Working from outside the confines of the office

A sanity check says the figure is too high; people's responses to a survey will differ from their decision when actually faced with the prospect of less money, and a remote connection specialist is almost bound to have phrased the question in such a way that people would give the answer the company wanted to hear. Even if the actual figure would be halved, though, it shows a lot of willingness to work away from the office.

A number of things are stopping people. First, the increasing awareness that simply using whichever laptop an employee has picked up in a retail store and had change from £300 isn't good enough. Any corporate computer, whether it is a desktop or laptop system, needs to be different from those on offer to the consumer. Never mind the ability to watch the latest DVD; what a business needs is reliability, security and robustness. This needs to be set against the idea that this notebook is going into someone's home and taken to external meetings, so they don't want an ugly, clunky box. Laptop/notebook computers are the answer, although they suffer from a rather misguided belief that they are far less powerful and secure than their desk-bound companions. They don't have to be, and often are not. Top-range laptops are elegant to the point of having ultra-thin components like the motherboard designed for them; they can have embedded WWAN Mobile broadband technology, enabling wireless communication anywhere there is a mobile phone signal – this means the web and e-mails can be with the owner as if they were in the office, anytime. They will be travelling around with their owner so look for a rugged body – carbon fibre is ideal as is offers robust performance with a stylish look. Some even feature biometric fingerprint recognition, Trusted Platform Module (TPM) file encryption technology and Hard Disk Drop protection, so even if the kids try to play with it or worse, you have a break-in, nobody will be able to tamper with your information.

While you're looking for the more stylish elements in a laptop, don't overlook the basics. Battery life needs to be excellent so your laptop keeps up with you. The VAIO professional range includes the TZ series featuring a battery life of up to seven hours. Look also at the technical specification and try to understand what you're looking at. RAM, or random access memory, enables you to do more than one thing at a time. High-end equipment like the Sony VAIO TZ range has two gigabytes, enabling a lot of multi-tasking (so an antivirus program in the background won't slow your word processor down, for example. A substantial hard drive (the TZs have 120 gigabytes) enables you to store large multimedia files. Intel Centrino chips are the best for mobile computing as they're calibrated for battery life and wireless communications, and always make sure your computer is based on genuine Microsoft Windows Vista Business software – it's more secure than the home user version, and look for a pin-sharp black LCD for a good display. Finally any good laptop will have a built-in camera for video conferencing.

Working away from the office can be liberating. There is no travelling time involved, clearly, and in many cases office politics can be avoided (although not always – see our article on managing a remote workforce. It does involve responsibilities as well as benefits, however. The set-up is important. Back pain will soon kick in if someone has not got the right sort of chair, or whose monitor is at the wrong height (the top of the screen should be level with the eyes).

Surprising amounts of people appear unconcerned about the insurance and mortgage implications of running a business on the move. Mike Bowman, head of insurance company More>Business, points out that in a country that now has 3.5 million home workers the right insurance is essential: "If you employ staff on a full-time, part-time, casual, temporary or work-experience basis you will require employers liability insurance in respect of accidents or disease arising in the course of their employment by your business," he says. "Some people you may consider as self-employed e.g. a handyman or cleaner, may also be regarded as your employee whilst carrying out work for your business."

None of these practicalities should put anyone off using workers primarily based away from the office. They are simple practicalities, and the Famatech figures suggest that there is a workforce out there that's hungry to reduce their employer's bill for premises as well as salary. With the addition of a computer designed for stylish brilliance as well as brilliance both in stylish and functional terms, there's every reason to encourage the idea.

To find out how the Sony VAIO professional range can help you work more flexibly click here!!

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Mobile security

Managing a remote workforce