<\/p>\n
The changes to our working lives post-Covid 19 are making us rethink how we work while firmly embedding an ITAD strategy into every part of the \u2018new normal\u2019.<\/em><\/p>\n We are all returning to work, but not work as we knew it. Covid-19 has radically altered how organisations operate, and out of all the many changes, there is one common theme. If people are dispersed, the assets which they work on are too. This has huge implications for your ITAD strategy.<\/p>\n As offices open up and people return to work, an analysis must be undertaken regarding how IT departments faired during the pandemic. While most companies have a small number of employees who are mobile, the vast majority of employees are not.<\/p>\n As people were sent home to work with their devices, how secure was the data on those assets? Corporate desktops and laptops \u2013 which had never left the office before \u2013 were being set up in homes and therefore vulnerable to data breaches and theft. If items were stolen, were they encrypted?<\/p>\n Furthermore, personal devices were being utilised by organisations unable to buy stock due to a global shortage: was sensitive information downloaded on such devices? Did people see information which officially constituted, for example in terms of GDPR, a data breach?<\/p>\n While Covid-19 forced an immediate change in our working lives it did not give us an excuse to ignore data regulations while working at home. Don\u2019t count on the authorities to give a \u2018pandemic amnesty\u2019.<\/p>\n According to a PWC survey, 80 percent of global companies think that they will suffer a decrease in their revenues due to the pandemic. Let\u2019s imagine that they don\u2019t and there is the much-hoped-for \u2018V\u2019 shaped recovery; in the short-term there will still be organisations reducing their IT spend, while trying to accommodate the new normal.<\/p>\n PWC state that 18 percent of companies surveyed are deferring or cancelling digital transformation projects, while 39 percent are deferring or cancelling IT investments. Curiously, only 5 percent of companies are deferring or cancelling cyber security or privacy investments.<\/p>\n A strain on budgets means less investment in IT stock, which in turn, means a more creative approach to your IT needs. Ultimately, this will feed into the \u2018circular economy\u2019 whereby parts from assets are reused, second-hand items are traded, as we reassess our notion of IT waste.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not surprising that the PWC survey reveals that 55 percent of companies are reconfiguring work sites to promote physical distancing, with 47 percent making remote work a permanent option.<\/p>\n These two statistics imply that half the typical workforce will continue to work from home. In doing so, companies must properly equip their staff to do so. What worked during the pandemic cannot be a long-term solution.<\/p>\n A laptop at a communal kitchen table doesn\u2019t constitute an office. Desks, phones, devices, even printers, need to be shipped to staff. All items must be put on an asset register and encrypted. Procedures must be in place governing the use of corporate assets and their corresponding data.<\/p>\n Also, your ITAD partner must have the geographical reach in order to meet the demands of a dispersed workforce.<\/p>\n An old office innovation, hot desking has served many people, especially contractors, well. However, hot desking is incompatible with post-Covid 19 hygiene; therefore strict allocation of desks and assets will be enforced. Dedicated PCs, monitors, even printers, will mean that more stock will be required.<\/p>\n Along with dedicated desks, 21 percent of companies will invest in new tools to support workforce location tracking, and contract tracing. This may be controversial as tracking people under the guise of potential contract tracing, may have civil liberty issues. Such data which is recorded must be legal obtained and securely stored.<\/p>\n Forty-six percent of companies stated that they will accelerate automation and new ways of working. With this in mind, expect to see more data hungry gadgets in the office, a further push of the Internet of Things (IoT).<\/p>\n \u2018Touch points\u2019, and the fear thereof, will be minimised by voice-activated data-driven devices which will attempt to create a touch-free office environment. From doors to projectors, from vending machines to water coolers, the future will see us befriending IoT devices like never before.<\/p>\n Of the many implications of the post-Covid 19 workspace, ITAD is an area which is necessary, both from an investment and a disinvestment perspective. \u00a0The less you spend on IT devices, the more you must make do with what you have, thus requiring that your ITAD provider has a solid understanding of the global spares market and the ability to maximise your IT spend.<\/p>\n Likewise, the more you invest, you will need an ITAD strategy which protects your investment, and the valuable data which sits on your assets, whether on-site in your office, or in your colleague\u2019s home.<\/p>\n <\/p>\nA pandemic review<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Postponed investments<\/strong><\/h3>\n
The on-site transition<\/strong><\/h3>\n
The end of the hot desk <\/strong><\/h3>\n
Data hungry gadgets<\/strong><\/h3>\n
ITAD<\/strong><\/h3>\n