Organizations are grappling with a new set of problems that were not previously deemed the top priorities, according to The State of ITSM Two Years Into the COVID-19 Pandemic, a new survey conducted by ManageEngine.
The survey found:
■ With three-fifths of the workforce now working in a hybrid mode, managing IT assets (46%) and communication and collaboration (41%) have emerged as the biggest challenges.
■ Both jumped to the top spots, registering a positive difference of 11% and 7%, respectively, when compared to the 2020 figures.
■ The most significant shift in reported challenges was a drop from 36% to 22% for securing company and client data in a distributed network. This change is likely the result of the proactive efforts of IT teams to ensure remote working risks were minimized.
"The survey clearly reveals that traditional IT needs to transform itself in the post-pandemic world to cater to the new realities in the workplace," said Kumaravel Ramakrishnan, Evangelist at ManageEngine. "Self-organizing teams, high-velocity workflows and a digital-first approach to customer experience are the hallmarks of new age, democratized IT."
Other key findings from the report include:
■ Employees are better equipped: Compared to the beginning of the pandemic, an additional 47% of organizations are now providing mobile assets to employees.
■ IT teams see their value rise: 52% of respondents think IT is now viewed and treated better because of the pandemic, and another 14% think IT has always been highly regarded.
■ BYOD policies are still absent: Two years after workplaces were totally disrupted, 40% of organizations still do not have a BYOD policy.
■ User experience falls short: 34% of organizations still do not offer users self-help capabilities, and 52% do not have chatbots.
"Organizations worldwide learned invaluable lessons from the pandemic, including what’s most important to them and their end users, the importance of IT to business operations and the changes needed to meet the needs of a hybrid workforce," Ramakrishnan added. "ITSM teams played a critical role in ensuring that business operations continued during the pandemic, from overseeing BYOD policies and the provision of mobile assets to implementing self-service features and chatbots, investing more in business continuity planning and offering IT service delivery and support."