Mobile cloud helps find a balance between life, work

Sungjoo Group, which is known for the MCM brand, has recently introduced the cloud environment. The employees can use their smartphones and tablets to log on to the company system and do their work at home or on the move. Employees are satisfied with the new system, as they can avoid working overtime or on weekends.

More and more companies are supporting work-life balance with information technology. Work-life balance prioritizes quality and outcome of work rather than the quantity.

Rather than increasing work hours, employees are given the option of choosing the time and location to work to maximize productivity and creativity. The government is also supporting the trend. In February, the government began a Work-Life Balance Campaign, encouraging smarter and flexible work hours and employment conditions.

The mobile cloud is at the core of work-life balance. Mobile devices help the workers manage integrated data and contents. Hyundai Heavy Industries introduced a cloud service on 3,500 computers, allowing employees to work on projects anywhere in the work site.

Seoul National University’s Bundang Hospital and Severance Hospital in Gangnam have doctors carry tablets outside the office so that they can check patient information and give medical orders anytime or anywhere.

But we still have a long way to go. Last year, Korea ranked 33rd among 36 countries on the work-life balance index announced by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The percentage of workers working more than 50 hours a week was the fourth-highest. The statistics show that we haven’t broken the old practice of keeping up productivity by increasing working hours.

Finding a balance in life and work is no longer a personal matter. It is a task that the government and companies need to work together with a long-term vision in order to become a developed country in a true sense. The mobile cloud will be a key tool in making that goal possible.

BY Yu Jae-seong , CEO of VMware Korea