Australian insurer and bank Suncorp plans an office innovation that could kill off the company computer, inviting staff to bring their own laptops and smart phones to work.
Suncorp is pitching the move as a way of creating a more appealing workplace than an attempt to cut costs, saying it is aimed particularly at the growing number of workers who want the same technology experience at work as they do at home.
“We believe strongly that IT infrastructure shouldn’t constrain employees’ innovation and that employees should be able to work with the IT device they feel most comfortable with, whether that is a traditional desktop set-up or their own personal device connected to the Suncorp network,” a Suncorp spokesperson said on Tuesday.
Suncorp, which currently has 20 000 workstations for its staff, said the new policy would start in August, marking the first time that staff would be able to wire up their own devices daily in the sensitive Australian financial services sector.
The industry has swathes of confidential client information.
Suncorp would use a combination of Citrix and open source tools to create a secure interface that will ensure staff only had access to company approved applications. – Reuters