According to research Sharpthe lack of basic technology skills is having a negative impact on productivity in almost three in ten companies.
Data from over 5,000 European SMEs reveals that a quarter of entrepreneurs consider this gap to be one of the biggest challenges their companies face.
Extrapolating the “Italian” situation from European research data, we discover that in our country 39% of employers consider the lack of knowledge of IT security systems as one of the major problems that their company has had to face in the last year. Furthermore, When it comes to making the most of Microsoft 365, only 28% of IT professionals in Italian SMEs know all the features offered by this software.
As some companies will need to upgrade the version of Microsoft 365 licensed in 2024 to integrate with AI via Copilottoday’s IT gaps will not only impact current productivity, but also the ability to take advantage of future capabilities.
Poor technological skills slow down SMEs
Beyond technology issues, research also shows a continuing divide in how employers perceive their employees’ productivity collaboratori in smart working. While many don’t notice any changes, more than a quarter of IT managers PMI believes that remote collaborators are more productive, while just over a fifth say the opposite.
Colin Blumenthal, Vice President of IT Services at Sharp Europe
Regardless of company size, many businesses rely heavily on Microsoft 365 for everything from working on standard documents and spreadsheets to planning and managing communications, sales and marketing operations. If companies don’t have the right training on how to get the most out of this software, they are missing out on the opportunity to be even more productive in the future.
Research has found that it’s not just tech skills that impact remote working. In Italy, 42% of employers say that the inadequacy of the home Internet connection affects productivity, as demonstrated by the usual connectivity problems that are encountered during the use of videoconferencing applications such as, for example, Teams, Zoom, Skype.