Digital Disruption: How IT is still revolutionising the way we work

The topic of hybrid working and the structural shift in workplaces post-pandemic may seem exhausted, but it still cannot be ignored from an IT perspective if companies want to get it right. The demand for IT service management solutions to guide this shift is growing and is expected to continue in the coming years. The pressure on tech to deliver quality service has increased exponentially. So, what does this mean for the IT industry?

Another disruption on the horizon According to a recent article published by the World Economic Forum, the next phase of remote work will be even more disruptive. A team of economists has conducted research on remote work since the start of the pandemic and, from the results, they predict that companies will discover new ways to work remotely and asynchronously, making flexible work potentially more complicated than ever before, especially for IT teams.

With many employees no longer tied to a specific location to be close to the office, economic geography is expected to change immensely. While employees enjoy the flexibility of being able to work from anywhere, across any device, this presents new challenges to IT teams who have to support this dispersed work force and bring your own device (BYOD) trend. It’s critical to ensure that IT teams have the right technology and policies in place to maintain up-to-date software, secure both personal and professional devices, and create systems for teams to troubleshoot outside of the traditional 9-5.

SME and Mid-Market growth

The SME/MM market segment is experiencing the most significant growth and change in the remote work landscape, as many of these businesses are closing what physical offices they had and moving to a fully remote model. While that shift can provide a number of benefits for employee flexibility and reducing costs, the distance it creates between teams can also introduce new challenges when those teams are each utilising their own tools and technologies for their work.

NerdApp, which offers remote and on-site IT support to businesses, faced a similar challenge. The company’s network of engineers all used different software to deliver support, leaving NerdApp no way to monitor performance, review calls, or settle disputes. To eliminate the siloed effect of relying on multiple technologies, NerdApp turned to GoTo’s Rescue remote support software, enabling the company to standardise their practice and provide customers with consistent support.

For businesses to grow, consolidation of technology must be a top priority to create the ideal working conditions without overburdening resources. And more businesses are coming to understand this – research from GoTo revealed that 50% of companies consider tech consolidation to be one of or the most important initiative in their business for 2023.

Digital transformation

Legacy software and infrastructure can restrict companies' ability to leverage the latest technologies to support advanced functions, such as mobile and contact centre use cases, which are critical for staying relevant and competitive.

Unfortunately, less than half of SMEs have fully migrated to the cloud for their IT operations. The rest are missing out on the massive cost-saving and revenue-generation opportunities offered by the latest technologies and business models. Their legacy systems are hurting their bottom line.

Many businesses are just embarking on their digital transformation journeys with modern IT service management solutions. This represents the next significant wave of IT and enterprise software refresh and expenditure as businesses adapt to the evolving remote work landscape, and the challenges and benefits it will introduce.