Recently, a group of ITAM practioneers were discussing market trends and the Hoteling trend came into the discussion.  I was intrigued as to how this concept is affecting the IT infrastructure environment and the impact to ITAM.

For a baseline, Hoteling is the concept of flexible workspace and office infrastructure management.  It embraces the “Return to Office” environment where we create flexible work spaces to accommodate a blended in-office work requirement where companies can reduce their office space footprint and related expenses.  This also embraces open work spaces and unassigned desks requiring a reservation process when they need it, so Hoteling in the office is born.

Some of the general benefits the Hoteling creates are:

• Shared Workspaces – This is a more efficient use of office space and enables large organizations to be nimble with the cost of real-estate
• Technology based Reservation System – This allows employees to view virtually the availability of space and an easily schedule as needed even from mobile apps
• Flexibility & Optimization – Allows the coordination work sessions and collaboration with coworkers and customers and even makes space across the company’s facilities accessible further maximizing the investment of real-estate.
• Resource Sharing – This also enables the ability to share things like monitors, docking stations, printers, cables and increase the ROI for the hardware that is deployed and the network and infrastructure that is required for and in-office environment.
• Sustainability – This supports many ESG initiatives. Reducing carbon footprint by reducing the purchase of hardware and energy to support office environments.  It also fosters a more inclusive work space by breaking down barriers of offices and a hierarchical office structure.

There are other benefits as well but as always, with the good comes some challenges to consider.  These are some of the highlighted ones from our group discussion.

• Security & Privacy – First off, security of the hardware. It seems as if the connectivity cords, chargers and the access to peripherals like mice, keyboards and other items created a challenge.  Also, the challenge of data privacy is heightened.  When in the shared spaces, employees may forget to log out of systems when stepping away from their work stations or leave sensitive documents on the shared printers or desks. 
• IT Support / Resource Management – Managing peak demand of space is a challenge. The mid days of the week, you may have over capacity of users and the demand for IT support will surge with the Monday and Friday demand almost nonexistent.  Not only are the demands for support strained, but there may not be enough work stations on peak use on those days as the reduced office footprint is not designed to handle full employee utilization on 3 days a week.  Another challenge is managing the demand for meeting rooms and special IT support for “larger events”
• Culture / Health & Safety / Employee Adaption – What kind of culture does this create and how do employees embrace it? One of the biggest challenges is to create an environment that works across several generations.  Older folks like their identified space and want to bring a sense of home/personal life into their work space.  Younger folks are minimalist and work in a more virtual environment.  There is also the difference int the adaption of technology and how it is used.  Accommodating these differences is challenging at best.  Also, think about the impact of Covid and the pandemic.  Our level of comfort of using and touching common spaces has changed and this open environment requires special considerations. 

Each organization will work through these and other considerations uniquely.  While we all like the idea of flexibility with our work schedule, it is not as easy as just come to the office 3 days a week and be accountable and responsible with your schedule.  There are some real challenges to embrace Hoteling.  There are real impacts to your ITAM program.   Costs, Security, Support, Management, Infrastructure, Utilization, Compliance and Sustainability are just a few.  You will have to create a cross-functional team to build out your Hoteling platform and then continue to manage as this concept evolves.  But like all IT challenges, with planning and process development, we can manage this structure while embracing all of our ITAM Program Goals!