More than a year since the work-from-home (WFH) arrangements became the new norm, a Lenovo study found a significant number of employee-respondents have come to accept — and adjust — to the changes.
Because of this, companies will be investing in devices and services that will enable work from home or work from anywhere (WFA) possible.
“Many companies quickly adapted to the WFH setup but there are those still struggling with the sudden shift to remote work,” said Michael Ngan, president and general manager, Lenovo Philippines, in a media roundtable to discuss the company’s latest survey. “Not all firms adapted last year and there are really a lot of companies today embracing digital transformation and in doing so, investment in devices will continue to surge.”
Lenovo introduces new predictive, proactive SaaS tool for PC fleet management
Lenovo, Zoom announce video collaboration for ThinkSmart devices
Ngan said the WFH arrangements will continue even after the COVID-19 pandemic and this will contribute to the investments in devices.
But while WFH and WFA setup is now widely accepted, there are still companies that are not sold to the idea of having employees work from home.
Data security
Ngan cited corporate data security as a primary reason companies are reluctant to adopt a fully WFH/WFA setup. Lenovo’s “Future of Work and Transformation Study” reinforces this as data security is the top “time-consuming challenge” among information technology (IT) departments. The study also found IT decision-makers (ITDM) are more prepared to deal with another pandemic than to deal with security threats.
Security is also the reason most companies don’t encourage the use of one device for both personal and work use. Ngan said, “Companies should invest in very efficient security tools for their (employee) devices.”
The study also emphasized the need to work with reliable technology and security partners to fully manage hardware, software, and services to maximize value and boost security.”
The complexity of managing multiple devices, home networks, and cloud services prompted businesses to adopt Device-as-a-Service (DaaS) because according to the report “it is easier to provide employees with up-to-date technology devices and as a way to free up precious resources for more strategic priorities.”
DaaS
DaaS, as a subscription service, will enable efficient IT management across devices and users and security and software updates will be much easier — and quicker — to perform.
“Device-as-a-Service is relevant not only today but also in the future,” Ngan said.
He also noted that in the Philippines, Lenovo started DaaS three years ago and has so far been gaining traction not only because of the ease of use but also because it can free up valuable time and resources and diverted to other strategic projects.
Lenovo’s “Future of Work and Transformation Study” saw management and employees finding the benefits of WFH, or even work from anywhere (WFA). From over 8,000 respondents in 14 markets, 83% want a hybrid work model post-COVID while about 60% now prefer remote work at least half the time and over one-third want to WFH/WFA most or all of the time.
The study is part of a global survey from companies of all sizes on the impact of remote work, including job satisfaction, technology challenges, and solutions conducted in early 2021. The survey sample comprised of a near equal number of respondents from each market: Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy Japan, Mexico, Russia, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States.
You must be logged in to post a comment.