STUDY: 89% of Full-Time Employees Access Company Files Remotely, Only 22% Aware of a Company-Approved File-Sharing System

Soonr 2014 Mobility in the Workplace Study also reveals issues with keeping files up-to-date, accessing files remotely

Findings from the Soonr 2014 Mobility in the Workplace Study (Graphic: Business Wire)

SAN JOSE, Calif.--()--While the majority of full-time employees access files remotely (89%), nearly three-quarters (73%) still do so via email, and less than a quarter (22%) are aware of a company-approved file-sharing system in their workplace.

The findings of the new study by Soonr, a leading provider of secure file sharing and collaboration services for business, demonstrate growing trends in business file sharing, as well as an awareness gap of use-case opportunities across professions and industries.

Employees Continue to Face File Management Challenges in the Workplace

Nearly three out of four full-time employees (74%) report that it’s important to their work to be able to share files easily with coworkers, partners and customers. Yet, two out of three full-time employees (67%) still struggle with ensuring files across teams and organizations are up-to-date, a large jump from 26% in 2013. Other top concerns impacting employees include:

  • Accessing files anytime (48%)
  • Sharing large files (47%)
  • Organizing files (44%)
  • Working on documents while mobile (41%)
  • Securing corporate data (33%)

In an always-on era where work is conducted from the road via smartphone, or at an off-site meeting on a tablet, protecting sensitive internal and client or customer information is paramount to business success. Yet the fraction of full-time employees who feel challenged by securing corporate data is up to 33%, compared to 9% in 2013.

“With a full 59% of respondents feeling it is ‘important,’ or ‘very important,’ to be able to download or edit work files from a mobile device outside the office, addressing these concerns is paramount,” said Ahmet Tuncay, CEO of Soonr. “Solution providers can no longer rely on simple sync-and-share capabilities—employees need easy access to complete documents along with full editing capabilities under a range of conditions, even offline, in order to do their jobs efficiently.”

Gaps in Remote Workforce Support across Industries

The study findings indicate varying demand for remote file access, along with industry-specific challenges with mobile workers. Across nine major industries surveyed, 85% of full-time employees have a business need to access files remotely.

Key findings include:

Construction:

  • Only 65% of full-time employees in this industry report working in the main office
  • More than half (55%) view anytime access to files and documents as important

Biotech/Healthcare:

  • 72% of employees have issues keeping everyone’s files up to date
  • Half (50 %) experience issues sharing large files with team members

Conditions such as frequent site visits or regulatory requirements (e.g., HIPAA) contribute to a need for consistent, secure access to documents. The challenges that professionals face not only break down across industries, but also across roles within an organization.

Sales:

  • Despite the importance to their job role, 62% of sales professionals find it difficult to collaborate with others outside of their company
  • Nearly two out of five (38%) say being able to navigate the sales contract process quickly and edit paperwork remotely would make their job easier
    • 11% have lost clients as a result of not being able to offer this feature
  • Only 10% are aware of their company using a specified file-sharing service

IT:

  • 45% of IT professionals see security for corporate data as a challenge
  • 58% have had trouble downloading large files
  • 52% strongly agree they’re concerned with the privacy and security of their files

CEOs:

  • Corporate executive officers are most likely to prioritize file-sharing; 91% report using some kind of service
  • Repercussions: 40% have missed an important deadline due to being unable to access files remotely from a smartphone or tablet device; 30% report the same due to being unable to edit files remotely
  • 59% of IT pros strongly agree they’re concerned with maintaining the privacy and security of their files

“Productivity hurdles vary across industries and job roles, and it’s important to keep this in mind when coming up with a strategy for working most effectively and securely in different locations,” said Tuncay. “The workplace has not only become more scattered and mobile, but also more sophisticated. Enterprise file-sharing and cloud solutions need to meet these rising demands.”

About the Soonr Mobility in the Workplace Study

The 2014 State of Mobility in the Workplace Study surveyed more than 1,000 full-time employees across the United States to gain insight on barriers to productive file-sharing in the enterprise environment. They survey also analyzed current issues facing productivity inside and outside of the main office. Results were broken down based on industry, and preferences for file sharing. As a follow up to its 2013 State of Mobility in the Workplace Study, Soonr wanted to provide business decision makers with valuable information on how employees are accessing and sharing files to create a more productive workplace.

About Soonr

Founded in 2005, Soonr is headquartered in Silicon Valley, California with offices in the UK and Denmark. Our mission is to make organizations more productive and competitive by securely connecting office and mobile workers and their critical information. Our secure file sharing and collaboration services have been in commercial production since early 2007 without a single security breach or a data loss incident. Embraced by users and endorsed by IT, Soonr delivers its service to over 150,000 paying businesses worldwide in 134 countries, through a network of cloud service providers, VARs, MSPs and systems integrators. Go to http://www.soonr.com and start your free trial today.

Contacts

Avista Public Relations
Erin Jones, 704-664-2170
ejones@avistapr.com

Contacts

Avista Public Relations
Erin Jones, 704-664-2170
ejones@avistapr.com