The Covid Impact & Hybrid Work Model
The pandemic has forced businesses to change the way they operate. Moving from the occasional Work From Home to permanent Work From Home and now to Hybrid models, the transition has created a lot of changes in how businesses are managed. Employees are now able to set their own hours and work from home when necessary. This has led to an increase in telecommuting and remote working arrangements. The pandemic has also forced businesses to re-evaluate their office space needs, as many employees are now working remotely full-time. As a result, there is a decrease in demand for office space, and many businesses are now downsizing their office footprints.
With the hybrid work model, employees are spread across geographical locations and office assets are accordingly distributed for employees to perform their daily duties. It helps organisations to be more agile and adapt to changing market conditions, while reducing their carbon footprint and saving on costs. However, it has also posed some serious challenges for the IT department. Owing to technological developments and dependency, businesses today have a lot more IT assets to manage than ever, without the degree of control that comes with work from office models
Challenges With Asset Distribution & Enterprise Asset Management in Hybrid Model
Even though the hybrid work model has enhanced the working experience and productivity for most businesses and their employees, there are certain threats which cannot be ignored. These include :
- Cyber Security Risks – When employees are working remotely, they are often using their own personal devices and networks. This makes it more difficult for IT departments to monitor and secure data. Additionally, employees may be more likely to take shortcuts when it comes to cyber security, such as using unsecured Wi-Fi networks or sharing passwords.
- Asset Delivery Issues – If an organisation has employees working in both a traditional office and a remote location, it may be difficult to manage the distribution of physical assets such as laptops, printers, and office supplies. Additionally, organisations need to ensure that all employees have access to the same digital assets and tools, which can be a challenge when managing a hybrid workforce.
- Real-Time Asset Location – In the current business landscape, the ability to track and locate assets in real-time is becoming increasingly important. Traditional asset tracking methods are often inaccurate and time-consuming, which can lead to lost or stolen assets and decreased productivity, especially in the context of the hybrid work model.
- Asset Allocation – In a hybrid work model, IT assets would need to be allocated based on the type of work being done. For example, on-site employees may be given laptops while remote employees may be given desktop computers. This is necessary to ensure that each employee has the appropriate type of equipment for their needs.
- Overall Enterprise Asset Management – While a major challenge is keeping track of which assets are located where, another is ensuring that all assets are properly maintained and updated. Additionally, there can be issues with compatibility between different types of assets, and with ensuring that all assets are properly up to date.
How Does Asset Tracking Ensure Better Workflow?
In order to ensure smooth functioning with minimal risks, businesses need to have centralised enterprise asset management systems that can help them track all types of equipment in one place so they can be easily identified in order to maintain accountability for the company’s assets. Asset tracking systems will not only manage, maintain, and track assets, but also save time generally spent on managing spreadsheets.
Asset tracking facilitates asset allocation and enterprise asset management. Traditional asset tracking systems are designed for personnel tracking and for monitoring business operations. They are built on legacy technology that is complex to use and doesn’t integrate easily into other systems. As today’s hybrid work model expects employees to work from anywhere, and at any time, they would require the same level of access and security as they would in the office. And they need to be able to collaborate as effectively as they would if they were in the office.
Asset tracking also addresses cybersecurity concerns. If you have employees working from home or remote locations, they can be vulnerable to cyberattacks unless they use a secure work platform. A secure platform protects your data from unauthorised access. It also allows you to track the location of your devices to make sure they are all accounted for and to locate lost, stolen or missing items.
Benefits Of AssetTraq
Our digital asset management software, AssetTraq makes asset tracking and management easy along with taking care of data security. With AssetTraq, you can :
- Get real time asset location
- Allocate assets
- Manage asset requests and approvals
- Control asset distribution in one place
- Conduct smooth audits
- Manage assets from multiple locations
- Retire and dispose assets
- Identify ghost assets
AssetTraq is not limited to these features. It is the right tool for your business if you are looking for a digital asset management software that is easy to deploy and use and provides you with complete visibility into all your digital assets. Schedule a FREE Demo with us today to know more.