Password Hell and Email the Bane of IT Workers’ Lives

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Password resets and email management are the top two bugbears for IT departments. End users in general and the support of remote and mobile workforces also feature high up the list of least popular chores, according to senior IT execs. Based on a series of interviews with UK CIOs and senior IT professionals, desktop-on-demand specialist Nasstar found IT workers are still inundated with chores that sap their ability to work profitably and strategically for their employers.

Top irritations were:
1. Password resets.
2. Email management.
3. End-users in general.
4. Fixing broken printer / photocopiers.
5. Support of remote / mobile working.
6. Upgrade cycles / applying patches.

One UK CIO said he believed up to 70 per cent of his staff's time was spent on non-strategic IT tasks – "just keeping the lights on".

Charles Black, CEO of Nasstar, said: "It seems incredible that talented IT resource is still being spent on basic maintenance tasks."

"I don't suppose for one minute the CEO of these companies runs around with a vacuum cleaner, while the CFO collects dirty plates and mugs from people's desks at the end of the day. So why are well-paid and well-skilled IT professionals still losing sleep over patching and upgrades, which should be pushed out centrally."

"Choosing solutions, such as the hosted desktop, lift the burden from IT staff, allowing them to focus their skills on delivering competitive advantage to organisations."

Chris Gulliver, IT Director at Howards Group, a Property Services Group, and a Nasstar customer, said: "We are a very mobile business with demanding customers so a lot of our communication is done 'on the move'. The nature of our business is very high-pressure and we must work as efficiently as possible across a large geographical area."

"We always have to be more responsive than our competitors, but this can't be done without the highest system accessibility and mobility. With a hosted desktop, we can respond to emails on the move and access the company data share from any computer meaning we don't have to wait to get back to the office to provide that report or check the contract. This is driven by our IT team."

"But the more time spent on IT chores, the less time there is available for innovation and delivering real strategic value to the business", he concluded.

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