Distributed work is becoming the norm. It has been enabled by technology, but to drive business success, employees need even better technology.
The good news is that organizations are aware – global research by SOTI found that IT budgets grew last year. According to a survey of 2,500 IT professionals, 52% saw their budgets increase, and only 18% saw them decline.
SOTI’s VP of sales for Northern and Western Europe Stefan Spendrup tells UNLEASH: “Workforces are becoming increasingly decentralized and more dispersed.
“There are many technological drivers behind this trend with large-scale advances in Internet of Things devices, e-commerce and supply chain visibility platforms.
“The possibilities – and indeed, opportunities – for businesses and the sectors in which they operate are only just beginning.”
Spendrup continues: “However, our latest research reveals some of the pitfalls that can occur with a more distributed workforce” – first and foremost, it increases the number of devices employers, and particularly IT teams, need to manage.
80% of the IT professionals surveyed were managing a new technology they didn’t manage last year, and 70% have seen one or more device-related increase.
Inside the security challenges
“As both employees in the field and IT professionals grapple with a broader range of devices, efficiency and scalability challenges can arise”, notes Spendrup. “Data integrity and security also becomes more complex.”
“As more devices are deployed, there is a risk of security vulnerabilities. Too few organizations are matching their investment in new devices with investment in mobile technology security. Only around a third have increased their spend in this area, leaving business operations, as well as employee and customer data, at risk”, adds Spendrup.
When investing in technology, SOTI’s research notes that the tools need to prioritize security and compliance, but also collaboration, says SOTI. But in reality, 58% of companies are still embracing manual processes with 31% of workflows being done on paper – this is a real security concern.
It is therefore no surprise that IT leaders are saying they need more access and better control over security (42%).
To overcome these issues, IT teams need to work closely with HR departments. HR is vital to “ensuring employees understand the business rationale for the integration of new tech”, plus they can organize “adequate training on new devices”.
All of this is “key to avoiding staff frustration, alienation, lost sales and emergence of data vulnerabilities, amongst other challenges”, notes Spendrup.
“Understanding and supporting IT colleagues through any major new tech transition is equally important – ensuring that they have the right investment and personnel support to deliver on projects aimed at easing the transition to a more distributed workforce”, concludes Spendrup.
The International Festival of HR is back! Discover amazing speakers from the world of HR and business at UNLEASH America on 26-27 April 2023.
Sign up to the UNLEASH Newsletter
Get the Editor’s picks of the week delivered straight to your inbox!
