Getronics' Information Worker Profiler Makes People More Productive

Business Wire, March 20, 2008

BILLERICA, Mass. -- Getronics, one of the world's largest providers of IT workspace services, today launched a service to increase employee productivity. The Information Worker Profiler service enables large organizations to gain insight into the current and future Information and Communication Technology (ICT) needs of employees; Information Worker Profiler will define the tools employees in large organizations need to work together, share information, and act decisively to add value to the business.

Getronics developed the Information Worker Profiler to help build solutions and develop a roadmap to optimize use of information systems, geared to the needs of employees. The data provided by this assessment can be used by Getronics as input to implement the Future-Ready Workspace[TM] Solution for clients.

Information Worker Profiler enables IT to visualize and communicate the needs of workers, consequently providing different types of workers with optimal support, resulting in a more effective working environment and leading to increased productivity in business processes. To achieve this, Information Worker Profiler employs an innovative method that takes various characteristics of the organization into account, including culture, organizational structure and generational differences among employees.

"In today's enterprise, users are typically divided into three categories; process workers, office workers and knowledge workers," says Leendert van Houwelingen, Director Business Solutions of Getronics. "While process workers are more dedicated to a single process, the office workers use a standard set of available IT tools and the knowledge workers are multifunctional users of all the IT means available. For example, a process worker could be an employee in a factory, an office worker could be a financial analyst who uses only a predefined set of tools; but the same financial analyst could become a knowledge worker when empowered with all the internal and external IT tools available to leverage his or her skills -- bringing maximum value to the business."

Primarily suited to larger groups of workers or to one or more departments, Information Worker Profiler clearly demonstrates how infrastructure investment can help a company's employees improve productivity. Through analysis of a company's current working environment, Getronics helps its clients to:

* Collect the information needs of employees from web-based questions and in-depth interviews. A scan is also made of the current ICT infrastructure capabilities. The results provide insight into the current situation and the employees' desired needs.

* Understand themes that begin to form as differences and common traits are identified. These themes are then translated into possible solutions for the end-users' information needs. The solutions may be based on existing applications and infrastructure, but may also involve reorganizing a work-flow or business process.

* Prioritize information needs in cooperation with the client, after analyzing the information gathered and selecting appropriate themes. Getronics presents the results in one of its demo centers by means of a workshop or live demonstration, where the client can experience the new environment. Further refinement takes place, if needed, so that the final solutions meet the identified needs.

* Create a tailor-made overview of business needs and a roadmap of steps that can be taken to provide the optimum support for users regarding their information needs, so that improvements in employee productivity can be quickly achieved.

In short, Information Worker Profiler brings IT and its consumers together -- enabling them to see their needs and plot a course to get there. As a result, businesses gain the opportunity to flourish from workspaces that increase workforce productivity. Users gain the agility to leverage their strengths - supported by technology, not constrained by it.

About Getronics

Getronics is a leading international provider of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) services and solutions, focusing on workspace management, application services and consulting & transformation services. Getronics helps organisations raise their performance and increase the productivity of their people, by enabling them to share information and to work together efficiently, securely and effectively, wherever and whenever they need. Getronics is a subsidiary of KPN ICT Services with headquarters in Amsterdam. For further information about Getronics, visit www.getronics.us.

Future-Ready Workspace(TM) is a trademark of Getronics Intellectual Property BV.