Collaboration and Mobility - The New Drivers of Efficiency, Productivity and Innovation

Jerry Flasz, CIO, COTY

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Accelerated Innovation

Collaboration and mobility are the drivers of efficiency, productivity, and innovation. At COTY we implemented Lync 2013 and its quick and easy audio and video conferencing capabilities have elevated the collaboration experience. I see our colleagues around the world holding virtual “face-to-face” sessions to work together in new ways. It’s what I use for meetings with my team, who can be in any number of countries as our business grows internationally.

We are implementing OneDrive and SharePoint as well to provide our colleagues with more ways to collaborate, share files, and access files wherever they are. An organization’s greatest asset is its people and when we provide seamless means for them to collaborate; we create opportunities for accelerated innovation. Additionally, we recently migrated to Outlook and our colleagues across Coty have embraced the change enthusiastically. As colleagues become increasingly technically savvy, they expect technology to be user friendly and integrate seamlessly with their other tools and applications. The increased integration between Outlook and the Office suite is enabling our teams to focus on value-add activities and increasing productivity.

Choose a Migration Partner with Experience

When migrating to or from a Microsoft Solution, it is imperative to choose an implementation/migration partner that has extensive experience in the solution you are migrating to as well as the solution you are migrating from. This is not as simple as it may seem. In my experience some providers offer expertise in implementing a solution but lack expertise in the existing platforms. This can create many challenges in the solution design and migration process, resulting in unnecessary work and frustration. It really is all about the experience.

Essential Communication for Effective Implementation Communication, training, and support are integral to the success of any implementation. You can implement as many innovative and productive solutions as possible but if the end users don’t know about the tools or how to use them properly, you are wasting time and money.

The increased integration between Outlook and the Office suite is enabling our teams to focus on valueadd activities and productivity

We recently transformed our technology landscape with implementations of Windows 7 and Outlook, and upgraded our Office suite. This was a significant change for our colleagues, impacting the technology they interact with every day. Communication was key to the success of the implementations, letting colleagues know what to expect, when the change would occur, providing tips and guidance through the transition, and how to get support.

Before the implementations in our largest offices, we built excitement for the change by providing onsite “IQ Bars” . This is where colleagues could test drive the tools and ask questions and after implementation the IQ Bars provided support and training. Our onsite IT teams walked the office floors throughout the transition period offering immediate assistance and answering questions. Additionally, we supplemented our Service Desk with phone and online training and support resources specifically for Windows, Outlook, and Office.

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