How new infrastructure provided flexibility, controlled cost and empowered workers at Sun Microsystems

Abstract

Although much has been written about the challenges facing businesses in the 21st century, perhaps most daunting is the notion that if a company is to excel, it needs to continuously develop and nurture its knowledge‐based workforce. To do so, the company's fundamental work resources — information technologies, organizational policies and practices, and places of work — need to be fully synchronized to incent and support the knowledge work specific to the company's vision and goals. As technology and the forces of a global economy have changed the way business is done, so has the very nature of work changed. New work realities have created a new environment in which people and processes succeed only when barriers of time and distance are overcome. When a company's employees, customers, and facilities are widespread, establishing a reliable, cost effective support infrastructure that keeps people connected to needed resources and to colleagues and customers is essential. Real estate continues to play a key role in this new work environment, but an effective infrastructure design must integrate all of the key people, place and technology aspects. To do this, a true “systems”approach for providing work infrastructure is required.