SMEs face challenges around remote working

IT teams in small and medium businesses report a significant increase in challenges surrounding migrating and managing remote workforces, despite lower security concerns and adequate budgets.

The latest State of the SME IT Admin Report from cloud directory platform JumpCloud finds the top three security priorities are adding layered security for truly secure remote work, making remote work easier for end users, and making remote work easier for admins.

While 88 percent agree or strongly agree that employee experience is an important factor in purchasing decisions, 54 percent say that the remote or hybrid experience is not as easy or convenient as it could be.

Managing remote workers is the biggest challenge IT admins have faced over the past year, now at 57 percent, up from 53 percent in May, and more employees are now working remotely -- 32 percent now compared to 23 percent in May.

On a positive note 75 percent report an increase in their IT budget over the last year. Also 87 percent of respondents say they have already or plan to engage a managed service provider (MSP). Benefits of using an MSP are seen as their being up to date on the latest technologies (63 percent), they can provide a better user experience (60 percent), they are cost-effective (54 percent), they can secure users' access and identity better (47 percent), and they offer strong customer support (32 percent).

However, morale is flagging, 42 percent of IT admins report being happier in their job than they were a year ago, this is a significant decrease from the 59 percent that said they were happier in the job when asked the same question in May.

"While millions of organizations have transitioned to hybrid-remote work, these results highlight that IT admins continue to look for ways to improve the employee experience and make workflows simple and secure," says Tom Bridge, principal product manager at JumpCloud. "The need for layered security and a centralized, simple employee experience is a top priority for organizations, and JumpCloud is committed to empowering IT teams to meet the evolving challenges in hybrid-remote work."

You can read more and get the full report on the JumpCloud blog.

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