NRC reported that the NSA had infected more than 50,000 computer networks worldwide with malware designed to steal information.

Other leaked documents suggest that malware has been delivered by impersonating social media sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn as well as through email spamming.

“This week, a number of media outlets reported allegations that the National Security Agency has intercepted IT equipment while they were in transit from manufacturers to customers. While the reports included a photograph purportedly showing a Cisco product being modified, this issue affects an entire industry that depends on a global supply chain and global shipments. We ship our products from locations inside, as well as outside the United States, and if these allegations are true, these actions will undermine confidence in our industry and in the ability of technology companies to deliver products globally.”

Government agents and criminals are attacking systems using the same basic methodologies. Some have significantly larger budgets, but the fundamentals remain the same whether the adversary is a government intelligence agency or a criminal gang seeking payment card information. Endpoint exploration is the goal.

Attacks against endpoints will continue to escalate for four reasons:

1

Properly implemented strong cryptography works. While it is theoretically possible to break any encryption system by applying enough computing power, the proposition quickly becomes cost and time prohibitive.

2

Endpoints have access to a lot of information that is not transmitted.

Turning on a PC’s camera and microphone, keystroke and screen recording, and searching files on the local system provides access to information that is not usually found traversing the network.

3

Advanced threat agents seek to dominate their victim’s IT infrastructure and this requires lateral movement.

Infecting an endpoint — especially one used by a privileged user — is the easiest and fastest way to accomplish this.

4

Some threat agents desire the ability to destroy an adversary’s data, shut down, or even destroy their systems in addition to spying on them. Integrity and availability attacks are much easier to commit once an organization has been infiltrated by malware.

An overwhelming threat faces endpoints and existing defences are not stopping advanced threats. Better approaches are necessary to combat targeted malware, secure firmware, and protect the endpoint.

By Mark David

Cover Story The case for cloud

makes a case for cloud

Mitch Parker, VP and GM of Citrix’s cloud services group

It’s no secret that many businesses have their heads in the cloud these days. Adopting this technology boosts mobility and allows files to be accessed, shared and transferred from anywhere in the world.

With this in mind, Citrix is keeping in line with the evolution of the workplace, and tailoring its products to be in line with the latest cloud advancements.

Mitch Parker, VP and GM of Citrix’s cloud services group, discusses the company’s history with the cloud, cloud implementation, and their future plans for the software-defined workplace.

November/December 2014 IT in Canada Online / 13

Cover Story The case for cloud individuals and departments starting to take advantage of these services. These include SaaS-based apps and platform-based cloud services, as well as the infrastructure. So it’s agility, but it’s also in some ways a democratization of all of the IT compute power that we’ve always had, and we’re seeing amazing things being built by individuals, sometimes outside the walls of IT.

Q: What are some of the benefits of cloud adoption?

MP: A big part of it is having the agility to

Q: How did Citrix get involved with cloud technology?

Parker: We have been working with cloud technology from the early days of thinking about remote access to applications.

The whole thought was accessing compute power running in a remote data centre. It started with the dial-up modem, where you would connect in to get remote access to an application for end users. From the early days, it’s been very much focused around the utility for the end users. What can we do to enable them to do their jobs better?

We’ve also invested in the tools needed for virtualization and orchestration in the data centre with the cloud infrastructure layer. We have also made significant investments into cloud networking and how people have accessed the cloud, and how you can increase its security, performance and reliability. As ever, we have made big investments into the workloads that are running on these clouds, especially for mobile workspaces, desktops, apps and data. That’s the exciting part of how we are thinking about the use of our products and services for our customers now.

14 / IT in Canada Online November/December 2014

Q: What is the case for cloud adoption?

MP: I think when (businesses) take a look at the cloud infrastructure layer, or Infrastructure as a Service, they’re doing it for a few reasons. Some of it is (based) around agility and flexibility. They’re taking a look at having the ability to rapidly spin up workloads, and bring them back down when not needed. The use cases for that would be for disaster recovery, for flex and use cases where they need a lot more usage for whatever reason.

The other thing that’s changing is we’re seeing individuals taking more action. Because it’s so self-service, an individual can go into an environment and spin up the workload they need. It’s really come out of administrators and developers who have taken huge advantage of cloud computing in order to get their jobs done. I think the same issues and phenomena that are happening at the cloud infrastructure layer are starting to happen at the layer above it as well.

When we think about workspaces that are being built for cloud-based desktops, apps and data, I think we’re seeing IT not only taking advantage of it to rapidly adjust to businesses changes, but we’re also seeing

adapt to environments that you don’t even know you’re going to need tomorrow. The more you can build into the environment in an orchestrated way, the better you can adjust at a moment’s notice. In the old days, we would start by racking and stacking from a compute storage networking standpoint, everything would have a Gantt chart, and we’d have to build out the entire environment. Now, with it being automated and self-service, and in many cases, API-driven through a cloud orchestration service, we’re able to adjust very quickly. If a new use case comes out, an external event that you can’t plan for happens, or the business changes their mind and they need to have a new service spun up, all of these cases allow you to move very quickly and serve the business through the IT department.

Q: What kinds of cloud-based services does Citrix offer?

MP: We have a number of different services at different levels. Many people will know us for our collaboration services, such as GoToMeeting, GoToMyPC and GoToAssist.

Certainly, those SaaS-based applications are a big part of how we’re providing cloudbased services, In addition to that, we’re doing some things for enterprises building mobile workspaces with (tools) like ShareFile, a cloud-based sync-and-share service. It allows IT to control and secure the access to corporate files with ease of use for the end user that they might expect from something like Dropbox. It’s a cloud-based service that allows customers to either access

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Cover Story

The case for cloud

I’m a big believer that every employee wants to do a great job, and I think IT’s job is to try to give them the tools to enable that. Part of that is having access to the files wherever they want, and that’s why we’ve seen services like Dropbox pop up, despite IT policy and despite the fact that in many cases, IT didn’t know about it. cloud-based files, or even local file stores.

We’re really starting to get into offering products on cloud-based services. For example, we have an incredible channel of partners who are delivering Citrix products and fully business-ready workspaces as a service. This includes delivering desktops as a service, apps as a service and mobility as a service to our mutual customers. We’ve got about 1,600 active partners worldwide that are delivering that to well over 400,000 users per month. That’s an incredibly fastgrowing channel of business for us.

Q: Are there any risks involved with the cloud?

MP: In any new IT endeavor and anything that’s rapidly changing, it starts with thinking through the use cases it’s best used for.

I think we’ve seen a lot of developers get right into trying out demos and prototypes in development environments within the cloud. Those were not running production systems initially. As companies have worked through the risk, they’ve started to understand how it’s operating and have developed monitoring and management tools that they need, more and mare are starting to put their productions systems up in the cloud. The things that they’re taking a look at that we see and hear that they’re most concerned about are continual access to make sure the system is always going to be up and running. The truth there is that a lot of the cloud providers have a great track record with that.

The second thing they’re concerned about is privacy and security and really understanding the policies and procedures that are put in place by the cloud providers to ensure that their data is secure. Finally, there 16 / IT in Canada Online November/December 2014

is the cost. I think when they take a look at it, it’s important to understand how they’re going to be investing in it and how their expenses are going to grow as they start to use these services more. The market is maturing, and those risks and issues are really well understood, not only by the cloud providers, but also by the customers. There is a common language being developed around that that allows them to evaluate those risks and mitigate them in a prudent way.

Q: Why are more businesses

integrating mobility into their daily activities?

MP: I think the end users are demanding it. The end users are integrating mobility into their daily activities, and IT is trying to provide a platform to make sure they can do that securely. We’ve seen a whole generation of people entering the workforce who grew up digital and expect to be able to access data and applications from whatever device they choose. As they’re coming into IT, they’re expecting IT to be able to support them. The things that IT has to do to enable that are around the access policies and the security, and I think the really forward-thinking IT departments are getting even beyond that and figuring out what they can do to provide an even greater service to their customers. How can they make their lives easier by using these mobile devices?

How can they make their employees more productive over time? It’s not just warding off the concerns, but really looking to take advantage of these new devices as they come in.

Q: What is the business case for Data as a Service (DaaS)?

MP: The business case is pretty straightforward. The more people can get access to the data where they need it at any time, the faster they can work. The ability to share data and collaborate with people generates better ideas for a company. The ability to take a workflow through the data that’s accessed there and move it more quickly through a process allows companies to serve their customers better.

I’m a big believer that every employee wants to do a great job, and I think IT’s job is to try to give them the tools to enable that. Part of that is having access to the files wherever they want, and that’s why we’ve seen services like Dropbox pop up, despite IT policy and despite the fact that in many cases, IT didn’t know about it. The users told us that it helped them before IT even knew it, and I think that now we’ve got tools to really get a great experience with it in a way that IT and corporations to secure the data that they need to secure.

Q: What are Citrix’s future plans for cloud technology?

MP: I think when we’re looking forward about where technology is going, we’re thinking not just about the software-defined data centre and what it takes to operate a data centre or an infrastructure cloud.

We’re thinking bigger than that, not just about technology goals, but about human and business goals. We refer to that concept as the software-defined workplace, which involves taking a workplace and really abstracting that to the level where people can do work wherever they are. Work is not a place; it’s something that people do.

Our strategy is all around providing the products, services and partnerships that our customers need to be able to build that software-defined workplace. It allows them to create the environments and allows their end users to be extremely productive, recruit the best possible employees, and do that in a way that it gives them incredible agility to handle whatever requirements the business gives them.

By Mark David

Technospective Multi-screening

The rise of

multi-screening A

re you the sort of person who relies on multiple mobile devices for your personal use and entertainment? If so, you just might be a member of the group targeted in a study carried out by Ipsos for Microsoft.

The study shows that an increasing amount of Canadians often use multiple devices for a variety of purposes, a process that is referred to as “multi-screening.” According to the findings, three-quarters of Canadians use multiple devices at once, which includes an additional 65 per cent who do so at least once a week. The results also indicated that half of respondents begin an activity on one screen, and then continue it on another.

This is of particular interest to brands and marketing firms, who are constantly searching for new ways to engage their target audiences through their mobile devices.

But what exactly has led to the rise multi-

screening, and why are we doing it? The answer, says one expert, is multi-faceted.

“I think it’s because we have more options for doing it,” explains Alyson Gausby, Canadian consumer insight lead for Microsoft.

“If you think about how many connected devices you have at your disposal, it’s so much more convenient for us,” Gausby continues. “We see that Canadian consumers are consuming more media than ever before, and that’s not necessarily at the expense of traditional media. We see that the overall size of the pie, so to speak, is growing, so that means that we’re not just using our devices in isolation. The vast majority of Canadians are engaging in some form of multi-screening activity.”

While it’s true that Canadians as a whole are using multiple devices today, Gausby indicates that there is one age demographic that is multi-screening more than others.

“If we look at the younger age demograph-

ics, we see that 86 per cent of Canadians who are 18 to 24 years old are using two devices simultaneously,” she says. “This is one of the paths of multi-screening behaviour that we looked at in the study.”

Mobile devices such as smartphones, tablets and laptop computers are constantly being reinvented to boost their speed, portability and value to consumers. As Gausby explains, not only have the devices themselves evolved, but so have the reasons why we rely on them.

“I think it has been an evolution, and that’s the device that we’ve seen evolve quite a lot over the last few years,” says Gausby. “If you think about what you’re using your phone for, that has definitely evolved. I remember when I had my BlackBerry about three years ago, it was mainly for texting and emailing because doing a basic Internet search was a bit painful.”

It’s no surprise that we are becoming inNovember/December 2014 IT in Canada Online / 17

D

Technospective Multi-screening “I think there is this need to understand why people use each of their screens and provide content that helps them to easily achieve that goal. With all of the information and options that are available to consumers today, brands need to add value to our lives.”

Alyson Gausby, Canadian consumer insight lead for Microsoft creasingly attached to our mobile devices.

Some might even argue that we’ve even developed a “love affair” of sorts with them.

But today, these items have gone far beyond being our digital boyfriends or girlfriends.

“We’ve seen that archetype evolve from being your “lover,” which is about connecting and belonging, to being your caregiver or (assistant),” says Gausby. “It’s not only your tool for connecting; it’s supporting you in all sorts of different facets of your everyday life rather than your social life.

“Canadians are using their devices for so much more today,” Gausby continues.

“They’re using them for searching, gaming, managing personal affairs, media… the list literally goes on and on. That’s why we’ve seen such exponential growth in mobile media consumption.”

Over the past five years, multi-screening has undergone significant growth across the country. With more devices, options and apps available on the market today, more people are getting on board with this activity.

“Intuitively, it makes sense,” Gausby says.

“We have access to so many more connected devices, and as a result, we have a lot more opportunities to do it.”

Electronics developers aren’t the only ones paying attention to the multi-screening behaviours exhibited by Canadians. Brands and marketing firms have also taken notice, 18 / IT in Canada Online November/December 2014

and are refocusing their strategies in order to create ads and products that are compatible with various types of mobile platforms.

“I think that brands and marketers need to (adopt) a customer-first approach because at the end of the day, the consumer is the common thread, and we’re the ones who are driving and connecting these different devices,” says Gausby.

“Ironically, a lot of the focus of digital advertising has still been around what a screen can do rather than what consumers actually need that screen to do, which is the reason why they’re picking (these devices) up in the first place,” she adds. “It’s about understanding the roles that each of our devices play in our lives, and really harnessing the best that they have to offer.”

We are very much into the age of the multi-screener at this point, and Gausby believes that this activity won’t show any signs of slowing down, going forward.

“This type of behaviour is something that consumers won’t simply stop doing,” she says. “There is such a need for efficiency, where we feel like time is really at a premium. We know from a lot of the studies that (examine) marketer focus that it’s going to be a focus for brands as well.”

In addition, the evolution of mobile devices and connectivity will continue in tandem with the work that brands and marketers undertake to engage their audiences.

“I think there is this need to understand why people use each of their screens and provide content that helps them to easily achieve that goal. With all of the information and options that are available to consumers today, brands need to add value to our lives,” says Gausby.

“They are helping us in some way, whether it’s making our decisions easier, helping us to learn or find something new, or even just entertain us,” she adds. “It’s great for brands to be creating these multi-screening experiences because more touch points means they have more ways to appeal to and engage consumers. The key is to tap into what each of those screens does best to build the best possible experience for consumers.”

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October 16-17

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Network Spotlight

By Rachel Levy Sarfin

Mobile workers productive and engaged, says Telus

W

orking from home offers a number of benefits: flexibility, comfort and according to the results of a recent study from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario, higher retention rates.

The study surveyed over 2,000 TELUS team members during the course of the past year.

Researchers learned that at-home and mobile workers felt they had a better work-life balance and were less likely to quit their jobs. Furthermore, these employees were no less productive than their counterparts at the office. Andrea Goertz, SVP, strategic initiatives and chief communications and sustainability officer, shared her perspectives on why TELUS’ mobile workforce has a high level of job satisfaction.

20 / IT in Canada Online November/December 2014

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November/December 2014 IT in Canada Online / 21 

Network Spotlight

“As more Millennials enter the workplace, it’s not a matter of ‘if’ businesses should offer flexible working, it’s a matter of ‘when,’ as the Ivey study demonstrates that when it’s supported by the right technology and governance, workers are just as productive, enjoy a better work-life balance and are more engaged,” How did TELUS implement its Work Styles program, which allows employees to work at home or from a remote location?

“We took a phased approach: identifying the teams that would benefit most from flexible working and starting with pilot programs,” 22 / IT in Canada Online November/December 2014

Goertz responded. She added that this model can benefit other companies. “By starting small and closely monitoring progress along the way, businesses can make adjustments as needed,” Goertz commented.

The TELUS executive believes having a flexible work environment is critical to the company, as well as to the rest of the business world. “Mobile technology keeps us constantly connected and we are increasingly expected to be reachable and responsive at all hours,” Goertz said. “In a wireless world, companies need to create an environment that supports healthy work-life balance. By offering our team members flexible work hours and the option of mobile or at-home work, we’re able to give them something no other perk or benefit can offer: time – whether it be with their families or for themselves.

Depending on how far employees live from the office, working in a mobile environment saves time spent commuting, giving them hours of time back in their days to spend on what’s important to them.”

A flexible work environment will become even more crucial as Millennials join the workforce. “As more Millennials enter the

workplace, it’s not a matter of ‘if’ businesses should offer flexible working, it’s a matter of ‘when,’ as the Ivey study demonstrates that when it’s supported by the right technology and governance, workers are just as productive, enjoy a better work-life balance and are more engaged,” Goertz asserted.

However, offering the ability to work remotely does not guarantee success from a mobile workforce. A significant part of any remote work program must be employee engagement. “Although mobile workers enjoy better work-life balance, in some cases they may feel a sense of isolation from the rest of their team,” Goertz noted. How can companies engage their employees who work offsite? “Strong leadership, collaboration tools like video conferencing and Telepresence, and making the best use of time spent in the office are key to keeping team members engaged,” she responded. “Empowering team members to make decisions that are right for them is also important in driving team engagement; one mobile team member may feel more engaged working in the office three or four days a week, while another may feel they only need to spend one day a week in the office.”

Goertz shared an example from TELUS that illustrates a successful flexible work program. “Our Work Styles program combines technology, a comprehensive changemanagement plan and strong support from senior leadership,” she remarked. “Our pilot programs taught us two important lessons: equipping our team members with the right technology to work from home or on the move is essential, and getting strong support from our senior leadership team was a critical step in driving a large-scale cultural shift.

We’ve also created a culture where team members are evaluated and rewarded on the quality and consistency of their work, not the amount of time they spend in the office.”

The Work Styles program has been so effective for TELUS that the company has decided to share its expertise with others.

“For businesses looking for more guidance, earlier this year we launched TELUS Transformation Office, a consulting practice that leverages our experience and can help other organizations successfully adopt a flexible working model and transform their corporate cultures,” Goertz said.

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