A survey by software asset management (SAM) specialist Snow Software highlights a need to support hybrid working, especially in the face of multiple cost, security and transformation challenges for IT teams.


Alastair Pooley, chief information officer at Snow, said that many IT teams don’t have a "full picture" of how to support a workforce where some are working remotely and others in the office at different times.


"What we’ve learned over the past 18 months is that understanding how current technology investments are being utilised and which areas need more support is critical," Pooley said in the official release.


Snow's survey suggests that as many as 92% (about nine in every ten) organisations have either or expect to move to hybrid working, where some staff work in a central office and others from home or otherwise remotely, at different times.


Transformation is hampered by "rising costs and insufficient security", according to Snow.


And because IT leaders must also prioritise a laundry list of challenges -- enabling competitive differentiation , reducing or optimising IT costs, managing digital transformation initiatives, and accelerating cloud adoption and migration, to name a few -- supporting the hybrid workplace has gone on the back burner.


Organisations may underestimate the hybrid landscape


In Snow's survey, 84% of respondents expect increased budget to facilitate new ways of working, yet only 34% say they are prioritising hybrid working support over the next 12 months.


Although employees may spend less time in the traditional office, only 10% of respondents in Snow's survey think hybrid work will reduce employee use of IT resources.


Another 18% believe hybrid working will actually increase department-led technology purchases, which can contribute to shadow IT if the right policies, processes and staff are not in place, according to Snow.


"Despite the significant transition that organisations have faced over the past year, it seems that the future of hybrid work is putting IT leaders in a position where they will once again be required to quickly shift gears and adapt to a new reality," Pooley said.


Snow Software provides SAM and SaaS management platforms, incorporating asset discovery, inventory, auditing, automation and orchestration.


( Photo by Fabian Mardi on Unsplash )