Data security and download speeds are the top two barriers to a connected workforce according to a survey by Nexsan.
The study revealed that 98% of users need to work remotely or collaboratively, with nearly two thirds (61%) responding that they need to access company data on their own devices (BYOD).
While the majority of people (91%) felt they were permitted to access work files outside of the office, only 58% considered access to files away from the office to be 'private and secure'.
When it came to sharing files outside of the business only 3% believe file sharing to be private and secure.
22% of respondents said the main barrier to collaborative working was the length of time traditional storage or public cloud services take to download and upload work, with 18% believing that their storage was either inadequate for or hindering collaborative working.
Security was the second highest concern (17%) and a close third was concerns regarding version control (16%). Other barriers to a truly connected and mobile workforce were that companies did not have the facilities to file sync and share (FSS), FSS was too complicated, or remote access was prohibited entirely.
"The survey statistics reveal a picture of a workforce who need to access and share files remotely and across devices, yet who are being hindered by download speeds, lack of secure file sync and share facilities and storage systems that are too rigid," said Geraldine Osman, VP International Marketing, Nexsan.