The Pandemic caused organizational changes in all areas. Where the idea of telework was previously rejected, it effectively became a reality in all companies where it was possible to implement this measure.
Thus, in an article composed of two parts, we expose how the entire process was to be maintained during a difficult period, which were the main difficulties highlighted and the areas in dire need of investment.
At this moment, and with the high vaccination rate, remote work takes different directions. There are those who truly want to return to face-to-face work, there are those who remain teleworking indefinitely, although it is safe to return to the workplace, and there are those who adopt hybrid work, which combines teleworking with face-to-face work.
Faced with this, companies are looking for technologies and strategies that help balance this whole new reality, improving employee productivity.
The pandemic context traversed accelerated the adoption of mobility solutions, demonstrating that it is, in fact, possible to increase productivity and profitability, regardless of the chosen work method.
However, to enhance the concept of mobility in business and make companies more mobile, while increasing productivity, it is not enough to take advantage of the evolution of IT. It is crucial to have a strategy aimed at implementing technological solutions suitable for your organizational context.
In view of this, the technology that has become essential in recent times was, without a doubt, wi-fi. In addition, we must rely on emerging solutions such as SD-WAN, the use of VPN, and technologies with Firewall capabilities, all of these extremely important tools for a simpler and more secure access to the IT infrastructure.
However, the pandemic created additional security challenges due to the increase and diversity of devices and connections, made mostly through the Internet. Thus, it will be essential to adopt network access authentication systems, through the NAC (Network Access Control) solution.
The geographical dispersion and mobility of employees, driven by the pandemic and technological innovation, allows the responsibility of IT management and the organization’s security to be transferred to specialized companies, such as ActiveSys, transforming costs into OPEX models.
According to studies carried out by Keypoint Intelligence in February and March of this year, the two main IT needs identified are security and data protection. In the same study, organizations demonstrated that adapting to this new reality was difficult, highlighting as the main difficulty the lack of hardware or software for employees to be able to carry out their normal daily tasks from home.
Likewise, increased exposure to viruses and cyber attacks such as malware was considered a challenge. This, according to Vasco Falcão, General Director of Konica Minolta resulted in an investment “in managed IT services in this period“, such as the adoption of Cloud technology.
In addition to the highlighted challenges, constraints in communication between teams, difficulty in accessing and locating documents, and issues relating to privacy and, once again, relating to security, were also mentioned.
As a response to the Pandemic, companies were forced to take measures and acquire new tools that would allow the smooth functioning of remote/hybrid/on-site work, leaving workers overloaded with the increase in the quantity and complexity of IT tools. Despite the undeniable increase in productivity, employees reveal difficulties in performing tasks because they do not know how to efficiently use the tools.
Faced with this, organizations must eliminate any difficulties that are recognized and offer technology that fits the work patterns. Employees must have at their disposal tools that provide a consistent, safe and reliable work experience. For this, it is crucial that senior positions rethink the role of technology. The truth is that the intensification of digital competitiveness is driving a faster change in operations, allocating high investments in new technologies.
A Fujitsu study revealed which areas investors plan to bet on. These range from order and stock management, help with customer service, Supply Chain Management, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and even sustainability. Likewise, enterprise resource planning (ERP) and order processing software, a fundamental part of the digital transformation process.
Discover the last area of investment in the second part of this article.