Computers in the Workplace

For my discussion on computers in the workplace, I am going to talk about the consulting industry and in particular, technology consulting and why it is important to be computer literate in this industry. The company I work for, Accenture, is a technology consulting company working to solve problems with partners in other businesses. This consulting crosses over every single other industry from medical, banking, travel, energy, and many more. Every one of these industries has problems that need solutions and that is where the company I work for comes in. An employee absolutely needs to be computer literate and even more so in this industry, as we are utilizing the technologies of cloud, artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, Internet of Things (IoT), automation, robotics, quantum computing, and more.

Our employees need to be able to come up with technological solutions to very complex problems. Sometimes this may involve the configuration and set up of a customer relationship management (CRM) tool such as Salesforce. It might involve complex automation that utilizes AI in a supply chain to help reduce waste. Computers are utilized in every facet of this industry. In my own daily work, I use a computer to collaborate with my team. I then utilize a virtual machine to login into my client’s network and from there I build complex SQL queries, analyze trends, build dashboards, and more.

Even if an employee is not a developer in our firm there is still a need to be able to utilize a computer to handle human resources, billing, sales, and collaborate with one another. In a time of Covid-19 everyone is working from home and to be able to keep in contact with one another is not only a matter good for business but for our mental health as well. Some of the collaboration tools include Microsoft Teams and SharePoint to keep in touch not only across projects but also in resource groups to keep in touch with one another.

This is going to be pretty much the same in most, if not all technology consulting firms. Companies such as Accenture, Deloitte Consulting, IBM Global Technology Services, McKinsey & Company, and Capgemini. There are others as well, but we all have our fingers on cutting-edge technology. 

As technology leaps forward in the next 10 years, these firms will immediately begin using them as they show up. From hardware, to operating systems, and networking, technology consulting firms will want their employees to be experienced with them. The culture of these companies will adopt new technologies and immediately begin tinkering with them and exploiting them with other technologies to see where we can take them next.