The distributed workforce now exists beyond the rise of hybrid, flexible or remote working environments and it is having a significant impact on business operations across industries globally. New global research from SOTI, “When Work is Anywhere: Managing Technology’s Role in the Distributed Workforce,” reveals that organizations in healthcare, transportation and logistics (T&L), warehousing and retail are increasing their investment in new technology and devices as the workforce and infrastructure becomes more widespread. As Canadian businesses expand, they need to better manage this ever-broadening scope if they are to gain the efficiency and productivity to remain competitive.
 
Number of Devices in Field Continues to Increase
Advancements in the Internet of Things (IoT), e-commerce, real-time supply chain visibility and critical communications across a global landscape have resulted in a seismic shift to more distributed operations. As a result, in the last year, 50% of Canadian respondents reported an increase in IT budgets, 33% reported substantial growth in the number of devices being deployed across their organizations and 44% reported an increase in IT staff.
 
Additionally, 29% of survey respondents from multiple industries in Canada, such as healthcare, retail and T&L, reported that the mix of devices (smartphones, scanners, rugged devices, SaaS applications, etc.) in their organization have grown over the past 12 months.

“Over the past year, 52% of Canadian companies have invested in technology they haven’t managed before, including new groups of devices, software and applications,” said Shash Anand, SVP of Product Strategy at SOTI. “This represents a significant shift in how businesses are now running as they move to a more distributed workforce and take advantage of developments in IoT and supply chain visibility to remain competitive.”
 
As Devices and Data Grow, So Do Threats to Security
As a result of this growth in device use, more data is being collected, processed and stored than ever before, fostering the need for data management security and compliance. The report found that over the last year, 37% of respondents cited the need for better access control to protect the IT network, while 33% increased their spend on mobile technology security.

“As operations become more diverse and remote, an increasingly complex interplay of devices and data emerge, which must be managed and secured effectively,” adds Anand. “Industries such as healthcare, retail and T&L may diverge on the specific needs of the mobile devices and locations of their teams. It is important to have seamless visibility and access to health analytics of devices, be able to quickly fix issues and ensure devices are secure. This will be critical to mitigate risks to the business.”
 
Outdated Processes Threaten Productivity Gains
The arrival of the distributed workforce has spurred the need for technology to be adopted on two fronts – one in the form of the physical device itself, and the other in the effective management of all devices in an increasingly dispersed operational environment.

Unfortunately, many organizations across various industries and regions continue to use outdated, paper-based processes, suggesting that organizations still have a way to go to truly manage a new operational infrastructure. This is concerning as sensitive data such as patient and customers’ information is unsecured, leaving personal data in the wrong hands.

The report found 50% of Canadian organizations state their workflows are managed manually. Over the past year, 25% of all manually enacted workflows are still being done on paper, while 34% are managed via email.

Globally, 61% of healthcare organizations manage their workflows manually, with legal sector (69%) being the largest respondent using manual processes. This unstructured method is especially concerning in the healthcare sector where the manual information and data is likely to be patient related and therefore unsecured.
 
“Whether it is preventing malware attacks or breaches, addressing employee retention, enhancing workforce productivity or more, discarding outdated legacy processes and software and moving towards the better management of devices and data will be key to ensure ongoing business health and success,” concluded Anand. 

SOTI’s report “When Work is Anywhere: Managing Technology’s Role in the Distributed Workforce” can be downloaded here.
 
Report Methodology
SOTI’s research was conducted online between February 4 and February 17, 2023, via interviews with 2,500 people aged 18 and over. The interviews were conducted via online methods, with IT professionals working in companies comprising of more than 50 employees globally. The 2,500 interviews were split across eight markets. These were: Canada (250), U.S. (500), Mexico (250), UK (500), Germany (250), France (250), Sweden (250) and Australia (250). In addition to seeking to present global, overarching trends, the results were broken down by these individual markets while also analyzing data from different company sizes and sectors.
 
About SOTI
SOTI is the world’s most trusted provider of mobile and IoT management solutions, with more than 17,000 enterprise customers and millions of devices managed worldwide. SOTI’s innovative portfolio of solutions and services provides the tools organizations need to truly mobilize their operations and optimize their mobility investments. SOTI extends secure mobility management to provide an integrated solution to manage and secure all mobile devices and connected peripherals in an organization. For more information, visit soti.net.
 
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