Germany Rises to COVID-19 Challenge with Rapid Transition to Remote Work, Close Attention to Security Concerns

ISG Provider Lens report finds German enterprises, once slow to embrace work-at-home programs, successfully set up workers with devices, tools and bandwidth

FRANKFURT, Germany, Nov. 18, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Most German companies rose to the challenge when forced to quickly implement work-from-home programs in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, smoothly sourcing devices, providing collaboration tools and enabling bandwidth, according to a new report published today by Information Services Group (ISG) (Nasdaq: III), a leading global technology research and advisory firm.

The 2020 ISG Provider Lens Digital Workplace of the Future – Services & Solutions report for Germany found most companies skillfully managed the technology and infrastructure transformation required to extend remote work to thousands of employees. The challenge was especially steep for German enterprises because the country had been slow to accept remote work due to security concerns, union objections and cultural issues.

“The number of people working from home in Germany had not grown much for many years. COVID-19 changed all that,” said Andrea Spiegelhoff, partner, ISG DACH. “Companies had to move fast, and most met the challenge with great success.”

As organizations cut corners in their rapid response to the pandemic, they did face concerns about security and change management, the report says. The identity and access platforms they used are not all designed for employee authentication from home, and there also have been concerns that workers may lose touch with the organization. Enterprises are now looking to service providers for experience-level agreements that can measure success based on employees’ experiences.

Company efforts to ensure home employees are healthy, productive and safe have turned digital workplace consulting providers into important partners, ISG says. The transition has also made managed workplace solutions critical tools for scaling virtual meeting capacity, securing home connections and other needs. Help desk services have taken on a central role in providing better employee experiences at home, and analytics is helping to deliver this, according to the study.

Enterprises are increasingly adopting managed mobility services, as well as unified endpoint solutions, to give employees a seamless experience across fixed and mobile devices, the report says. They are looking for mobile integration with back-end systems such as CRM and ERP to help make workers even more productive, as well as endpoint security features to tackle threats and vulnerabilities.