TELECOMS & MOBILE
More SMEs turning to teleworking
10-03-2008
by Emmet Ryan
An interest among SMEs in the communications side of the internet is one of the chief reasons teleworking is proving popular with Irish firms, according to ISME.
Mark Fielding, chief executive of the Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Organisation (ISME), told ENN that SME owner-managers had been at the forefront of adopting the internet as a communications aid. "Owner-managers have embraced the internet as a communications tool," he said.
Fielding said this interest had led to an increase in the number of SMEs teleworking. "The advent of BlackBerrys, blueberries, and all sorts of berries have helped make it easier for managers in SMEs to work remotely," he said. "They are doing it to get around problems like traffic. Rather than sit in traffic for and hour and half commuting they can work from home."
His views were reflected in a survey published by O2 Ireland on Monday which showed that teleworking was on the increase among small firms in Ireland and that PDAs were playing a role in its growing popularity.
The report found that 47 percent of senior managers in Irish SMEs work from home at least one day a month, with 29 percent working from home four days a month or more. The study shows a dramatic increase in teleworking in Ireland since 2004, when only 25 percent said they worked at least one day a month from home.
O2 believes the increase is in part due to it becoming easier to work remotely in recent times. "Technologies such as mobile broadband are helping to overcome traditional barriers to teleworking in Ireland such as low penetration of fixed line broadband," said Billy D'Arcy, head of corporate and business sales with O2 Ireland.
The survey also found that the number of SME senior managers using PDAs had almost doubled in the past four years from 10 percent to 19 percent.
The wider availability of these technologies is also aiding businesses in meeting customer needs. "People are getting more used to receiving an immediate response to their queries," Patricia Callan, director of the Small Firms Association, told ENN. "Not having to get to a set office location is a big help in that regard as business people can respond faster."
Increased productivity is the main driver for teleworking, according to O2, with 36 percent of respondents saying that they work from home in order to concentrate and get more done without day-to-day office distractions. Meanwhile, 14 percent say it's easier to catch up on work or meet deadlines if they work from home.
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