A huge proportion (78%) of IT decision makers (ITDM) believe that their company provides enough equipment for hybrid work, while around 20% of employees seem to contradict this view, still using their own personal IT equipment in their work.
Over 3,000 people were surveyed by printer and camera manufacturer Canon, with an almost equal split between ITDM and end-users in seven EU countries, including the UK, Germany and France.
Moreover, another 20% said they had difficulty getting IT help at home when they needed it, and 56% of ITDMs were asked to provide this kind of remote support.
Hybrid issues
Such issues for employees include signing digital documents and negotiating approval processes (42%), with 41% having difficulty even accessing the digital and physical documents they need. This means that 37% of them need to visit their workplace to access and print files.
The most common queries IT departments receive from employees are about printing at home (56%), not being able to access files remotely (43%) and having trouble sharing files with colleagues (36%).
The transition to hybrid work turned out to be a task for IT departments as well. 71% of ITDM said that their older technologies do not meet the standards of hybrid operation. As a result, sourcing new technology was key, but it wasn’t easy – 76% said they found it challenging to procure equipment from multiple vendors.
This means that when technology issues arise, 71% of ITDM have to contact all the different manufacturers to resolve them, which takes time. The vast majority (81%) therefore believe that it would be easier to have one supplier to cover all of their hardware and records management needs.
Canon believes that technologies to improve hybrid working conditions are needed more than ever. 50% of respondents said that their company is or will be moving towards hybrid work, and only 33% is completely office-based. ITDMs seem to agree on this point, with 70% expecting an increase in IT spending to meet the demands of continuous hybrid operation.