The world of work has experienced a seismic change in 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced organisations across the globe to temporarily close their physical offices, quickly shifting staff to remote working and transforming how they operate almost overnight.
For many, this change will have presented significant challenges and obstacles – everything from productivity to security, technology and work-life balance have been rethought and reconfigured in recent months. Although many businesses embraced remote and agile working practices before coronavirus, their business continuity and resilience strategies will have been severely tested in March.
For those yet to jump on board with remote working, the pandemic will have prompted a quick acceleration in digital transformation plans. The crisis has even rewritten the job description for many IT leaders, who may not have been so prominent and visible in their respective businesses before. Now they are becoming integral to their company’s management of the crisis. One thing seems clear: the businesses that fully embrace remote working now will be the ones that benefit as we emerge into a new way of working.
In almost every case, however, there is still work to be done to ensure productivity and effective collaboration for home workers in the long term. According to research compiled by HP on the changing landscape of remote work, 77% of companies are accelerating adoption of VDI (virtual desktop infrastructure), while 56% of those surveyed are shifting towards portable devices.
Moreover, 60% say they want to provide the same level of support at home that users get when they’re in the office, and 47% plan to pay part of or all home internet bills for employees. The survey also found that the current crisis has prompted 67% of companies to rethink their long-term IT strategies.
Even as the world moves out of lockdown restrictions, it’s looking like remote working is here to stay, and there are many questions that businesses need to ask when shaping strategies. Does your company have the right hardware and applications to stay productive? What security measures need to be in place for a distributed workforce? And how do you prevent remote workers suffering burnout or video conferencing fatigue? All that said, transforming how your company operates day-to-day need not be painful, and the benefits will far outweigh the work involved.
To learn more download our report, Navigating the new normal: A fast guide to remote working, brought to you in association with HP, for a deep dive into the new world of work.
