Digital Workspace Study: Top Tech Barriers that Hinder Working from Home

According to most survey respondents, working from home is their preferred option, and the majority say they have the right setup to meet their needs. A total of 70 percent say they would rather work from home than in a business or corporate office and 74 percent say they are either “very satisfied” or “satisfied” with their work-from-home setups.

However, more than one in four respondents (27 percent) say issues related to network connectivity are the greatest technology barrier when working from home. One in 10 respondents (10 percent) say virtual private network (VPN) connection issues are their top concern and 9 percent cite disruptions and connection issues on video calls.

When asked to rank their top-three technology barriers when working from home, respondents most often mention:

• Disruptions and connection issues on video calls (23%)
• Network connectivity issues (20%)
• VPN connections (20%)
• Slow file upload and download speeds (17%)
• Lack of IT technical support (16%)
• Lack of extra monitors (15%)
• Inability to access certain files and systems (13%)
• Lack of other IT hardware (12%)
• Trouble sharing documents with team members (8%)

Looking at data by business size, 27 percent of those in large businesses cite VPN connections as a top-three problem vs. 14 percent in small businesses. A total of 22 percent of those in small businesses say lack of IT technical support is a top-three barrier vs. 10 percent in large businesses. And 22 percent of respondents in small businesses say network connectivity is a top-three barrier vs. only 10 percent in medium businesses.

CDW Canada Senior Manager of Digital Workspace, Brian Matthews, says he believes different home office setups, and especially the speed and reliability of the internet services used, are likely key factors in how effective people are when working from home.

“In the office, networks are tightly monitored, controlled, tuned and perfected by the IT organization,” he says. “When we think about the home office, many people rely on a service provider to install their network gear before implementing a set it and forget it mentality.”

For some people at home, a basic access point for Wi-Fi is used with little thought to optimizing the home office network topology, Matthews says, and that device may be located on a different floor from their home office, which could result in signal interference or a degraded signal due to distance. Modems and routers may also not be configured for optimal performance.

“I think that’s one piece of it. The reliability, speed and resilience of most home networks and setups are simply not on the same level as continually optimized and monitored networks in the office,” Matthews says.

Another consideration is a potential lack of affordable and available high-speed internet services. Some remote workers may have access to it depending on where they live, but others may not, especially if they reside in rural locations.

As a follow-up question, respondents were asked: of those issues cited as the biggest technology barriers when working from home, which of them has the greatest impact on your work productivity?

Network connectivity issues were cited by 16 percent of respondents as having the most severe impact on their productivity, followed by 11 percent who say VPN connection issues and 10 percent who cite IT hardware issues. The inability to access certain files and systems was identified by 7 percent, followed by:

• Disruptions and connection issues on video calls (6%)
• Slow file downloads (6%)
• Lack of IT technical support (6%)
• Trouble sharing documents (2%)

Matthews says the challenges of IT technical support might more accurately be tied to a lack of in-person support for remote workers. Most organizations use help desk ticketing systems designed to ensure an equal measure of support to all. But those who work in offices often go directly to technicians for their help in dealing with issues rather than submitting a ticket and waiting for a response, Matthews says. This can put remote workers at a disadvantage.

“Organizations would be wise to encourage all employees, whether at home or in-office, to use these ticketing systems rather than circumvent them,” he says. “These systems help IT organizations efficiently triage, diagnose and solve IT related problems.”

Matthews says he’s not surprised that accessing file systems and sharing documents aren’t frequently cited as problems for remote workers. He gives credit for that to the extensive and integrated functionality of today’s collaboration platforms. Many are seamless, easy to use and interoperable, allowing for easy file access and sharing.

“Collaboration software doesn’t just provide videoconferencing,” he says. “For example, Microsoft Teams is integrated with applications such as SharePoint, OneDrive, Outlook, Exchange and many more productivity tools. It’s integration by default and that allows users to use these tools effectively.”

In an average week, the survey shows 53 percent of respondents say they spend one to two hours troubleshooting and resolving various technology issues when working from home. A total of 29 percent say they spend three or more hours troubleshooting and solving technology issues and 10 percent spend six or more hours.

Average per-week time spent troubleshooting and resolving individual technology issues include:

• 53 percent who experience slow upload and download speeds spend one to two hours on average each week troubleshooting and resolving those issues and 43 percent spend three or more hours
• 75 percent who experience network connectivity problems spend between one and five hours on average each week troubleshooting and resolving those issues
• 80 percent who experience disruption and connection issues on video calls spend between one and five hours on average each week troubleshooting and resolving those issues
• 81 percent who experience VPN connection issues spend one to five hours on average each week troubleshooting and resolving those issues.

Matthews says resolving and fixing technology issues, particularly those related to connectivity, takes up a lot of time for many remote users.

“I don’t have one to five hours to spend each week on troubleshooting,” he says. “If I didn’t have access to high-speed connectivity at home, I’d be in the office almost every day. I’d have to be because I wouldn’t be able to justify the amount of time I spend troubleshooting, in addition to the frustration, loss of productivity and overall disengagement I’d be feeling.”

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