The Critical Role IT Teams Played Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic

It goes without saying that IT teams are essential forthe long-term success of organizations of any size. While the teams behind ITmay not always take center stage at every business, they were certainly pushedinto the spotlight as a result of COVID-19.

Beyond the new and immediate demands that the pandemicbrought to many IT teams, it also rapidly altered their roles. Prior to thepandemic, some teams largely spent their time working to future-proof theirorganization for future technologies. The pandemic forced an all hands-on deckmantra of IT teams doing whatever it takes to ensure business continuity,tirelessly ensuring that employees were able to perform their tasks with themost efficient, collaborative and secure tools available.

Organizations' systems and networks previously designedto either have all employees working in one physical location or having someemployees outside of the office had to be adapted on short notice to allowemployees to complete their daily tasks while across cities or provinces.Furthermore, this needed to happen while ensuring organizational and customerdata remained secure.

Appreciation of IT professionals amid COVID-19

Regardless of whether their role is understood or not, ITteams became even more critical in the rapid work from home landscape, andworking Canadians agree. We recently conducted a survey, in partnership withAngus Reid, that assessed the sentiment of over 1 500 working Canadians andtheir perceptions of IT teams amid the pandemic. Nearly all working Canadians(89 percent) believe their organization's IT department was important in thesuccessful transition to remote work. Compare this to respondents' perceptionsof their executive leadership team's importance (82 percent), accounting andpayroll (76 percent) and human resources (63 percent) and IT teams' criticalroles become increasingly clear.

A day in the life of an IT professional

Despite the important role IT teams play and theircritical help in the work from home transition, many Canadians are unsure aboutwhat they do on a daily basis. According to the survey, over one third ofworking Canadians (34 percent) still do not understand what their IT team doesday-to-day.

There are various ideas among working Canadians about ITteams' daily tasks including just over half (52 percent) who indicated theirprimary role involves supporting technology needs, half who believe it involvesensuring the organization operates smoothly (50 percent) and just under half(42 percent) who believe it is support desks. Other ideas include testing,repairing and installing hardware (40 percent), providing hardware such aslaptops and company phones (34 percent) and helping with forgotten passwordsand broken technology (19 percent). A mere 16 percent of respondents indicatedthat IT's primary role involves future-proofing organizations for what lies onthe horizon.

Even though there are misconceptions about the tasks, thereis no doubt that working Canadians continue to appreciate the efforts IT teamsand that their perception has evolved. Our survey found that a net 84 percentof respondents believe their IT team is appreciated, and that their work duringthe pandemic has only elevated goodwill within their organizations over onethird (38 percent) appreciate their IT teams more as result of theircontributions.

As the remote work landscape continues and Canadianorganizations navigate an unknown horizon, one is thing is for certain: our ITteams will be there to support us, no matter the need, and ensure we have theservices and solutions to succeed. From all of us at CDW Canada, we want tothank IT teams across the country for the critical role they play each day inensuring their organizations are able to operate efficiently, but especiallyduring COVID-19. Without you, we would not be where we are today.

If you have any questions on how your IT team could be supported and what services and solutions they may benefit from, don't hesitate to reach out to one of our experts at 800.972.3922 or visit cdw.ca today.