CRN Impact Awards: Barhead platform paves road to safe return to the office

Microsoft Gold partner Barhead’s Clearspace platform is designed to help organisations undertake a safe return to the office in the wake of the pandemic, earning it a finalist spot in the Platform Innovator category of CRN’s 2021 Impact Awards.

Clearspace is a comprehensive solution that is built on Microsoft Power Platform and can delivered via Teams integration or as a web or mobile app to simplify access for employees.

Through Barhead’s platform, users can book, manage and monitor office areas and employee movement in the workplace and companies can manage employee footprint and the utilisation of facilities. 

It offers a quick view of the area capacity and allows users to manage physical distancing procedures and contact tracing efforts. 

Admin users can customise requirements, setting up office spaces based on structure types, segments, floor area, or asset types. 

It also integrates with Microsoft Power Virtual Agents to provide a chatbot that can help users create a booking and check in or out inside Teams.

For smart-buildings, IoT integrations have been developed with pre-built settings to connect to standard sensors and scanners such as people counting, temperature check stations and facial recognitions.

The app can also feed data to business workflow assets and work order management applications such as ServiceNow, IBM Maximo, SAP, and more. 

Barhead has already deployed the solution for major customers, including the Bureau of Meterology (BoM) and the National Roads and Motorists’ Association (NRMA).

Clearspace helped 1,600 BoM employees and 1,500 NRMA employees return to work. 

BoM enterprise and business architecture manager Peter Fattoush said, “The Barhead solution seemed the most logical because it was built on the Power Platform, part of the Microsoft foundational systems. It was quite the logical approach. The other option was building it ourselves – but we want to spend our development time on products unique to the Bureau, not digital workplace.”

NRMA marine and corporate technology business partner Alanna Azar agreed with the efficiency of deploying the Clearspace platform.

“At the NRMA Group we recognise time is precious and that providing flexibility helps people meet the challenges of work and personal commitments,” she said.

“We also know getting a good balance between work and home life creates a better workplace full of happier, healthier, more productive, and more engaged employees. It’s about outcomes, not face time.” 

Barhead has found continued success since first investing in Microsoft Power Platform technology in 2018. In 2020, for the thirrd consecutive year, Barhead retained its status as a Microsoft Inner Circle and Microsoft Gold Partner for Business Applications.