The emergence of ubiquitous high-speed Internet access around the world, coupled with the portability of computing, is contributing to a permanent shift in how employees do their jobs. This shift is at the core of what Yankee Group calls the Anywhere Enterprise — our vision for how companies in the future will connect all their assets to employees and partners, anywhere and anytime.

The 20th century saw a massive shift in the nature of work, and thus in how a commercial enterprise approached that work. The size and shape of desks, for example, along with where they were placed and who filled them, changed completely from this 19th century office at left. Over the course of this century, change isn’t coming to desks but to the role of location in our work.  

In a short report just published called, “The Future of Work”, YG analyst Josh Holbrook points out that this change isn’t optional. YG’s 2008 Blended Lifestyle Survey shows that nearly three-quarters of U.S. workers believe that allowing employees to work from home benefits the company. In fact, employees said the single most important thing their company could do to improve their productivity — choosing from options that included getting new technology, using their own computers, and other appealing choices — was just enabling them to work from home.

But the increased productivity and lower costs that can result don’t come without effort. “Organizations that aspire to a remote workforce all too often craft a corporate memo and assume employees will be so pleased, that everything else will take care of itself, ” he said. Instead, Josh recommends a five-factor framework to creating a successful remote working environment in your enterprise, beginning with a comprehensive diagnosis of real employee needs and ending with managing a well-planned change process.

Great thinking, and just one consequence of the expansion of the network to every nook and cranny of the earth.