Have the benefits of remote/home working been
overhyped?
Yes: 78% No: 22%
Most IT professionals remain unconvinced about the benefits of
home working and remote working, with nearly four out of five
respondents to this week's Big Question agreeing that the benefits
have been exaggerated.
Home working has risen sharply in recent years as communications
technologies have made it more viable. A recent study by broadband
research company Point Topic suggested that about 2.6 million UK
households have at least one person who works regularly from home
for at least part of the time.
Despite widespread appreciation of the advantages of home
working among respondents, most viewed it only as a convenient
occasional adjunct to office-based working, rather than a viable
replacement.
"For most roles you need to be able to discuss matters with
other colleagues, and the office is an efficient working
environment for this," said systems administrator Henry Perry.
IT contractor Oliver Spence said, "I appreciate the flexibility
in being able to work from home, but I find it a challenge without
my colleagues around me."
Many raised security issues around remote working, with
web-based log-ins seen as particularly vulnerable to attacks by
hackers.
At the same time, the flexibility of remote working was seen as
playing an important role in enabling business continuity in the
event of disruption.
The Big Question is an initiative between Computer Weekly
and recruitment consultancy PSD. Each week we put the Big Question
to top IT professionals to get their take on a current talking
point.
Vote for your IT greats
Who have been the most influential people in IT in the past 40
years? The greatest organisations? The best hardware and software
technologies? As part of Computer Weekly’s 40th anniversary
celebrations, we are asking our readers who and what has really
made a difference?
Vote now at:
www.computerweekly.com/ITgreats