In the interview, Vickie highlighted that the construction industry is far behind in its use of digital technology, and that Osborne has an opportunity to utilise new technologies in order to improve efficiency in how work is delivered and how people interact with each other.
We spoke to Vickie as Osborne starts its strategic digital transformation journey with Office 365 and Atlas, the digital workplace solution from ClearPeople.
Osborne (Geoffrey Osborne Ltd.) is a developer, builder, civil engineering and property maintenance business with a different approach.
Osborne delivers that difference by:
The Atlas Digital Workplace includes out-of-the-box communications, collaboration and knowledge capabilities for end-users, management and IT. Atlas defines a new digital workplace platform category known as a "Knowledge Productivity Platform".
Atlas is installed within the customer's Microsoft 365 (Office 365) tenant and Azure infrastructure, leveraging existing Microsoft 365 licenses, security/compliance settings, Active Directory and more.
The platform fully supports Microsoft Teams, Yammer, SharePoint Online, Microsoft Groups, Planner, OneNote, Power Apps, Power BI and much more.
Osborne currently uses a number of legacy tools that are no longer fit for purpose. As a consequence, Vickie highlighted that Osborne has, therefore, resorted to email, excel and paper, creating issues for the business. Whilst they have a massive desire to better utilise tech, they don’t have the tools needed to deliver the functionality they yearn for. Vickie commented on how staff are using new and different applications to solve every specific problem, rather than knitting different data and programmes together, and that this is wasted time and effort. This has resulted in pockets of information, and data that is not available across the board to inform important decisions.
Vickie sees Atlas as core to Osborne’s digital transformation strategy; “the construction industry is ripe for transformation, being able to put knowledge, as required, into the hands of people (in the office, on site, at home) is crucial”.
The goals Osborne has set out are to better utilise modern technologies by sourcing an application that allows for better collaboration across the company, and the creation and alignment of relevant data and analytics in order to assist in driving performance.
Vickie suggested: “we have a vision of a homepage where everyone can get their information from and communicate, securely. We wanted more than just an intranet, but we didn’t know if many of the things we wanted were able to be created.”
Vickie explains the background to the creation of the role of Head of Digital Transformation, the key focus of the strategy and how the C-Suite is and gets involved.
Osborne needs a platform that is simple for their employees to use, and that can help them as an organisation to embrace new ways of working, with staff wanting to use these new methods to communicate and collaborate because it helps make their working lives simpler, opposed to a legacy system that creates more work for everyone and slows their work processes down.
“By using Atlas, we hope to deliver innovations for people to show higher efficiencies, pushed out through the platform, constantly keeping people informed. We hope to put a ‘buzz’ back into the workplace.”
Vickie mentioned that the company was really looking for a partner to enhance the business’ technology experience. The Atlas platform continues to answer all of their questions and ClearPeople does not just offer a product for Osborne to get on with themselves, but is keen to work with Osborne to continue to evolve Atlas with client feedback.
“By using Atlas, we hope to deliver innovations for people to show higher efficiencies, pushed out through the platform, constantly keeping people informed. We hope to put a ‘buzz’ back into the workplace.”
“the construction industry is ripe for transformation, being able to put knowledge, as required, into the hands of people (in the office, on site, at home) is crucial”
“We’re excited to create a place where people feel a part of the business, can understand or find out information about projects, and can communicate easily.”
To support Osborne’s business objectives, ClearPeople will be consolidating multiple streams of business information and collaboration platforms all in one place – a Knowledge and Innovation Portal on Atlas. The Atlas digital workplace caters to Osborne’s critical need for accurate, easily accessible and secure data/information sharing. Atlas is an Office 365 based people-first digital workplace. It combines communication, knowledge and collaboration all in one place. Atlas is seen as the perfect solution the existing challenges and achieve the outcomes set by Osborne.
Osborne looks forward to creating more of a community experience at Osborne by utilising ClearPeople’s Atlas platform.
Vickie mentioned: “I’m excited for people to start feeling a part of something at Osborne, that they can start innovating themselves and owning their own data. We’re excited to create a place where people feel a part of the business, can understand or find out information about projects, and can communicate easily.”
Osborne’s ability to offer an easy-to-use digital workplace solution will be of great benefit to its employees, freeing them up to deliver better customer outcomes, rather than spend hours looking for the right data and information.
We have more insights to share within the Construction, Property and Engineering sector.
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