- 88% of IT decision-makers with a strategy for the future of work feel “very” or “somewhat” confident in the implementation plans
- Yet 58% of IT workers say they feel anxious “all the time” or “frequently” implementing these solutions
LONDON, UK. 21st October 2021 – With many companies adopting a fully remote or hybrid model, IT decision-makers report feeling anxious (58%) and uncertain (51%) about the task of providing and maintaining the technology solutions needed to support these new ways of working. The results come from a survey of 400 IT workers in the UK and Ireland, commissioned by IT services and solutions provider CDW and conducted by research agency Opinium.
While most respondents believed the initial transition to home working, when work-from-home mandates were announced in early 2020, was handled effectively (88%); six in ten say that working remotely has made their organisation more vulnerable to cyberattacks. Many are now concerned that system performance issues (62%) and a lack of knowledge or experience (59%) may stand in the way of their ability to implement their organisation’s future of work strategy.
The future of hybrid working is riding on their success, with seven in ten survey respondents saying their companies plan to permanently adopt some degree of remote or hybrid approaches in their future of work strategies, with a minority expecting all employees to return to a physical workplace full-time.
IT workers expressed concern that implementing their company’s future of work strategy could be negatively impacted by employees’ attitudes and [lack of] understanding (63%), a lack of resources (60%) and budget (58%) to meet requirements (60%) and too little buy-in from senior leadership (58%).
“The pandemic has forever changed where and how we work, and organisations are turning to their IT teams once again to deliver on the most important corporate initiative of the decade: hybrid working and implementing the technology to make it possible,” said Matt Roberts, Workplace Solutions Practice Lead at CDW UK. “To ensure success, IT leaders should have the support of their colleagues and senior leadership. They should have access to the services, solutions and support they need to put in place agile technologies that can adapt quickly and securely to the world in which we are working.”
The good news is that the research shows that 75% of IT leaders believe that their opinions on the move to remote working and what happens next have been valued by the organisation’s senior leadership and that they have been consulted through the process. Furthermore, nearly half (46%) of respondents at organisations intending to implement remote or hybrid working report feeling “very well-prepared”, while a further 37% are “quite well-prepared”. On the other side, about one in six (16%) think that their organisation is “not very” or “not at all well-prepared” for the transition.
From a technology perspective, 35% of organisations say they plan on continuing to use all the technology invested in during the pandemic and another 35% will keep most of it, showing that steps taken early in the pandemic have already resulted in a permanent change to the working world.
For more information on the solutions and services available to support the future of work and how IT decision makers are responding to the challenge, please request a copy of for CDW’s upcoming eBook, ‘The Changing Nature of Work’.
About CDW
CDW is a leading provider of technology solutions to business, government, education and healthcare in over 170 countries. Founded in 1984, CDW ranks No. 161 on the FORTUNE 500 and has over 10,000 employees globally. The company’s solution architects offer expertise in designing customised solutions, while its advanced technology engineers assist customers with the implementation and long-term management of those solutions. The team possesses the industry’s highest achievable accreditations, which means customers can focus on running their business, not on managing their IT. For more information, visit www.uk.cdw.com
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