Between March and April 2019, Atlas Cloud released a survey to discover if current technology used by businesses meets the needs of today’s workforce. The responses provided valuable insight into areas where IT may need to improve to help shape the future of the modern workplace.
Over 1,200 people from across the UK filled in the survey including both those responsible for IT within their organisation and those who merely consume it.
Responses came from a diverse range of industries including construction, education, finance, healthcare, legal and professional services. This helped us to examine the intricacies of workplace
technology and how it varies from business to business.
Login Processes
The survey found that a worrying 91.7% of organisations use only single-factor authentication for user logins. For Public Sector organisations (81.1% single-factor) and Educational Institutions (100% single-factor) this represents a massive security risk considering their access to highly-sensitive confidential data e.g. council tax payments, children’s information.
Using a single password for authentication is an out-dated method of security with
81%1 of data breaches being attributed to compromised passwords. It also puts organisations at risk in the event of a work device being lost or stolen.

Adding an extra layer of protection by adopting multi-factor authentication is an easy way to ramp up organisational security. Many users inevitably use the same password for multiple logins, so using a two-step verification service such as Google Authenticator, Authy or Duo helps to protect against this bad practice.
CEO Fraud Awareness
The majority of email breaches are down to human error and alarmingly CEO Fraud/impersonation emails continue to rise in number, up 80%2 in the past 12 months.
Only 28.5% of workers are actually aware of what CEO Fraud is, proving there’s still much to be done to protect businesses from a threat that can result in £000’s being unwittingly wired to sneaky fraudsters.

"If security is a coin, then on one side of the coin are automated security controls and on the other side is the "human firewall."
Matthew Gardiner - Mimecast3
USB Access
61% of organisations allow USB access on work devices, putting themselves at great risk. For instance, a USB-borne virus might compromise data or the network. USB access also leaves companies open to insider threat, whereby a worker extracts corporate data either to resell or to take to their next job.
Worryingly the figure is even higher for remote-enabled workers, with 64.5% allowed USB access. In addition to the threats already outlined, an
unattended laptop in a coffee shop or on the train could easily be targeted with a malicious USB attack in a matter of seconds.

Saving Habits
64.9% of workers still save work to their device rather than onto a company shared drive. There could be several reasons behind this such as the lack of a shared drive or the inaccessibilty of a shared network drive when working remotely.
Whatever the reason, not saving to a shared drive could have the following implications: a. Inability to recover or protect files in the event of device loss, damage or theft, b. Inability for teams to collaborate effectively, c. Inability to work remotely.

Remote Working
While 64.5% of companies offer remote working for employees only 35% are able to complete 100% of their tasks when working outside of the office. This is likely why a recent CIPD report found a meagre 6%5 of employees afforded the flexibility to work from home actually took advantage of it. A dependence on company-issued devices may also be a contributing factor.
The preference for remote/flexible working continues to grow and is something all office-based businesses may need to address. 70%6 of workers are more attracted to a job if it offers remote working and of those who work remotely 80%7 say they are more productive when working from home. It’s therefore vital to provide remote users with the most productive environment possible so that 100% of work-related tasks can be carried out regardless of location.

Device Dependency

Password Usage
A third of all respondents (33.4%) said they’re required to remember more than 6 workplace passwords.
Having a multitude of passwords creates several issues for a business. Firstly, it impacts a user’s productivity, having to remember so many passwords to sign into multiple applications. Secondly, there is a knock-on effect to IT teams as resetting forgotten passwords is usually the most common support call they deal with. Finally, it’s highly likely that users will use the same password for multiple logins, meaning if one password is breached then unwanted access can be gained to many systems and applications.

System Stability
Our survey revealed that hosted desktops are 37.5% less likely to experience a crash than standard desktops. In addition, 32.5% of standard desktop users experience at least one crash per day. Multiply this per user, across the space of a year and we’re talking about a significant loss in productivity.
In order to remain competitive in this modern world it’s vital that systems are robust and can cope with the pressures placed upon them by users. Moving to a hosted desktop solution can both boost productivity and provide an advantage over competitors who are still using standard desktop technology.

Key Takeaways
It’s clear from the survey that, with regards to the IT function, businesses aren’t exactly setting employees up for success. There are also worrying trends in terms of bad practice and lack of awareness. However, these issues are easily addressed by working with a reputable Managed Service Provider (MSP) such as Atlas Cloud.
In order to build an IT function that’s fully fit for the modern workplace it’s likely that a range of services will be required. Your MSP should be ideally placed to help put together the perfect portfolio of products to address your key challenges. If you’d like to learn how Atlas Cloud can help modernise your workplace IT then get in touch with one of our specialists today for a no obligation discussion around your requirements.
References
1 Verizon – 2019 Data Breach Investigations Report
2 SecurityWeek – Citing Mimecast Email Security Risk Assessment Report August 2018
3 Mimecast – What is More Important: Automated Prevention or Improved User Awareness?
4 NCSC – 10 Steps To Cyber Security
5 CIPD – ‘UK Working Lives’ Survey Report 2018
6 PowWowNow – Flexible Working 2017 Report
7 Financial Times – Flexible Working: Here’s What Employees Want
The Future of the Modern Workplace Report 2019
A handy PDF report highlighting the key results from our 2019 survey. Download to share with colleagues or keep for future reference.
