Presidio: ‘Most people are still getting used to hybrid working’

More and more organisations are adapting their working practices – and the software and IT systems that underpin them – in the name of securely delivering a truly modern workplace.

But what exactly is modern working? In practice it means being able to support staff with the services they need to get the job done regardless of where they are, said Ross O’Donovan, enterprise account director at Presidio, which provides managed IT, including security, services to businesses around the world.

After all, the ability to work away from the desk is something that has been possible for some time, he said.

“Really, it comes down to hybrid working, which has been around forever, it's just that it has become more common and, as a result, the vendors have caught up,” he said.

Presidio is itself among the companies that supports hybrid work practices, something that has been made possible by the increasing capabilities of today’s smart devices.

“Personally, we work very flexibly and that is something that has been helped by the integration of mobile devices. I was on a call this morning with someone who was video calling in while crossing London bridge,” he said.

Of course, while calls and communication are central to remote and hybrid working, deeper forms of collaboration are required.

“In terms of collaboration, people are getting used to it and the technology supports new ways of collaborating,” O’Donovan said. “During the pandemic, I had 45 IT managers on a call from all around the world. The only real challenge was trying to get a time slot that we could all manage,” he said.

There's an assumption that because you're working from home you can turn around a response in a much tighter time frame, and that's a challenge

The reality today is that many organisations prefer to do as much as possible as remotely as can be managed.

“Personally, I do miss the face-to-face, especially with a new project or customer acquisition but, on the whole, people don't want to get stressed, they don't want to go in the car, to go to the office every day. It could also be time-pressure, which has become more severe for some people,” he said. It should be noted, though, that this creates a risk for employees: that of overwork.

“Another outcome of Covid is that there is now an expectation that you're always online and always contactable.

“There's an assumption that because you're working from home you can turn around a response in a much tighter time frame, and that's a challenge,” O’Donovan said.

Doubtless, this has been facilitated by how seamlessly communication and collaboration software has been slotted into our jobs and, indeed, lives.

“It's so quick to set up a meeting. Frankly, sometimes it's hard to protect a lunch break,” he said.

The other side of the coin, though, is that organisations can now look outside Ireland to fill roles, though Irish businesses tend to prefer that at least strategy and some contact is local, O’Donavon said.

“One big advantage is that while there is a never-ending resource challenge it allows people to broaden our reach and hire in from the likes of Spain, Portugal and Poland, and still have a high calibre resource,” he said.