The Distributed Workplace - The Challenges of Support

To determine the specific challenges IT service desks face in supporting distributed and mobile workforces, Supportindustry.com and SupportSoft partnered to conduct a survey in November 2008 targeting support executives representing a range of vertical industries, including technology, healthcare, financial services, and manufacturing. The survey was designed to explore the increasing pressures faced by support organizations as they attempt to serve employees operating outside traditional, centralized work environments. It examines technologies and processes organizations have put in place to provide remote support, and the kinds of IT problems remote and mobile workers are experiencing. Respondents are based in companies whose workforce size ranges from less than 500 employees to more than 10,000, and more than a quarter of responding companies (27%) have IT support budgets in excess of $1 million annually.

Key findings from the survey include:

• More than three-quarters of respondents (78%) said they've experienced an increased need to support employees working outside the traditional office environment.
• Nearly two-thirds (64%) said they're supporting remote workers across a range of work environments - satellite offices, home offices, customer sites, and at such travel-related locations as hotels or airports.
• A large majority (82%) of respondents said the IT issues their support teams must handle differ between onsite and offsite populations. Only 18% said there's no difference between the problems experienced by onsite workers and those working at remote locations.
• More than three-quarters (82%) of respondents are using remote control solutions to support the devices used by distributed and mobile workers. Further, 36% said they're planning to increase their spending on remote support technologies within the next two years.