

The Future is here

The world your parents imagined as kids, with space travel, robots and handheld computers, is finally here. While Curiosity is roaming the martian surface, Richard Branson is sipping cocktails in outer space and you’re putting in a hard day at the office. Except… your hard day at the office is on a beach chair in Thailand, or on a plane over the mediterranean, or on your couch in Baltimore.

Technology

There have been seven rovers sent to Mars since 1971. The first two, sent by USSR, failed soon after landing. British and American rovers have had varying success over the last few years, but helped to lay the groundwork for Curiosity.

Likewise, the technology for mobile working are finally capable of meeting the demands of today’s workforce. Remember palm pilots, car phones and beepers? Now that iPads have landed, we’re long past those. We have wireless internet, everywhere, and always. Technology has finally bridged the gap between nimbleness and power.

With advanced hardware like the iPad, and robust, flexible software like Pigeonholes, Technology is ready for the future of the global workforce.

Collaboration is key

NASA currently has 400 employees working on the Curiosity project, and 300 others working on the project at other departments or companies. But that’s just the beginning, over the course of the project, 7,000 people have been supported by the project. From government employees, to big contractors, to a small bicycle company, thousands of workers have collaborated on the giant project.

As projects get more technical and complicated, you may need to involve new partners on a scale that hasn’t existed before. Traditional means cannot coordinate the kinds of workforces that exist now. Constant communication is absolutely necessary to keep the giant gears moving on a project like this.

Remote is fast, effective, and economic

Sure, it would be great to have human exploration of Mars. Also, I’d love to meet our client in Ireland tomorrow instead of having a 8:00am conference call. Alas, working remote saves time, money, and sweat. You may be looking at the price tag of the Curiosity project, thinking, “2.6 billion isn’t cheap.” You’d be right. However, it’s only a fraction of the prohibitive costs that it would take to send astronauts. Not to mention, it’s only about a quarter of the price of an air craft carrier.



At the end of the day, if NASA can successfully manage Curiosity from 352 million miles away, you can probably keep tabs on your workforce in Poughkeepsie.

Try Pigeonholes today for free.