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“Businesses
Business leaders around the world are comfortable and optimistic about the broad scale shift toward remote work, according to the Riverbed Future of Work Global Survey 2020 that included 700 business decision makers, however findings also indicate the vast majority of organisations were not well prepared when the COVID-19 pandemic began. Moving forward, the majority of business leaders said they are investing in technology to improve remote work performance and have high expectations of their return.
The survey found that while 95% of business leaders are comfortable with their employees working remote (and 63% completely or very comfortable), from a technology standpoint, 69% of these same business leaders reported they were not completely prepared to support extensive remote work at the beginning of the outbreak. The healthcare industry, at the center of the crisis, understandably had the most (86%) most respondents that were not completely prepared, followed by manufacturing (72%), retail (69%), professional services (66%), and financial services (58%).
"Businesses had already been accommodating more remote workers the past several years, but COVID-19 is accelerating this, and the office of the future will clearly look very different with a more flexible and hybrid workplace,” said Rich McBee, President and CEO of Riverbed.
“This new study shows that business leaders are now much more comfortable with their teams working remote, however organisations must have the right technology in place to ensure greater productivity and a better remote experience as employees increasingly work from anywhere.”
Performance Issues Have Impacted Employees and the Business
Nearly all (94%) business leaders surveyed reported technology performance issues for remote workers that have impacted their employees and the business. The most common issues – all resolvable – include: poor quality of video meetings (40%); frequent disconnects from corporate networks (40%); slow file downloads (38%); and long response time when loading apps (36%). When asked about the impact these issues have on the remote work experience of employees, business leaders report: increased technical disruptions (40%); weaker employee performance and lack of productivity (37%); increased anxiety and stress (36%); a lack of work motivation (34%); and increased difficulty engaging with customers (34%).
Barriers to Success of a High Performing Remote Workforce
Business leaders say the biggest barriers to success for ensuring the performance of a remote workforce are: technology to optimize or improve remote performance (39% globally), spotty or unreliable home Wi-Fi (38%) and the need for better visibility into network and application performance (37% globally).
“The last several months have given organisations a better understanding of the barriers to success for creating a high-impact remote workforce,” said Subbu Iyer, CMO at Riverbed. “It’s encouraging to see from the Future of Work survey and in conversations with our customers, that businesses and governments are planning to invest more in technology to boost remote work performance. Riverbed is fully focused on helping our customers maximize the performance and visibility of networks and applications, regardless of the physical location of where employees work.”
