india

Updated: Mar 20, 2020 14:27 IST

While companies across the world mull over having their employees log in from home in the wake of the coronavirus scare, a report suggests that for many companies in India, this might just be a distant dream.

A report by Gartner, a leading IT service management company, says that 54 per cent of the companies in India do not have enough technology and resources for employees to work to home.

It has been revealed that it is easier for IT employees like Google, Microsoft to work remotely or from home with the help of video conferencing and other software. But most non-IT companies and small-scale industries have no other option.

Also read: Coronavirus shutdowns will save people but hunger will kill them: Saamana

These companies seem helpless due to old desktop-laptops, poor network connectivity and UPS backup. More than two-thirds of employees lack access to information such as Google Hangouts, Skype, Zoom, Cisco WebEx, GoToMeeting, Microsoft Teams, Group Chat, document sharing, and software that works for the group.

Workers from the non-IT companies and small and medium enterprises (SMBs) are the worst-hit in India as most of them have little or no clue about how these messaging and collaboration tools work amid, news agency IANS reported.

BPO and KPO companies cannot work from home. Group meetings and communication are also not possible for small companies from home.

Muneer Ahmed, business head of VuSonic, says that the manufacturing, corporate and education sectors are the most affected due to the absence of remote working.

Gokul Tandon, executive chairman, CloudConnect Communications said, “as India’s first licensed B2B Virtual Network Operator, CloudConnect Communications offers a collaborative platform that allows companies to overcome this threat while maintaining seamless business continuity and optimum employee productivity. We offer a secure, robust, reliable, scalable and trackable mobile-first unified communication infrastructure that aids remote teleworking so that businesses can continue operating even under any unforeseen circumstances. We are looking forward to helping your business thrive and emerge victorious from this unprecedented challenge.”

Also read: How coronavirus can affect India

Another hurdle in front of the companies regarding the ‘work from home’ model is the cost of software. Some are very expensive while many others can only be used in the office and not on laptops. The office internet is usually very fast as compared to the broadband connection that employees may use to log in from home. How many have a WiFi connection at home is another question.

(With inputs from IANS)