Techaisle Blog

How does one take an existing exceptional PC brand and improve it? I have no idea, but the engineers at Dell Technologies achieved an incredible feat with the Latitude 9330 13-inch form factor. A hardware advancement enhanced by software innovation. For a month, I have been using the latest ultra-premium 2-in-1 with the world’s first distinctive Collaboration Touchpad. Weighing 2.8 lbs., the Latitude 9330 has empowered my mobile, nomadic work style in planes, trains, cafes, lounges, conferences, parks, hotels, and the home.

Mobility magic

The mobility magic is easily felt in its thoughtful design. Wi-Fi 6E and 5G ensure that one is never out of reach of Internet connectivity. I activated Verizon 5G (which is not always the best in the places one needs most), but it works. The 13.3-inch QHD+ (2560 x 1600) WVA touch display with 500 nits of brightness is plenty vivid and crisp to scroll through volumes of data and PowerPoint presentations in bright lights and dark surroundings. Dell has continued with its InfinityEdge display design, which is very neat, and the ComfortView Plus display reduces blue light. Those using Windows 11 know that its snap layouts and snap groups work great on large external monitors. Therefore, I was initially skeptical because of Latitude’s 13-inch screen size, but I found the use of snap layout and snap group features on the Latitude effective. If I require additional screen space, I connect the Dell ultrathin 14” FHD portable monitor (C1422H). It gives me dual-screen productivity with 330 nits brightness and 2 x USB-C (one on each side). Working from home, my Latitude laptop is connected to a Dell UltraSharp 34-inch Curved video conferencing monitor (C3422WE) through a Dell dock, a Dell Bluetooth silent keyboard, and a mouse.

The battery life can last through coast-to-coast flights but not a cross-Atlantic trip. However, the specifications claim that the laptop can charge up to 80% within 40 minutes, which in my experience, comes very close to it. The Adaptive Battery Performance tends to optimize and extend battery life. The backlit keyboard is excellent for working in dark environments such as planes when the lights are dimmed or during my late-night work habits.

Sustainability is quickly becoming an essential purchase decision-making process. The Latitude 9330 does not disappoint. The packaging is made from 100% recycled materials, and the keyboard and the keycaps are also made from recycled materials.

Collaboration center

Video-enabled collaboration is necessary for business agility – decision agility, innovation agility. The nature of the collaboration discussion has permanently changed. Advanced collaboration technologies answer real business issues – issues that have become more pressing in today’s competitive world for productivity, innovation, and customer interaction. The Latitude 9330 is built for collaboration, enhancing video, and calling. It has top and bottom firing speakers and four microphones to pick up one’s voice clearly. The glass collaboration touchpad automatically lights up with Zoom icons for mute/unmute, video on/off, and screen share when in a Zoom call. The settings can be modified in the collaboration section of the Dell Optimizer. The icons have saved me a ton of time from fumbling for mouse-click buttons on the Zoom screen. The 1920x1080 webcam with a safety shutter automatically opens and closes during video calls. The camera shutter can be opened/locked with the F9 key for extra cautious users. Included in the laptop is AI-based noise cancellation for background noise reduction. It is unclear if the noise cancellation is additive to or overrides the feature of video-conferencing applications.

Techaisle’s PC market study forecasts SMBs worldwide are likely to purchase 101.2 million units, a 1.9% increase from 2021, revised down from 104.5 million PCs predicted earlier in March. Workforce scarcity (58% of SMBs), inflation anxiety (47% of SMBs), recession angst (41% of SMBs), ASP (average selling price increases) of 3.3% to 7.7% q-o-q, and increasing investments in non-IT capital equipment (18% of SMBs) are contributing to the slowdown in PC purchases.

The North American and Western Europe SMB PC shipment growth rates will likely be 1.9% and 1.2%, respectively. Asia/Pacific and Latin America markets will likely grow by 2.2% and 2.4%, respectively. Healthcare and financial services will probably be the leaders in PC purchases, whereas hospitality and personal services will be the laggards. Between 11% to 15% of SMBs are using Windows 11 PCs, and between 62% to 73% of SMBs may plan to replace/upgrade Windows 10 PCs with Windows 11.

On the heels of its success in 2021, Lenovo has launched its second iteration of Work for Humankind to show how everyone can think differently about the future of hybrid work. In partnership with Lenovo, Island Conservation, and the Robinson Crusoe community, volunteers work their own jobs remotely from one of the world’s most far-flung offices. The NGO Island Conservation and the local community on Robinson Crusoe Island thoroughly vetted and screened prospective volunteers from across the world who sought to participate in this initiative through an open application process. These volunteers use Lenovo’s technology and donate their professional skills spanning design, technology, sustainability, and biodiversity to support conservation efforts. Lenovo’s efforts recognize that technology is pivotal in creating the flexibility to fulfill knowledge workers’ desires to work from anywhere while enabling them to do good in their communities. Through the Work for Humankind project, Lenovo demonstrates what is possible when people and technology are brought together for the good of humanity.
After launching the volunteer application form in December 2021, Lenovo received thousands of applications worldwide for fewer than a dozen volunteer spots. All volunteer finalists went through multiple rounds of screening before selections were made by Island Conservation (NGO) and the local Robinson Crusoe community.

Since first announcing the Work for Humankind project, an enormous amount of work was done to prepare for the arrival of volunteers on the island. From a technical perspective, Lenovo had to increase the island’s internet bandwidth to support its local NGO partner, Island Conservation, and enable the island to advance its own community goals and equip the volunteers to do their own day jobs remotely. Together with Island Conservation and the local community, Lenovo has established a community technology hub, fully equipped with some of Lenovo’s devices, solutions, and services, and significantly upgraded internet connectivity from 1 Mbps to up to 200 Mbps, bringing high-speed internet to Robinson Crusoe Island for the first time. The broad portfolio of Lenovo’s devices, solutions, and services being used include:

The Lenovo technologies incorporated into this project aim to accelerate proven conservation actions that preserve the rare habitats and endangered species thriving on Robinson Crusoe Island. After the program, the technology will remain on the Island for the community to use long-term.

Capturing and highlighting the meaningful work on Robinson Crusoe Island is a priority for Lenovo. Therefore, Lenovo uses its www.lenovowfh.com microsite to post blogs from its volunteers, testimonial interviews, videos, and photography.

Better hardware equipment and mobile devices are an essential component of remote work, but remote work enablement extends beyond hardware to applications, solutions, and work habits. Besides selecting the volunteers, the most challenging parts were setting up island connectivity and building the tech hub. The initiative focuses on empowering the volunteers to improve the Island’s ecosystem and advance the community’s desire to become more socially, economically, environmentally sustainable, and resilient while enabling the volunteers to work from anywhere on their day jobs indeed.

The industry is abuzz with hybrid work discussions, home office, safe return to the office, shared space, meeting rooms, and hot desking. Although most agree that hybrid work is here to stay, many cannot ascertain the trend's longevity because forecasts tend to be very wrong in volatile times. Most IT suppliers are focused on providing innovative technology solutions for the hybrid work model. Lenovo is showing how hybrid work can be melded with Work for Humankind.

Techaisle’s SMB and Midmarket Hybrid Work Adoption Trends survey indicates that 41% of SMBs plan a phased approach to return to the office, up from 22% in 2021. 20% of employees will likely work from home, in sharp contrast to 58% in 2021, similar to pre-pandemic levels in 2019 when 29% of small business (1-99) employees, 9% of employees within midmarket firms (100-999), and 7% within upper-midmarket firms (1000-4999), who worked from home. Techaisle survey also shows that 42% of employees want to work 3-4 days per week from home.

Security, remote IT support, and unreliable networks continue to be significant technology challenges in managing remote workers. Remote IT support is an especially acute inhibitor for 46% of small businesses. On the people-side of the hybrid work equation, work-life conflict, maintaining team cohesiveness, and lack of training/career implications are dominant challenges. As a result, only 11% have a hybrid first mindset, but 37% believe they have mature remote work practices.

Team collaboration solutions, office collaboration tools (conference room devices), and remote worker collaboration devices (headsets, video cameras, etc.) are the top three priorities for 45% to 58% of SMBs. PC upgrades and refreshes to enable a hybrid workforce are the fourth top priority for 39% of SMBs.