How Has Remote Work Changed and Will It Affect Your IT Support?

Over the past few years, remote work has become more common across Melbourne and all of Australia.

Many companies now offer remote working options or hybrid setups where employees work both in-house and from home. These changes bring with them changes to IT support for businesses and how IT professionals serve their clients.

How Has Remote Work Changed?

Towards the end of 2023, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released statistics that showed 37% of Australians were regularly working from home as of August 2023, and this number sat even higher for managers and professionals in white-collar jobs at around 60%.

Hybrid working arrangements remain prevalent, especially for companies where most work is handled online.

This shift in operation brings about more flexibility for employees but also results in new considerations for IT business security. Now that employees take their work laptops home and use personal wifi connections, there are potential security gaps and operational factors to consider.

Whether your business has a hybrid model or a traditional in-house requirement, it’s important to make sure you have strong IT support that can help you on-site or remotely. This support can cover remote and hybrid employees, too.

Identifying Your Business Structure for IT Support

If you run a business that relies on online processes, internal or external servers, or essentially any digital/online functionality, then you’ll need managed IT support.

You may need IT assistance in a remote structure, onsite, or a mixture of both. How much you depend on different hardware, servers, and online technologies plays a significant role in the combination of IT support you’ll need.

E-commerce

In the e-commerce world, IT support is integral to keeping things running smoothly, but not all shopping platforms are the same.

A company that operates its e-commerce systems through a provider such as Shopify is less likely to have onsite hardware and servers that would need IT professionals to resolve issues in person.

Businesses that build and maintain their own bespoke e-commerce platforms likely need more comprehensive IT support in the event something goes wrong. Businesses involved in e-commerce must also protect the sensitive data they’ve collected from customers.

When issues occur with hardware or onsite servers, businesses need in-house IT experts or to bring in an outsourced IT support provider that knows the setup.

If a business engages IT support for creating and maintaining its e-commerce store, a mix of remote and on-site support may be required.

Apps

App development is typically handled by IT professionals, utilising different programs to code and build out the app’s features. This applies to app updates, as well.

An app requiring onsite support would, in part, depend on whether the app requires access to servers or any online systems.

If an app functions without the necessity of a persistent online connection, then most operational issues would likely be resolved through remote means.

Subscription-Based Businesses

Businesses that work on a subscription-based framework handle a lot of sensitive information much in the same way e-commerce sites do. As a result, such businesses must have extensive protections in place.

This means that IT may need to assist in both remote and onsite capacities. If a breach ever occurred or some unforeseen issue put sensitive data at risk, IT would need to intervene on an external and internal level.

Making the Choice

Again, choosing between onsite or remote IT will depend on the nature of your business, its size, whether employees work in-house or remotely, and whether you have onsite hardware or servers. To help you make the right decision, consider the benefits of both options:

Onsite IT Support

If you need onsite IT support but don’t have the budget for a full-time in-house IT specialist, outsourcing to a provider such as Setup4 can be cost-effective and efficient.

You’ll benefit from same-day responses, multiple levels of support to choose from to suit your IT needs, and the peace of mind that comes from knowing you have IT professionals on call. 

With a devoted IT expert, they’ll learn your network setup and be able to offer more effective solutions for the future and address potential cybersecurity gaps. 

They can also assist in better securing remote work setups. 

Remote IT Support

A lot of IT support can be handled on a remote basis and is a great option for smaller businesses. Even for companies that need onsite support, remote support can still be utilised on a case-by-case basis.

Remote IT support is quick given that technicians can remotely connect from anywhere almost immediately. It’s also highly cost-effective and comes with the same level of expertise you’d expect from onsite support.

How to get the Right IT Support for your Business

At Setup4, we provide comprehensive remote IT support for businesses across Australia and onsite IT support in Melbourne. 

Learn more about our full suite of IT services or get in touch to start optimising and protecting your in-house and remote IT infrastructure.