TeamViewer Research: IT Execs Confident in COVID-19 'Work from Home' Response, But Brace for Continued Disruption

IT Infrastructure was mission critical during COVID-19 outbreak; 84 percent say company survival rested on their performance

Businesses prioritize security, cloud and collaboration tools to manage sustained remote work environments

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TeamViewer

Aug 10, 2020, 09:00 ET

TAMPA BAY, Fla., Aug. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- A research project sponsored by TeamViewer, a global leader in secure remote connectivity solutions, found that 77 percent of IT professionals believe they were prepared to manage the rapid shift to remote work during the COVID-19 outbreak. Among those surveyed, the percentage working from home had abruptly jumped from 28 percent prior to the pandemic to 71 percent during the outbreak. The survey included more than 200 IT executives in the U.S. across various industries.

IT professionals identified many challenges in their response to COVID-19, but felt that their productivity, effectiveness and morale remained high. Eighty-four percent of respondents believed that the "survival" of their companies depended on "providing a stable work environment" during and after the pandemic. Seventy-eight percent said that technical support requests had also increased. Even so, nearly half (49 percent) indicated that their volume of work "stayed the same" with another 32 percent noting that it was "higher than usual."

Most IT professionals surveyed believe they were "very effective" (57 percent) or "somewhat effective" (40 percent) at solving urgent problems that arose during the pandemic. Only 3 percent believed their response was "not effective." Seventy nine percent said it took up to 3 weeks to establish a stable work environment, but only 41 percent were confident they had sufficient VPN capacity.

As part of the initial "work from home" response, video conferencing topped the list as the most effective tool (66 percent), followed by cloud storage (59 percent), device management (49 percent) and collaboration (47 percent), according to respondents.

"Businesses capably managed the rapid transition to remote work in response to the COVID-19 pandemic," said Gautam Goswami, CMO at TeamViewer. "But it's critical that IT professionals remain focused on strengthening their infrastructure to guarantee business continuity by putting a range of secure remote connectivity solutions in place."

Respondents also identified other concerns as they continue to manage through the pandemic's extended "work from home" arrangements.

Planning for a new normal: On average, IT executives expect that it will take more than seven months to return to "business as usual." As businesses fortify their infrastructure, 85 percent "agree" or "strongly agree" that their organization will be prepared to manage a future coronavirus outbreak.
Security is a top priority: Security remains a top priority for 57 percent of the IT executives surveyed, particularly in response to employees using their own devices and moving from private company networks to the public internet with more access points and increased vulnerabilities.
Remote work will continue to trend: Eighty percent of IT leaders say they expect more employees to permanently work remotely, but only 38 percent are sure they have the training needed to handle the rise in remote work.
Budget increases: Sixty-nine percent of organizations channelled new funds to IT in the wake of the pandemic, and 80 percent expect say they need additional budget during the next year.

About the Research
TeamViewer commissioned an independent market research firm to survey a random sample of 200 IT decision makers in the U.S. across a wide variety of industries and organizational sizes. The study took place in mid July 2020 in partnership with TrendCandy research and Lucid, a global survey sampling leader. The study's margin of error is +/-6.93% at the 95% confidence level.

About TeamViewer
TeamViewer is a leading global technology company that provides a connectivity platform to remotely access, control, manage, monitor, and repair devices of any kind – from laptops and mobile phones to industrial machines and robots. Though TeamViewer is free of charge for private use, the company has more than 500,000 subscribers and enables companies of all sizes and from all industries to digitalize their business-critical processes through seamless connectivity. Against the backdrop of global megatrends like device proliferation, automation and new work, TeamViewer proactively shapes digital transformation and continuously innovates in the fields of Augmented Reality, Internet of Things or Artificial Intelligence. Since the company's foundation in 2005, TeamViewer's software has been installed on more than 2.2 billion devices around the world. The company is headquartered in Goeppingen, Germany, and employs more than 1,000 people globally. In 2019, TeamViewer achieved billings of around EUR 325 million. TeamViewer AG (TMV) is listed at Frankfurt Stock Exchange and belongs to MDAX. Further information can be found at www.teamviewer.com.

Contact TeamViewer
Press
Martina Dier
Director, Communications
Phone: +49 (0)7161 60692 410
E-Mail: [email protected]

SOURCE TeamViewer