Doctor. Lawyer. Architect. Professional baseball player. Dragon slayer! Of all the things kids hope to be when they grow up, “IT Guy” almost never tops the list. Yet here we are, many of us parlaying a love for computer games or coding into a 40-hour/week job where our passion for all things digital takes a sharp turn for the mundane. It’s a simple fact: there’s just too much minutiae to really enjoy being an IT professional most days. Our natural born problem-solving skills – talents, really – go underutilized thanks to clunky, antiquated laptops, copiers, and printers that demand way more time than they’re worth. Where’s the fun in that?
The common thread among IT professionals is that we love technology. It’s in our titles, after all. Let’s pause for just a moment for full disclosure: HP sponsored this post, challenging us to #ReinventTheOffice here at Gigaom. And oh, do we love a challenge. But aside from a deep-seated appreciation for shiny new tech toys, how can office machines really improve corporate life? It’s in the details. Give your employees free coffee, welcome to the status quo. Give your employees a free-roaming barista with coffee, lattes, and macchiatos…welcome to utopia! Everyone appreciates better, especially when it makes life easier. It’s what sets a good printer apart from a great one, and HP is positive they’ve got the special sauce.
Until A.I. officially takes over, business machines have one critical thing going for them: they’re free from the emotions, physical limitations, and time constraints the rest of us humans have to contend with every day. They can work harder, faster, longer, and better than us mere mortals at many tasks, upping the ante on productivity and efficiency and making us look really good at our jobs. Investing in industry-leading technology, therefore, makes perfect sense. We get away from the basic, day-to-day management of a multitude of office machines and instead focus on development that really moves the needle for business. We feel valued, accomplished, and part of the team. Finally, our futuristic thinking comes into play! Problems are solved! World peace is restored!
Well.
To put it simply, increasing a company’s efficiency and the quality of work makes everyone happy. When we’re allowed to work smarter, not harder, we thrive. And if you’re the IT Guy, the addition of innovative technology is just icing on the cake. It’s not a new concept, but trusting office machines to tackle multiple tasks, and do them exceptionally well, is no easy feat. There’s not an IT manager in the world who isn’t on the hunt for the most streamlined, high-performing devices on the market that meet these requirements and then some. We want it all: speed, high output, low cost, low maintenance. And, to be honest, gadgets are cool. It’s even cooler when the latest, greatest devices really do improve our business. If wanting the biggest, baddest, and best for our team is wrong, we don’t want to be right.
Let’s get back to that coffee idea. If we’re truly going to #ReinventTheOffice, we have to combine the finer details that set a business apart – expert barista! – with the technologic innovations that drive it forward – streamlined machines! The result is kind of a big deal. HP promises to take the workhorses of the office, the printers we use every day, and make them faster, leaner, and smarter so we can focus on doing business and not on managing our equipment. Add the industry’s most advanced security and you’re practically in unicorn territory. It’s an aggressive agenda, but in the interest of future-thinking and world peace, we’re willing to try it out.
IT professionals serve double duty as both internal support and tech influencers at Gigaom. As a company, we bring the highest caliber news, editorial, and product information to our audience, and we implement our own best advice to keep our office running at its best. We’re taking a hard look at HP’s #ReinventTheOffice challenge, which aligns perfectly with our goal to stay on the leading edge of business technology. As usual, our readers will directly benefit from these efforts, but our IT managers will undoubtedly enjoy testing out that new, shiny toy. Stay tuned.
