After the unprecedented work-from-home pilot program that took place throughout the world, nine out of ten organizations will continue to combine remote and on-site working, according to a Mckinsey survey. The survey also confirms that productivity and customer satisfaction improved in the past two years.
Despite the acceptance of a hybrid workforce model, most organizations are yet to determine the specifics of how IT departments can continue to keep data and systems secure while also ensuring people can work seamlessly without one-to-one IT support.
As companies move towards more flexible and remote working models, hybrid work is emerging as the preferred choice of workers. A recent study has revealed that 83% of employees prefer a hybrid model where they can both work remotely and go to an office on certain days. Additionally, companies are also leveraging remote independent contractors as part of this trend, thanks to their flexibility, cost-effectiveness, and ability to bring specialized skills to the table. All they need is to have a ready-to-use contract template to reach out. With remote work becoming increasingly prevalent, companies can access a wider pool of talent from around the world, rather than being limited to the local job market (especially with contractor management services from Remote and other providers on the rise).
The same study found that 63% of high-growth companies have adopted this ‘productivity anywhere’ model for their employees. Not only does this new way of working help to improve efficiency, but it also helps to promote a better work-life balance among staff. 85% of people who feel productive anywhere plan to stay with their company for a long time
Organizations Struggle to Support IT in a Hybrid Working Model
According to research from digital employee experience provider 1E, IT teams face challenges in making hybrid work effective. 98% of respondents report that changing work models, limitations of current technologies and overburdened IT resources make hybrid work model adoption difficult in their organization.
Additionally, 85% of IT decision-makers responded that less than half of IT issues, requests, and incidents were currently resolved using automation. When automation was used, 41% of respondents experienced higher productivity and improved relationships between IT teams and non-IT employees.
Also, three-fourths of respondents of knowledge workers reported that fast IT resolution is insufficient. They want issues to be fixed before employees become aware of them. Moreover, frequently switching between remote and on-site workplaces may seem like a good work-life balance for employees, but it puts tremendous pressure on IT infrastructure and teams. Thus, it will be a helpful idea to calculate the Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS) and get an idea of how to increase employee satisfaction in the IT team
How to Avoid Overworking Your IT Team: Major Concerns (and Solutions)
1. Data Security
The issue with remote working is that a lot of employees leave their office devices at work or don’t have one at all. They end up using personal devices for work purposes. These devices are often insecure and put corporate data at risk.
Device security may not be the first thought in employees’ minds, which can cause data security concerns when company data present on devices isn’t under the company’s management and protection. IT teams can implement MDM to ensure data security by remotely implementing various restrictions and granular settings on each device.
They can also enforce security features such as password protection, whitelisting websites, securing device authorization with encryption, enforcing VPN connection, and enabling or disabling certain device features that may cause data breaches.
2. Device Security
Another concern that puts pressure on IT admins is issues related to device security. In the unfortunate event of device theft or loss, malicious users may try to access the device. Scalefusion MDM’s remote lock and wipe feature safeguards the mobile device from misuse.
Remote wipe-off not only deletes the data on the phone storage but also wipes off the data on the business apps and the device. On corporate-owned devices, IT admins can remotely wipe off the corporate data, apps, and settings on compromised devices by factory reset.
On employee-owned devices, selectively wipe off the corporate apps and data from the Scalefusion dashboard without affecting the employees’ personal data in multiple ways. It essentially wipes off the work profile on Android BYODs.
3. BYOD Management
BYOD is now a part of everyday business, inviting users to work with countless devices across various platforms: Android, iOS, Windows, macOS, and more. Many device management solutions are siloed, designed to exclusively work with one or few operating systems. Such solutions are massive productivity drains and administration nightmares.
A holistic MDM solution, like Scalefusion, provides an end-to-end view of all mobile devices–managed, unmanaged, Android, Windows, and iOS–from a single dashboard.
4. Remote Troubleshooting
Device downtime also causes a loss in productivity. To reduce device downtime and logistics costs for fetching an error-prone device, Scalefusion offers Remote Cast and Control to remotely mirror the device screen and extend support to resolve issues. IT admins can take control of the device screen and navigate the screens to resolve the issues.
5. Inventory Management
Organizations need to identify all devices that access their environment. IT admins should be able to tag mobile devices to users to understand who owns the device, how many devices they are using, and what applications they access. Organizations need a device security solution to assign role-based access control to every user.
For instance, IT admins can designate whether a user is an administrator, a specialist, or an end-user and limit access to specific applications and data files. MDM can provide a detailed device inventory, providing access based on users’ roles and responsibilities.
6. IT Compliance
IT admins must be able to enforce policies to meet security and privacy needs. Enforcing security policies reduces the risk of data breaches and prevents unsecured devices from accessing sensitive data.
Security and privacy policies are unique to every organization. IT admins should be able to customize policies based on compliance standards and risks associated with certain applications.
7. Employee Productivity
Employees claim to be more productive by working in a remote location, but monitoring how efficiently employees are working is challenging. Companies need checks and balances to manage any fall in productivity.
Scalefusion MDM restricts company devices to essential work apps. Function managers can remotely view, control, and track the location of mobile devices to ensure employees do not use the devices for non-work-related activities during office hours. Teams can also restrict distracting websites that may drain the productivity of employees.
Wrapping Up
Companies heavily dependent on an on-site working model had difficulty adapting to the new normal. Since the hybrid work model is now accepted by employees and employers alike, IT leaders must support their teams by modernizing their mobile device management approach. By doing so, companies can get maximum productivity from IT and non-IT employees.
