Hybrid workers are still second-class citizens of IT more than three years on from the start of the pandemic, according to research.*
A survey of 354 IT professionals by analyst Enterprise Management Associates (EMA) found 98% aimed to provide the same experience of IT to users regardless of location, but only 32% who believed they had fully succeeded in this aim.
Prakash Mana, founder and CEO of Cloudbrink, said: “IT teams have made heroic efforts to deliver parity of experience to staff in the hybrid workplace, but the research shows that we’re not there yet. A good experience of technology not only enables people to be productive, it improves job satisfaction and ultimately employee retention. Until we can provide parity of experience for everyone, remote users will continue to be second-class citizens in the hybrid workplace.”
The report shows that IT teams are struggling to adapt centralised office networking technologies to meet the needs of the hybrid workplace. Work-from-anywhere users are often connected to unreliable Wi-Fi and broadband networks. Productivity is further hampered by bandwidth-hogging security products and long waits for issues to be resolved. Respondents reported a 51% increase in mean time to repair for network problems since 2020.
In particular, IT teams face a perceived trade-off between user experience and security, which remains a top priority for the enterprise.
Shamus McGillicuddy, research director, EMA, said: “IT organizations have always strived to deliver services in a way that balances security and user experience. When it comes to remote and hybrid work, this goal is difficult to achieve. For instance, 20% of organizations said they sacrifice security to protect the user experience of their remote users. Meanwhile, 46% sacrifice user experience in favor of security. Only 34% try to balance the two. Few pursue a balanced approach because organizations struggle to find a technology solution that can deliver it.”
The research confirms that organizations remain committed to the hybrid workplace.
Respondents expect nearly half (49%) of staff to work at least some time away from the office by 2025, up from 43% today and 17.6% before the pandemic.
*Research sponsored by Cloudbrin
