REMOTE SUPPORT isn’t new, but the hybrid work model that has emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic is creating new challenges for help desk teams supporting distributed and remote employees, according to The 2022 State of Remote Support Market Trends. Moreover, 72% of respondents to the survey conducted by ESG, sponsored by Splashtop, agree that the need to deliver remote support has increased, and 99% say that “support at distance” is required for half or more of tickets.
Challenges to supporting distributed workers remotely include communications (95%) and technical hurdles (95%). No surprise there, given that 94% of organizations are allowing or requiring the use of personal devices for work, with the help desk supporting a variety of models, operating systems, and networks.
Other challenges stem from “the Great Resignation,” with 94% of respondents saying that their help desk function has been impacted by hiring challenges, retention issues, and/or skill shortages over the past 12 months. The remaining staff’s workload has increased, according to 58% of respondents. As a result, 67% of respondents report challenges with maintaining IT support goals, and 29% cite an uptick in the number of individuals reporting unsustainable levels of stress/burnout.
Splashtop/ESG: The 2022 State of Remote Support Market Trends
On the bright side, 7 in 10 respondents say investment in remote support technologies helps broaden the talent pool, since help desk staff can work from anywhere. Moreover, 59% report faster identification of user errors, and 63% say the ability to see the user’s environment enables more productive conversations.
Remote session technology also improves key performance indicators, according to 71% of respondents. Specifically, 66% cite an improvement in average handle time, 59% report better help desk throughput, and 56% say ticket resolution time has improved.
Going forward, remote support tools with augmented reality features may be key to improving user satisfaction. Some 42% of organizations already using this capability, in fact, call it “game changing.”
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