With remote working becoming a fixture for many workers, online services and digital resources must keep up with emerging demands.
As we enter the summer months of 2021, many of us have been working from home for over a year. What was an emergency measure at the time is now becoming a lifestyle change for many workers – one that will remain, at least in some form, even as we see the easing of restrictions. This enormous change in working habits is reflected in the increase in use of online services and digital resources.
For professions like law or accountancy, where research is an integral part of the everyday tasks of employees, it has been imperative that firms set their personnel up with the correct resources. This is a means of ensuring that employees are provided with levels of technological support comparable to those they would have at their disposal if they were physically present in the office.
As a leading provider of legal and tax online services, Bloomsbury Professional Ireland is keen to track emerging trends in online products and services. In 2020, as a response to the closure of offices and workplaces, we launched a customer survey to gain an insight into our customer’s use of our online service BPrO. A year later, we recently reached out to our customers again to get their feedback on BPrO after a further year of use. The response to the survey reflected the current trends of online uptake in the workplace: 84% of respondents rated BPrO between very good and excellent and 68% of them indicated weekly or daily use of BPrO.
Given the positive experience of BPrO users, the survey was an opportunity to gauge interest in further services that could be offered to legal and tax professionals. We received a strong indication that a banking and finance service would be of benefit to our customers, with half of respondents reporting interest.
As remote working looks set to become a fixture of modern office life, there is a need to assess what online developments will be needed to cater for workplace needs in the long term. We have seen a growing need in the areas of training and online courses. In our survey, 80% of respondents indicated interest in online webinars and CPD events. This is particularly pressing as, even with the lifting of restrictions, many such events are still curtailed and professionals cannot attend in person.
For those interested in taking a free trial of any of our online services, please contact sean.oneill@bloomsbury.com. If anyone is interested in further information on our survey, please email me at: rachel.sherlock@bloomsbury.com.
This article is sponsored by Bloomsbury.
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