Hybrid work, smart buildings, and sustainable environments present undeniable, powerful potential to reshape how our business world works. My first blog in this series introduced the drivers, challenges, and benefits concerning hybrid work. This blog will cover how Cisco, partners like you, and your customers can capitalize on the opportunities emerging from strategic business priorities to build a winning business practice around hybrid work.

Addressing strategic business priorities

In Gartner's May 2022 Survey of CEOs, the top ten priorities included technology, workforce (up 32 percent), and sustainability (up 292 percent).

Why the increased focus on the workforce? Because to remain competitive, organizations must maximize employee engagement, productivity, and overall work experience wherever workers are located. Employees want a flexible work style to improve job satisfaction, yet organizations are eager to draw people back to the office to strengthen the culture through in-person collaboration. What is needed now are strategies that bridge the gap between home and office. Hybrid work addresses both needs.

76% of employees want flexibility in where they work, 64% saying the ability to work from anywhere drives their decision to stay at a job.

Hybrid work strategies empower employees to work from the office, the home, and anywhere in between. Today space design, technology, and workplace policies are coming together to create more innovative and engaging places for people to work and turn offices into spaces where teams can collaborate, socialize, and learn.

However, while organizations continue to support remote work and facilitate return-to-the-office initiatives, they are expected to be fully operational, delivering on customer expectations and employee experience. When multiplied across the entire workforce, keeping everyone connected and secure may seem daunting, but it does not have to be. Cisco hybrid work solutions provide advanced technology, embedded security, and collaboration tools to help organizations deliver hybrid work effectively.

Today, sustainability is a critical business concern for many CEOs around the world. A wide range of stakeholders - from customers and investors to employees and regulators - demand it. And smart business leaders know it's a gateway to efficiency, innovation, and competitive differentiation.

This was affirmed by the IDC Info Brief, sponsored by Cisco, Enabling Sustainability Through Investments in Technology Is Critical to Driving Business Value. 63% percent of global respondents stated that their organizations considered sustainability an especially important or extremely important priority. But only 37 percent have operationalized those goals. By digitizing our workplaces through hybrid work solutions, we can help customers create smart, sustainable environments that actively contribute to their sustainability goals.

Our opportunity: Transforming businesses together through hybrid work

With Cisco hybrid work solutions, every space becomes a productive workspace. Managing and securing devices is easy. Supporting global teams of multiple sizes becomes simple and seamless. For hybrid work solutions, Cisco's relevance expands beyond IT (Information Technology) to new buyers responsible for creating smart, sustainable, and inclusive environments for customers in any industry.

We have learned that hybrid work cannot be solved in isolation, which allows us to reach new buyer groups like HR (Human Resources) and Real Estate. These buyers often have larger budgets than IT, providing more opportunities for you to increase your business, and they have measurable outcomes that can be addressed through hybrid work. For example, for HR, hybrid work can impact KPIs (Key Performance Indicator) (Key Performance Indicator) (Key Performance Indicator) like employee productivity, satisfaction, retention, and more. And for Real Estate, hybrid work can improve utility costs, sustainability, and space utilization. Hybrid work is not just about technology; it is about people and places, too.

By working together, we can help customers create and deploy a plan addressing sustainability and workplace strategic business priorities. Cisco has already taken steps to reimagine our own workplaces, giving us experience and results to back up these claims.

Creating customer value: Data from Cisco Penn1

Cisco provides you with solutions to help your customers invest in smart and sustainable spaces as part of a people-centric hybrid work strategy. For workforce issues like talent retention and returning teams to the office, we have the right solutions to address these challenges and help companies create work models that strike a balance while still meeting organizational goals. You can deliver game-changing results for your customers, like what Cisco achieved in its Penn1 facility. (We refurbished a 54,000 sq. ft. space in Manhattan to support 100 percent hybrid work, focused on delivering a quality user experience, supporting employee well-being, and creating net-zero emissions.)

Cisco workplace transformation solutions support specific customer outcomes such as frictionless employee experience, health and wellness, space optimization, cybersecurity, and net-zero emissions. With the use of Power over Ethernet (PoE) network, Cisco collects massive amounts of information that turns the invisible into visible, actionable data so your customers can:

• Meet environmental sustainability goals by delivering real-time energy insights that help reduce energy consumption. For example, the Cisco Penn1 office reduced power usage by 47 percent in six months.
• Maximize employee health and wellness. At Penn1, Cisco maximizes natural daylight, provides social distancing alerts, and measures and displays air quality data. The facility received a WELL health safety rating from the International Well Building Institute.
• Create a frictionless employee experience with technology and devices that adapt to the uniqueness of each employee, allowing them to create deeper relationships, unlock creativity, and increase productivity. The Cisco Penn1 facility offers sit or stand desks, provides digital signage notifications, distinct types of workspaces (e.g., huddle rooms, focus area, large conference rooms, and communal areas for socializing) based on work requirements.
• Optimize space to best meet the needs of your customers' hybrid work requirements. The Cisco Penn1 refurbishment emphasized collaboration and flexibility. After the renovation, collaboration space usage went from 30 percent to 70 percent, and all spaces are video enabled to support remote worker access.
• Harness data insights to benefit HR, IT, and Facilities personnel. Smart buildings are the intersection of people, space, and technology. Cisco Penn1 is 100 percent Power over Ethernet (PoE), making data available on air quality, water quality, lighting, and occupancy. With this information, your customers can better manage their facilities to meet their sustainability and workforce experience goals. Cisco Penn1 received a LEED Silver rating from the US (United States) Green Building Council.

With Cisco hybrid work solutions, you can drive new business by helping your customers transform how they work. Hybrid work becomes a win-win for everyone involved.

Drive customer outcomes through Cisco hybrid work solutions

With Cisco, you can create hybrid work experiences that empower your customers to:

• Work from home or anywherewith flexible, more secure access and collaboration. Help your customers provide an employee experience that maintains a work/life balance, attracts, and retains top talent, and keeps workers engaged.
• Work in the officewith solutions that help customers connect, secure, and automate to accelerate their real estate transformation journey. As we learned from the Cisco Penn1 rebuild, PoE reduces energy usage and office materials, provides data for analytics to improve facility operations, and helps organizations achieve their sustainability goals. During the Penn1 rebuild, US$250,000 in costs were avoided with reduced labor and less cabling, and the facility achieved five percent Capex savings.

Expand your company's profitability by developing a winning hybrid work practice

How you position yourself to customers relating to these growing business trends will be crucial to long-term success. We are committed to offering you the resources you need to be successful and sell hybrid work solutions.

Are you ready to transform how businesses work from home, the office, or anywhere? Take the following steps to develop your hybrid work practice and capabilities:

• Pursue the Cisco Hybrid Work from Office Specialization to build skills and establish your organization as a leader within this space. You can unlock Cisco profitability programs with qualifications based on sales volume, certifications, and specializations. New solution sub-tracks are available in the VIP (Value Incentive Program) Partner Program, with rebates ranging from 2-13 percent.
• Additionally, the Cisco Perform Plus global incentive program targets our up-and-coming and smaller partners.
• Access your full suite of customized Cisco tools and programs to begin creating and positioning smart, sustainable hybrid workspaces for your customers today.
• The Partner Ecosystem Exchange is another excellent tool for you to explore co-developed technology solutions tailored to address your customers' business needs.
• Experience hybrid work in action with an in-person or virtual visit to Cisco Penn1 for you and your customers. Contact your Partner Marketing Manager (PMM) for scheduling.

Take the Cisco Hybrid Work From Office Specialization Today!

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