We’ve all been there: the Zoom call that drops out in the middle of a crucial discussion; the browser application that won’t load when you badly need to access it. Network problems have been around since the dawn of the Internet, and they always will be. But during this recent period of remote working, connectivity issues have become a much bigger threat to workspace productivity and employee experience.

If someone predicted how IT roles will change in the coming years, they’d likely envision tech roles maturing around emerging and high-value new technologies, such as AI, data science, and the cloud, as well as an ongoing focus on cybersecurity across industries and business divisions. These topics frequently come up in discussions with tech leaders about the near future of IT roles. But many would be surprised by two major trends.

This one goes out to my fellow IT support leaders who might find themselves drowning in ticket data and stuck in reactive mode. I work as the Enhanced Support Services Lead at a global consulting firm where I manage my organization’s L2 support team and in-house Customer Experience Analytics team (CEA)—a group of individuals that I wish had by my side years ago—more on that later.

Even though lockdown in the UK is easing and shops are reopening, there remains a question mark around the timing for the return to the office. As the pandemic continues to impact society, many professionals find themselves continuing to conduct business from their home offices, dining rooms, or bedrooms.

Configuration Management Databases (CMDBs) are key elements of any IT infrastructure. In large or growing organizations, however, successfully managing a CMDB is no easy feat. After all, IT Operations teams are responsible for managing tens of thousands of data points in dynamic environments. Lack of visibility, shallow troubleshooting, and the overall maintenance of a “healthy” CMDB can quickly lead to frustrations and result in expensive professional services support.

There’s an interesting synergy between hybrid work and proactivity. If you have a large remote or hybrid workforce, difficulties will tend to take longer to troubleshoot – and will of course also cause even more disruption for the user. Let’s take a simple, everyday example of a failing laptop battery. In this scenario, every time a remote user wants to leave their desk, they can’t – the laptop cuts off as soon as they unplug it.

It’s hard to imagine our work lives without collaboration tools. Whether you attend Zoom meetings or brainstorm projects (and send the occasional humorous GIF) on Slack, these solutions have become foundational elements of the workplace – even moreso in recent times, when most workplaces became more digital than ever before.

With the right combination of tech and internal communications, you can do a huge amount to actually increase the wellbeing and value a remote employee feels they’re getting from your business. Unfortunately, a lot of businesses struggle to do this, at least on a continual basis.

Studies consistently show that a positive UX (user experience) drives revenue growth, repeat business and brand loyalty. Here’s a good example: in Robert Pressman’s book Software Engineering: A Practitioner’s Approach, he writes “For every dollar spent to resolve a problem during product design, $10 would be spent on the same problem during development, and multiply to $100 or more if the problem had to be solved after the product’s release.”