Client:
A leading global technology services company specializing in the digital media industry.
Challenge
Our client, a rapidly expanding technology company with a global footprint across North America, Europe, and Asia, faced a common yet critical challenge: effectively managing their return-to-office (RTO) strategy. Like many organizations, they sought a delicate balance—maximizing in-person collaboration and creativity while respecting employee engagement and work-life balance.
As a truly data-driven organization, their primary hurdle was the lack of accurate, real-time insights into in-office attendance. Without this crucial data, it was difficult to:
- Understand precise trends in office utilization.
- Optimize workspace design and allocation.
- Accurately plan for on-site services, such as desk and cafeteria capacity.
- Develop RTO policies that were truly effective and equitable.
They approached Dispatch Integration to implement a robust system that could provide the granular data needed to inform these critical decisions.
Solution
From IP Addresses to Actionable Insights
Our initial exploration considered traditional methods, such as badge access controls. However, we quickly discovered these data sources were unreliable and incomplete due to varying technologies across offices, “tailgating,” and inconsistent badge-out practices. This highlighted the need for a more innovative approach.
Through careful investigation, we identified an unexpected yet highly accurate data source: the IP address captured by the anti-virus software, Palo Alto’s XDR, on each employee’s laptop. Given that 100% of our client’s workforce are knowledge workers who rely on laptops, this provided a near-perfect signal of their physical location. Every time a laptop was opened, its location was captured and made available via an API – offering precise, real-time data without relying on employee compliance.
Leveraging this insight, Dispatch Integration engineered a sophisticated, automated solution using Workato, our preferred orchestration platform. This system:
- Continuously Collects Data: Gathers laptop IP information and usernames every few minutes.
- Validates Identities: Cross-references this data with Okta and Azure Active Directory to confirm employee and contractor identities.
- Delivers Visualizations: Sends the validated data to Splunk for dynamic dashboarding and insightful visualizations.
Outcome
Data-Driven RTO, Optimized Resources, and Enhanced Equity
The speed of implementation was remarkable; the entire solution was designed and deployed in just a couple of weeks. The result is a powerful, near-real-time dashboard that provides a comprehensive view of in-office attendance patterns across all global locations and for all workers.
These actionable insights have proven invaluable for our client, enabling them to:
- Craft Intelligent RTO Policies: Develop flexible and effective RTO policies that align with both business needs and employee expectations.
- Optimize Resource Management: Efficiently manage in-office resources, including desk and locker allocation, and accurately plan cafeteria capacity based on actual foot traffic.
- Ensure Fairness and Equity: Identify attendance anomalies, empowering HR teams to ensure equitable and fair RTO planning across diverse regions, functions, and demographics.
By transforming raw, often overlooked data into strategic intelligence, Dispatch Integration empowered our clients to navigate the complexities of hybrid work confidently, optimize their workspaces, and foster a more productive and engaged workforce. If you are interested in learning how Dispatch could help you uncover operational insights and deliver automated solutions, contact us today.
