In October 2019, Intel commissioned Forrester Consulting to evaluate the current and potential future states of PC procurement and management. The study, entitled “How PCs Will Drive the Future of Work,” concluded that improving PC performance to enable increased productivity was a top business priority, and Forrester has confirmed the current environment amplifies the findings.
“PC modernization is not only vital to employee productivity, but also employee engagement. Traditionally those vectors have been at odds with the level of security you can provide. This is even more true today as employees are looking for more flexibility in where they work from, how they connect to the network, and how they rely on applications and data that may be hosted in the cloud. Intel is creating the platform that empowers every employee’s greatest contribution, without sacrificing performance or security.” said Michael Nordquist, director of Strategic Planning and Architecture, Business Client Platforms at Intel.
In today’s increasingly remote world, PC management and remote workforce support has become one of the biggest topics on IT decision- maker minds. However, IT departments are struggling to maintain a secure environment for devices while simultaneously meeting employee expectations.
As part of the study, Forrester surveyed 635 IT decision-makers (ITDMs) across industries in the United States, Canada, Japan, the United Kingdom, France and Germany.
Forrester found that companies are realizing the value in supporting employees by improving PC performance and want to invest accordingly. Yet they are struggling to operationalize the tactics they know will drive employee experience and productivity. Key findings include:
Improving the performance of PCs to enable increased productivity is the top priority for businesses in 2020. Eighty-seven percent of respondents see the PC as central to their businesses and recognize that supporting a secure and efficient PC environment is crucial for a successful strategy. Sixty-seven percent of enterprises and mid-market companies plan on investing more in PCs in 2020, compared with 2019.
By shifting their focus to improving PC performance (particularly when supporting a newly remote workforce), businesses are recognizing that they will be able to improve not only employee productivity, but also increase levels of employee engagement. Consistently being engaged and motivated to accomplish work tasks due to superior technology is not only good for productivity, but also promotes higher-quality work. This realization is driving more businesses to invest in cloud-based device management with higher-performing, more secure PCs. More specifically, 56 percent of ITDMs are investing in cloud-based device management, while 55 percent are prioritizing more secure devices and 48 percent investing in higher-performing, faster chips.
The PC is still the tool of choice when employees want to focus and get work done. Forrester’s findings are beneficial in helping IT departments not only manage through the COVID-19 crisis, but also put the right pieces in place for an increasingly remote workforce in the future.
