The New Normal
According to a Xerox study, summarised by IT Pro at https://www.itproportal.com/news/uk-workforce-will-be-the-last-to-return-to-the-office/, even with the apparent slowing of the COVID-19 pandemic, its likely that the return of employees to their offices will take twelve to eighteen months. The actual time varies by country, but the UK will be amongst the slowest to return, with just 18 percent planning to be back in the office again in a months time.
The Xerox study reflects the widely held belief that post pandemic work habits will take time to return to normal, if indeed they ever do.
This new normal makes demands on your companies IT infrastructure that were almost certainly never considered when it was originally designed. Key to these is security – the Xerox survey flags up the fact that, pre COVID, a third of all respondents saw security and privacy as being their biggest concern related to home or remote working. A quarter worried about employee productivity, whilst approximately one in six were concerned about technology infrastructure.
The fact that we’re likely to be working from home, at least part time for the foreseeable future, means that your IT support provider needs to consider different areas than might historically have been the case. Secure remote access is clearly one of these, but they range from telephony and collaboration tools, through to the appropriate hardware. It may even span software licencing – are your users using Remote Desktop Services now they’re remote? Are they licenced correctly and in the most effective manner now their location has changed?
It may be that your support provider has seen an increase in end user support requests now that users are away from the office and your own IT resources. Have they responded to this as you hoped? Have they secure remote access that enables them to access your PC without compromising security? And how are they on the “softer” areas such as dealing with your end users when they are in a home environment that may come with more distractions than their office?
We strongly believe that there has never been a better time to verify that your IT and support arrangements are fit for purpose as our working lives evolve in this new era. If you would like a free consultation with one of our experts, please get in touch.