Opens a new window

The new reality of work from anywhere has forced business and IT leaders to expand the scope of digital transformation to include endpoint devices that are pivotal to business productivity and performance. While the priority at the start of the pandemic was to ensure everyone had a functioning laptop with network access, the stakes are much higher now.

As businesses move out of survival mode and back into business-as-usual — productivity, security and profitability are key boardroom themes. IT decision makers (ITDMs) who increasingly find themselves at the center of that discussion need to place workplace technologies at the heart of digital transformation initiatives.

In the distributed workforce era, PC is at the core of a successful digital workplace. This is the ground zero for workers to connect, collaborate and drive business connectivity from their end — but not all devices are created equal.

The rapid adoption of remote work has resulted in a strong uptake of robust cloud collaboration applications and video conferencing to boost connectivity and WFH productivity. In addition, the pandemic marked an unprecedented shift in PC usage, with Windows PCs notching a 75% increase year on year.Opens a new window

Despite this impactful shift, endpoint devices — the workhorse of the digital ecosystem — haven’t received their due consideration. Even in the second year of lockdown, many employees are still struggling with legacy devices that are past their ‘sell-by’ date which negatively impact productivity, performance, and ultimately profitability.

Legacy Devices Drain the Bottom Line

A recent Intel-commissioned survey bears this out. According to the studyOpens a new window , Introducing the Intel® Evo™ vPro® Platform, 43% of employees surveyed said they spent two to three hours a week trying to fix IT issues related to productivity applications. Another third reported spending the same amount of time troubleshooting video conferencing, leading to lost productivity. Meanwhile, 17% of participants stated that their devices crashed, ‘blue screened,’ or simply became only unresponsive 4-6 times a month. This was half the number estimated by IT Decision Makers (ITDM) that support them.

On the other hand, the study found nearly half the employees surveyed (48%) felt that a more powerful or upgraded device would enable them to be more productive. In fact, 37% said they could save more than six hours per week, with 31% saying they would save 2-3 hours, and 22% put the number at 4-5 hours.

The results clearly illustrate how computing devices that worked in traditional office set-ups, supported by on-site IT staff, may not be able to keep pace with the virtual collaboration needs of today’s hybrid work environment. In most cases, suboptimal remote work technology drains employee engagement, productivity, business performance, and ultimately, the bottom line.

Pre-pandemic research from Probrand.co.uk Opens a new window found that companies were already losing £3.4 billion every year due to IT issues, with an estimated 21 minutes of lost productivity per day. A recent Vyopta studyOpens a new window reinforces the above view, revealing that nearly a third (32%) of businesses have lost a client or business opportunity because of technology or connection issues, while another 41% have missed a project deadline.

It’s not just the people and the business, though. From an IT standpoint too, a delayed PC refresh cycle isn’t good business sense. PC fleets with older, outdated devices (more than three years) that lack up-to-date technology can increase dependence on overburdened IT resources. Ongoing maintenance costs can strain operational budgets, derail user productivity, and pose new cybersecurity risks.

Intel sponsored research from J. Gold Associates, Older PCs in SMB Cost StudyOpens a new window , found that the cost of malfunctions for older hardware can add up to about $662 a year for each failure. This also means that device lifecycle costs associated with ongoing maintenance of aging hardware can increase technical debt and PC infrastructure complexity in the long term.

See More: 5 Mistakes to Avoid When Planning PC Fleet Stability

The Next Frontier: Next-Gen PC Platform to Address the New Realities of WFA Era

The bottom line is that hastily deployed pre-COVID technology may have been sufficient amid the initial scramble to work from home but isn’t sustainable for long-term, flexible operations in a highly competitive landscape. Maintaining productivity and business continuity necessitates a shift in end-user technology strategy. The business case is strong: an investment in end-user PC platforms will:

• Help maximize employee productivity and engagement with superior end-user experience in real-world conditions
• Reduce the burden on IT and drive more operational efficiency to focus on high-ROI digital transformation projects
• Ensure business continuity, lower security risks, and drive performance and profitability across the board.

Bridge the Digital Workplace Gap With Faster, More Powerful Ultra-Portable Devices

In the hybrid working world, increasingly mobile workforces have found more ways to work from anywhere — kitchen tables, coffee shops, co-working spaces and now, back in offices. However, underperforming PCs with shorter battery life, noisy fans, slow start-up, poor connectivity and sub-optimal security are ill-suited for on-the-go workers. These devices impede collaboration and agility, disrupt end-user productivity, resulting in disengaged workforces.

In this light, ITDMs must recognize and address the need to refresh the PC fleet with business-grade devices architected to meet productivity, performance, and collaboration needs for today’s work from anywhere employees.

Today’s next-gen enterprise PCs — stylish, lightweight form factors built to deliver exceptional performance, security, and battery life in real-world conditions can give your employees and businesses a real competitive advantage. But deciding exactly how and where to invest the PC fleet upgrade budget falls to ITDMs. They must ensure that the technology refresh will address the needs of all stakeholders — business, IT and employees.

Your PC platform impacts productivity, collaboration and security. Here are five factors ITDMs should weigh during PC refresh cycles:

1. Productivity: When evaluating technology buying decisions, IT leaders should tap into devices with higher-end integrated graphics that deliver incredible performance and responsiveness to end-users. For instance, users can realize better performance on Intel® Evo™ vPro® platform devices powered by the 11th Gen Intel® Core™ vPro® processor and integrated with Intel® Iris® Xe graphics that promise 3x faster photo and video editing.¹ The upshot is that users can now perform twice as quickly while editing photos, accessing web pages or streaming video content.² 

Another value-add feature for connected workforces is the instant wake that allows users to resume work instantly without any interruption. Plus, the extended battery life — 9+ hours of real-world battery life on laptops with FHD displays³ — enables on-the-go professionals to get more done without plugging in. This is a standout feature for multi-tasking business users who desire more power, performance and convenience from their laptop PCs in a fast-paced business landscape.

2. Collaboration: Enhanced video quality, better audio and noise reduction when taking calls from public spaces are critical for day-to-day tasks such as product demos and walk-throughs. In addition, the ability to easily share the screen or files during video calls is essential for driving productivity and collaboration in a remote world. According to participants in the Intel study, 66% of employees and 81% of ITDMs prioritize better video quality for hybrid working devices. Meanwhile, 65% of employees and 77% of ITDMs surveyed said improved audio and background noise reduction was important and not just a nice-to-have upgrade. By upgrading to a next-gen laptop fleet powered by Intel Evo vPro platform, IT can empower users with immersive audio, background noise suppression, unparalleled video and screen sharing functionality, and higher-end integrated graphics that deliver incredible performance and responsiveness to end-users. A powerful business PC platform can provide a significant competitive advantage to organizations in an era of remote collaboration.

3. Connectivity: Video conferencing and collaboration technologies have gotten us through the past two years. And now, it has become a primary means of business communication. From virtual selling to high-profile virtual events, connectivity is crucial to business outcomes. To truly support hybrid work today and into the future, organizations need next-gen computing technology to change the playing field in terms of reliable connectivity with best-in-class wired and wireless experience. The Intel survey found that both employees and ITDMs ranked better connectivity as essential for hybrid working devices. This underscores the importance of having much faster Intel® Wi-Fi 6/6E (Gig+) and universal cable connectivity over USB Type C with Thunderbolt 4⁴ on any new laptops issued to employees. The Intel Evo vPro platform checks all those boxes and ensures a smooth connectivity experience for on-the-go workers.

4. Security: The pandemic saw massive growth in ransomware and cryptomining attacks. Enterprise networks came under attacks with hackers targeting endpoint devices — outside the company firewall — that have become the new entry point for introducing malware. The surge in cyber threats confirm the need to protect endpoint devices with comprehensive hardware-based security measures coupled with above and below OS protection. To ensure that PC fleets are protected from the ground up, IT leaders should consider robust PC platforms that push the envelope on hardware-based security and provide active monitoring for threats and attacks. The Intel Evo vPro platform provides comprehensive, multi-layered protection to help secure distributed PC fleets. Additionally Intel® Threat Detection Technology, the industry-unique silicon-enabled AI threat detection capability, helps stop ransomware and cryptomining attacks in their tracks.

5. Portability: Sleek form factors that pack portability have emerged as a critical feature that today’s ‘anywhere workforces’ values in a PC. It is no surprise that 60% of employees and 63% of ITDMs who responded to an Intel commissioned survey stated that a thin and light, ultra-mobile device is essential to keeping them nimble all day. The Intel Evo vPro platform is the very definition of flexibility — combining high performance with thin and light form factors to meet the mobility needs of hybrid workforces. Beneath the stylish design, the Intel Evo vPro platform encases a powerful 11th Gen Intel Core vPro processor built to handle the wide assortment of workloads demanded of it.

See More: How to Ace User and IT Remote Work Productivity With Thin & Light Devices

Takeaways

To thrive in the hybrid workplace era, organizations need to equip employees with top-of-line end-user devices designed and engineered for the road ahead. IT leaders and corporate executives need to recognize that holding onto aging PCs nearing end-of-life undermines employees’ productivity and morale, strains IT resources and compromises business performance and profitability.

The choice of enterprise PC platform has become core to the digital workplace and can play a strategic role in driving industry-leading performance. As ITDMs consider how to deploy budgets to support business recovery, they should leverage technology built upon a solid foundation to satisfy the needs of end-users and drive growth in the digital ecosystem.

^{Notes & Disclaimers
1 Source: As measured by Video Editing workflow. 11th Gen Intel® Core™ vPro® i7-1185G7 Processor vs. 8th Gen Intel® Core™ vPro® i7-8650U Processor. Visit www.Intel.com/11thgenvpro for details. Results may vary.}

^{2 Source: As measured by testing 11th Gen Intel® Core™ vPro® i7-1185G7 against AMD Ryzen 7 Pro 4750U. For workloads and configurations, see www.Intel.com/11thgenvpro . Results may vary.}

^{3 Source: Time taken to drain from 100% to critical battery level while performing typical workflows in a realistic environment. Visit www.Intel.com/11thgenvpro for details. Results may vary.}

^{4 Source: 6 GHz Wi-Fi 6E operation requires use of Intel® Wi-Fi 6E (Gig+) products in conjunction with operating systems and routers/APs/Gateways that support Wi-Fi 6E, together with regional spectrum allocation & required regulatory certifications.Visit www.intel.com/ PerformanceIndexOpens a new window (connectivity) for details.}

^{Performance varies by use, configuration and other factors. Learn more at www.Intel.com/11thgenvpro.}

^{For workloads and configurations visit www.Intel.com/PerformanceIndex.}

^{Performance results are based on testing as of dates shown in configurations and may not reflect all publicly available updates. See configuration disclosure for details.}

^{No product or component can be absolutely secure.}

^{Your costs and results may vary.}

^{Intel technologies may require enabled hardware, software or service activation.}

^{Intel does not control or audit third-party data. You should consult other sources to evaluate accuracy.}

^{© Intel Corporation. Intel, the Intel logo, and other Intel marks are trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries. Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.}