Artificial Intelligence welcomed, but human-centered IT support is key

Nine in ten employees (87%) recognise that AI has a positive role to play in helping them stay productive, while eight in ten (81%) prefer a blend of AI and human interaction, according to Lenovo.

The new global study[1] reveals that majority of 12,000 employees surveyed (91%) believe they would be more productive when their IT issues at work are resolved quickly and effectively. Another 74% say poor IT support has decreased their motivation at work. Results show an efficient and effective IT support system needs to be in place to power today’s hybrid workforce.

Survey respondents see the key benefits of AI-powered IT being issue resolution with minimum disruption where AI can identify and resolve IT-related issues automatically, and in enabling 24/7 support even during weekends and holidays.

“As workplaces have evolved with the rise of hybrid work, IT support for employees clearly hasn’t kept pace. With the growing adoption of cloud services, digital intelligence and the metaverse, organisations’ IT environments are only going to become more complex, so effective IT support will become even more essential to employee experience and morale,” said John Stamer, Vice President and General Manager, Global Product Services at Lenovo.

Premier Support Plus offers services that are essential for both the current needs of a hybrid workforce and digital transformation in organisations, combining the best of both worlds - advanced AI for smarter, preventative services, while still providing human support where it’s needed most, for the seamless and direct IT support that employees are looking for.

Premier Support Plus is the most comprehensive IT support service on the market and the answer to help companies stay future ready by offering the right solution to improve employee experience and satisfaction, essential to retaining talent in today’s highly competitive market.

According to the survey, 62% of respondents said they are satisfied with their company’s management of employee experience in hybrid work, but still a significant 38% of respondents expressed that they are neutral or dissatisfied with their employee experience.

Premier Support Plus was developed with key enterprise and end user pain points in mind to offer the most comprehensive support service and protection for IT problems:

•       AI-driven predictive analytics enable proactive and preventative issue detection, and the ability to identify and address many potential IT problems.

•       Accidental Damage Protection provides coverage beyond a traditional system warranty, protecting devices from any unintentional drops, spills and bumps.

•       Keep Your Drive service retains users’ hard drives and provides full customer ownership of their data, to be kept or disposed on customers’ terms, improving data security and ensuring compliance with data privacy and retention requirements.

•       Sealed Battery services extends battery support for up to three years, where Lenovo-certified technicians are assigned to ensure effective and efficient battery replacement when needed, minimising downtime and improves business resilience.

•       International Services Entitlement supports multinational corporations by enabling Accidental Damage Protection, Keep Your Drive, and Sealed Battery services wherever in the world their employees happen to be.

Given the importance of employee productivity and experience, Premier Support Plus also offers a dedicated Services Engagement Manager to enterprises, providing proactive asset reporting and tracking.

“The mandates of CIOs to drive enterprise transformation have never been more urgent. IT departments need to deliver on employees’ experience of IT, every single day. So, in addition to being an increasingly trusted partner in intelligent transformation, we’re also incredibly focused on delivering practical innovation,” said Mr. Stamer.

It has been Lenovo’s mission to empower organisations with practical and sustainable technology to drive innovation and future-readiness. Recently, Lenovo launched a series of PC solutions including new ThinkPad, ThinkCentre, and IdeaPad devices to help users embrace hybrid working environments.