Are we living in a virtual world?

As an ex-IT professional who worked with virtual office solutions (desktop and meetings) I was used to telling everyone this is the business travel of the future. I was not lying I actually believed it.

But after many years of integration challenges and connection issues I am not certain the impact will be as great as we originally thought it would when these technologies first hit the market back in the late 80’s.

My reasons for this is the lack of a universal platform which allows all companies to communicate regardless what solution provider they choose. I am convinced that for the moment this industry will not have the impact that we thought it would initially.

I remain ever hopeful that this will change in the future but for the moment it seems that corporate travel is on the up.

As a Serviced Accommodation provider, we are keen to embrace new technology, as we believe this will enhance the stay of our guests. But we also need to be realistic until technology becomes so advanced that we can teleport to locations at the flick of a switch. Nothing will replace a face to face meeting to ensure people are understood and projects remain on course.

I truly believe you will never replace human interaction, or at least I hope not – let’s hope we don’t end up using Cyberdyne Systems robots to run the businesses of the future.