Print.IT Reseller - issue 86

BULLETIN Offices being cut back or shut Research by DSA Connect found that one in ten office workers believe they will not go back into the office even for one day a week when restrictions end, while another 9% don’t expect to return to the office until next year at the earliest. Those who do go back are facing massive changes, with a third (30%) of workers saying their office has been closed permanently or is being reorganised. Half of respondents say their office has been shut or will shut, while the other half say employers are looking for smaller offices. The study found that many of those who do go back aren’t happy about it – around 25% say they’ve enjoyed remote working and do not want to change while another 12% are worried about the risks of catching COVID-19. www.dsa-connect.co.uk Impact of COVID-19 on SMBs The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated SMBs’ pain points around security and data protection. 48% of SMB IT decision-makers surveyed by Keypoint Intelligence on behalf of Konica Minolta, described security and data protection as being their number one IT challenges. The Top SMB IT Pain Points & Solutions research revealed that 37% of businesses said that their employees had experienced virus, malware, or security threats due to conditions imposed during the pandemic. As a result of those security issues, 47% of companies have acquired or upgraded IT security software or services. Other findings include: 38% of IT decision- makers viewed managing remote work as being difficult or very difficult. For nearly half of SMBs, the lack of necessary employee hardware or software was a difficulty associated with home- based working. Similarly, 44% of IT decision- makers identified servicing/supporting home workers’ IT hardware or software as a challenge. In terms of day-to-day operations, home working also presented particular challenges relating to team communication and in accessing and collaborating on files: 51% of respondents identified communication with managers or other employees as a business operation challenge resulting from work-from-home arrangements. 37% indicated that locating files was an IT challenge associated with working from home, while 30% cited digital document collaboration as a business operations challenge resulting from employees working remotely. www.konicaminolta.co.uk Cyber risk and compliance The MetricStream State of IT and Cyber Risk Management Survey Report 2021, compiled from the opinions of key IT risk and compliance executives around the world, shows that IT and cyber risk measures escalated as a priority during the pandemic. Respondents stated that creating real-time visibility of their risk and compliance status is a top priority for the upcoming year. In addition, ensuring compliance requirements are met, assessments are conducted on a regular basis, and a need for automated tools were also ranked high in the survey. www.metricstream.com AR overtakes AI as most disruptive tech Augmented reality (AR) has replaced artificial intelligence (AI) as the most disruptive emerging technology, according to a survey by GlobalData. GlobalData’s latest report, Emerging Technology Sentiment Analysis Q2 2021 , reveals that 70% of industry professionals surveyed stated that AR would disrupt their industry most out of a selection of seven emerging technologies – AI, cybersecurity, cloud computing, IoT, blockchain, and 5G, in addition to AR. This was a sharp increase from the previous quarter, where only 51% selected AR. In addition, 58% said they had become more positive towards the technology over the last 12 months. When asked when AR will disrupt their industries, survey respondents were cautious. They expect the impact to be felt later in the decade. While more than half of Q2 respondents said that cybersecurity and cloud computing are already disrupting their industries, only 24% said the same about AR. Moreover, only 10% think that the disruption will come in the next 12 months. www.globaldata.com PRINTITRESELLER.UK 7 01732 75972 5 1680 We can buy your unused toners As a Managed Print Service provider, we understand how important it is to deliver the best value and performance to your customers. After all, your business is all about helping your customers to reduce costs, optimise efficiency and automate processes. Our dedicated team at The Jolly Savage work closely with many Managed Print Service businesses to handle their customers’ surplus toner stock; if you have unused toners that you are interested in selling, contact us today for a no obligation quote. Are you a Managed Print Service provider? 01462 60 50 50 · [email protected] · www.thejollysavage.co.uk The Convergent Technology Event for IT Resellers & Providers Business Design Centre · London · 28 September 2021 2021 REGISTER NOW www.technologylive.co.uk Main Sponsor THE IMPACT OF COVID-19ON SMBs IT AND BUSINESS OPERATIONS PAIN POINTS STUDY* A research project by Koni a Minolta and Keypoint Intelligence For 48% of SMBs, security and data protection is currently the number one IT challenge. 37% of respondents citing a virus/malw re/ security threat as an IT challenge experi- enced by employees due to the pandemic. 33% of organisations have invested in managed IT services as a result of Covid-19. 49% of respondents cite lack of necessary employee hard- ware or software as an IT challenge association with home-based working. 44% of IT decision- makers identified servicing/support- ing IT hardware or software as an IT challenge around employees working from home. 47% of organisations acquired or upgraded IT security software or services as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. 35% 37% indicated that locating files is an IT challenge associated with working from home. As driving factors for i ncreased digitalisation … 56% … cited scanning initiatives prompted by Covid-19. 65% of organisations saw increased digitalisation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 42% of business content still remains on paper, on average. 49% of organisations maintain paper documents due to privacy and safety concerns. 38% of IT decision makers viewmanaging remote work as difficult or very difficult. 30% The number two and three IT challenges facing SMBs are adopting new or emerging technologies … … and keeping up with new technology trends » 45% » 38% 51% of respondents identified communication with managers or other employees as a business operation challenge resulting fromwork-from-home arrangements.