Finance and Freedom: New tech innovations will enable a mobile workforce for the financial services industry’s future

Banks should begin evaluating laptop alternatives to give their teams more freedom and maximum productivity

Content created in partnership with Financial Post

While it’s true many Canadians in the post-pandemic future will return to a life at the office with their teams, co-workers and face-to-face meetings, it likely won’t look like the old nine-to-five, Monday-to-Friday model of the past. The new ‘norm’ will be a more flexible, work from anywhere approach to getting business done, and will largely depend on how well companies invest in nimble, adaptive mobile-computing technologies for their workers.

“Post-pandemic, Canadians are learning that we need to adapt our working style – looking past work from home to a truly mobile-centric approach to work. With many major financial services institutions planning to keep teams working from home until at least the summer, organizations should use this time to evaluate their technology investments, if necessary, in order to make the future of the workplace possible,” said Paul Edwards, vice president and general manager of Enterprise Sales at Samsung Canada.

“While Canadians won’t work from home forever, a flexible approach to office work will continue to be expected among financial institution employees, which comes with a continued need to invest in mobile solutions,” says Paul Edwards, vice president and general manager of Enterprise Sales, Samsung Canada.

Seamless Productivity: Samsung DeX brings a desktop experience to mobile devices

“Samsung has many laptop alternatives that address the next wave of remote-working trends, such as Samsung DeX,” said Edwards, “which gives employees a desktop experience through harnessing the computing power they already carry in their pocket.”

Samsung DeX allows workers to connect their Galaxy phones and tablets wirelessly to a Smart TV or a monitor and control these devices with a mouse and keyboard, like they would by using a desktop or laptop computer. The addition of a Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) enables workers to access cloud-based corporate apps and documents remotely, from their Galaxy device, for a consistent desktop experience.

“We’re always listening and striving to figure out what mobile workers want – and what they want is their desktop. Samsung DeX delivers that,” said Edwards. “Beyond merely accessing files, mobile workers can actually mirror the layout of their office laptop or desktop directly on their phones. That’s an incredibly powerful tool for employees who are on the move.”

An additional benefit of VDI technology for organizations: their IT departments will only need to manage one end-user rather than two and they can quickly deploy devices without any heavy lifting. This deployment across mobile devices and seamless integration into enterprise solutions means businesses can reduce their investments in hardware and laptops, enabling them to lower overall costs.

Endless possibilities: Premium Samsung Galaxy mobile devices offer both power and productivity

“The Samsung lineup of powerful mobile devices, such as the recently launched Galaxy S21 Series 5G, as well as the Galaxy S20 FE 5G and Galaxy Note20 Series 5G, help mobile workers stay productive all day,” Edwards said. “Hyper-fast processors and innovative battery technology are staples of the Galaxy product line up. The devices support busy schedules and numerous deliverables.”

For those who work in the financial sector, Edwards noted that the conveniently-sized 12.4” Galaxy Tab S7+, with its stunning Super AMOLED screen, offers a PC-like experience and maximum portability.

Complete with a new and more powerful S Pen included in-box, the Galaxy Tab S7+ gives employees a true pen-to-paper feel when they take notes, write orders or sketch ideas, all of which can be easily converted into Microsoft Word or PowerPoint documents via Samsung Notes.

Measured and controlled: IT managers look for Samsung Android Enterprise Recommended devices

“IT managers will want to know that the latest Samsung smartphones and tablets are part of the Android Enterprise Recommended (AER) program,” Edwards said. “The program, a must-have for most financial institutions and the public sector, gives IT managers greater control over OS updates.

“Version control of Android updates is essential for IT managers, but there are times when they have little to no choice but to accept new versions, even if certain elements don’t align with their existing IT policies,” he said. “Now, with Knox E-FOTA (Enterprise Firmware-Over-The-Air) and our latest devices, push updates can be better managed to allow managers to complete more comprehensive testing. IT managers can adjust the OS update and release it when ready, or to a limited group only.”

This additional control simplifies device management and is a key reason Samsung recently extended its partnership with Google, a move that showcases both organizations’ expanded commitment to offer best-in-class security and productivity solutions.

Select Galaxy devices, such as the Galaxy S20 FE 5G, and Galaxy Tab S7 | S7+, are part of the AER program. This portfolio of products provides customers with even more options that meet Google’s standard requirements, ensuring businesses have a consistent device performance and user experience. As partners, Google and Samsung push boundaries and deliver the best experience possible to help enterprise customers achieve their digital transformation goals

While no one can fully predict what the office of the future will look like, or how much time teams will spend working remotely versus in the office, Samsung is committed to deliver solutions and technologies that help maintain worker and business productivity like Samsung DeX and Knox Suite.

For more information, visit https://www.samsung.com/ca/business/