Your job got bigger when the office got smaller
(Watch our short video or read the full article below)
One thing we’ve noticed about hybrid working is that it has expanded what’s expected of IT leaders.
A few years ago, the focus was on making remote working possible. Devices needed deploying, applications had to be accessible, and people needed to stay productive outside the office.
Most of that initial work is behind us. But what happens when hybrid working becomes the norm?
The answer is that IT responsibilities start to extend beyond the traditional remit.
Take a simple example: someone reports that an application is running slowly.
Twenty years ago, troubleshooting would usually start within the organisation’s own IT environment. Today, the issue could involve home broadband, Wi-Fi, a cloud application, identity management, endpoint security or something else entirely.
The boundaries are less clear than they used to be, and that changes the nature of IT support.
Problems can be harder to reproduce. Ownership is less obvious. Investigations involve more suppliers, and resolution may depend on factors outside IT’s direct control.
Yet expectations haven’t changed. People still look to IT for answers.
I’ve had plenty of conversations with IT leaders who spend less time managing technology than coördinating people, suppliers and stakeholders. Hybrid working has only added to that pressure.
Security is a good example.
Modern platforms offer plenty of tools for managing device compliance, conditional access and identity protection. The challenge is often everything that happens around them.
A director needs access from a personal device while travelling. A supplier requires temporary system access. A team adopts a new SaaS platform without involving IT early enough.
Individually, these requests may seem straightforward. Together, they create a constant stream of decisions, exceptions and governance work that someone needs to manage.
Meanwhile, expectations continue to grow. Leadership teams want stronger security, better reporting, faster support and clearer evidence that risks are being managed properly.
Finding the capacity to meet those expectations while delivering projects and supporting day-to-day operations isn’t easy.
This is one reason IT leaders are turning to co-managed support. It helps create additional capacity, giving internal teams more room to focus on the decisions that need their experience, judgement and understanding of the organisation.
If you’re finding that demands are growing faster than your team’s capacity, let’s have a conversation about how additional support could help.
Get in touch.
☎️ Camb: 01223 209920 | London: 020 3519 0124
☎️ Suffolk: 0144 059 2163 | Sheffield: 0114 349 8054