Managed.IT - issue 58

10 01732 759725 BULLETIN Print to be productive Working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic is leading to less printing overall as employees pivot to digital collaboration, but employees who do still print are more likely to report productivity gains, reveals new Home Worker research from Quocirca. Key findings from its survey of 501 UK home- working employees include: n 77% of office workers based at home have access to a printer, though only 5% are supplied by their employer; 14% purchased a printer themselves when they started working from home. n 52% print less than they did in the office, including 24% who don’t print at all. More than one quarter (28%) say the amount they print has increased significantly. n 75% of new home workers say their productivity has increased (41%) or stayed the same (34%). Among those who report higher levels of productivity, 64% state that they are printing more vs. 30% who say they are printing less or not at all. n 41% of those who have reduced printing say they need fewer printed documents now that there are no face- to-face meetings or physical signatures. Quocirca’s research suggests that office-based workers who may have been printing regularly out of habit are now adapting to digital alternatives. However, this trend varies by company size. While 44% of employees of large organisations have ceased printing entirely, this figure falls to 18% of SMEs and 10% of mid-sized organisations. Quocirca Director Louella Fernandes said: “There is a concentration of printing among employees in mid-sized organisations. This may be because security policies at larger organisations prevent documents being printed at home” www.quocirca.com The problem with remote working Since lockdown, the transition to remote working has been both popular and successful. That doesn’t mean it hasn’t also had its fair share of problems, as a Nexthink survey into the impact of remote working on IT makes clear. According to its findings: n 43% of IT teams saw an increase in the number of support tickets from employees n 38% of workers have had issues with VPN access n 37% of workers have had issues with Wi-Fi connectivity n 35% of workers have had issues with video conferencing apps n 37% of workers felt they didn’t have the right tools to get their work done when the transition was first made n 35% of IT leaders felt restricted in the support they could offer remote employees due to a reliance on on-premises software Fewer meetings drive productivity gains Nearly two-thirds (64%) of professionals surveyed by Korn Ferry, the organisational consulting firm, say they are more productive when they work from home than they are in the office, even with distractions such as children or a spouse. The vast majority (92%) believe there will be fewer in-person meetings post Covid-19 crisis, with 87% expecting to be more productive by spending less time in meetings. Smarter collaboration: the Lenovo ThinkSmart View personal productivity assistant powered by Microsoft Teams can be used for voice and video calls, content viewing and administrative tasks, leaving the user’s PC free for other work. www.exertis.co.uk IT sector resilient despite pause in software/hardware refreshes Almost one third of technology professionals have paused planned software implementations and hardware refreshes since March 2020, according to a survey of 150 technology professionals by Microsoft specialist Crimson. It believes this trend is indicative of a major priority realignment taking place within enterprises that plan to accelerate Cloud, Automation and Cyber Security for more secure and effective remote working. Crimson’s research shows that while new projects may have paused since lokdown, the IT sector has shown remarkable resilience, with 70% of IT departments forgoing the Government’s furlough scheme in order to continue to provide critical business operations. Despite short-term delays, projected IT budgets have remained stable, with 41% of respondents intending to keep their budgets at pre- Coronavirus levels and 27% increasing overall budgets. Thirty-two per cent have cut budgets due to the pandemic. Just over a quarter of survey respondents are looking to hire or on-board new IT staff in the next three months. info.crimson.co.uk/covid-19- benchmarking-the-impact COVID-19: Benchmarking the Impact on Technology Departments May 2020 www.crimson.co.uk The price of failure Much is made of the benefits of a successful digital transformation project, but what happens when things go wrong? A new study by enterprise software company IFS (Digital Transformation Investment in 2020 and Beyond: Factors That Will Impact the Success or Failure of Technology Investments in the Post- Pandemic Era) reveals that it takes almost all companies (92%) a minimum of a year to get over an IT project failure, with 34% requiring two to three years. Ramifications of failure cited by UK respondents include: n Financial loss (25%); n Loss of customers (24%); n Loss of market share (23%); n Reduced headcount (20%); and n Complete shutdown of critical business departments (18%). A failed IT project can deter future investment in similar projects (cited by 26%) and lead to budget cuts in other areas (46%). On a more positive note, most digital transformation projects have been successful, with 71% completed on time and 53% delivering the planned results. ifs.com Louella Fernandes