Remote teams IT support problems — a practical guide for UK businesses
If your business has between 10 and 200 staff, remote teams can be a huge advantage: lower overheads, happier people, access to talent outside the commute ring. But they bring IT support problems that look small until they cost time, money or credibility. This piece lays out the issues I’ve seen working with firms across the UK — from Manchester agencies to Isle of Wight consultancies — and the pragmatic fixes that protect productivity without turning everyone into a security boffin.
Common problems and why they matter
Poor and inconsistent connectivity
Not every employee enjoys fibre in their street. Some are on decent city broadband, others rely on flaky rural connections. The result is frequent video dropouts, failed uploads and time wasted rescheduling calls. For a client-facing team, that’s lost revenue and an unreliable reputation; for the accounts team it’s missed deadlines.
Device inconsistency and shadow IT
People use what they know: personal laptops, old desktops, rogue cloud apps. That creates support overheads (we don’t know the setup) and security gaps (unmanaged machines are the usual way malware slips in). It’s the classic “it worked on my laptop” problem that drags on support tickets.
Security, compliance and data protection
Remote working changes the risk profile. Home routers, shared family devices and public Wi‑Fi can expose confidential data. For UK firms that handle personal data, GDPR and ICO expectations still apply — and a breach can damage trust and attract regulatory attention.
Mismatched support hours and triage
Most in‑house IT teams work office hours. Remote staff need support beyond 9–5, especially if you have flexible shift patterns or people in different time zones. Without clear triage, urgent issues sit in an inbox while morale dips and managers step in to fix things they shouldn’t be fixing.
Patching, backups and recovery
When devices aren’t centrally managed, updates lag and backups are inconsistent. That increases the chance of a single device failure becoming a multi‑day outage. Recovery plans that assume everyone’s in the office rarely survive reality.
Onboarding and offboarding frictions
Setting up new starters remotely or revoking access when someone leaves is clunky without a repeatable process. Delays cost billable hours and leave sensitive access live longer than it should.
Practical fixes that protect the business
There’s no single silver bullet. The right approach depends on your size, sector and appetite for change. That said, the following measures consistently reduce incidents, shorten ticket lifetimes and lower operational costs.
- Standardise devices and images: Issue a small set of approved laptops or managed BYOD with company profiles. This cuts troubleshooting time and makes patching reliable.
- Centralised management: Use device management to push updates, enforce encryption and monitor health. Central visibility means problems are caught early, not escalated to users.
- Simple, enforced security basics: Multi‑factor authentication, disk encryption and automatic updates stop most breaches. They’re not flashy, but they work.
- Clear remote working policies: Define acceptable apps, data handling and support expectations so everyone knows the rules and who to contact when things go wrong.
- Flexible support model: Offer a mix of core office‑hour coverage plus a limited out‑of‑hours triage for urgent incidents. That reduces business disruption without doubling your bill.
- Local awareness: Account for geographic quirks — for example, allow offline workflows where rural broadband is unreliable, or offer synchronous meeting alternatives for poor connections in tourist hotspots.
- Self‑service knowledge base: A searchable hub with screenshots and short videos reduces repetitive tickets and helps new starters get productive faster.
- Regular business‑focused testing: Run tabletop exercises for key outages so recovery plans work in the real world, not just on paper.
When you introduce changes, communicate the business reasons: fewer meeting failures, faster invoicing, reduced regulatory risk. That wins buy‑in better than a list of technical measures.
If you’re reviewing remote-working policies and need straightforward, practical steps to roll them out across a mixed office/home workforce, our guide to remote working covers what to check and who should be responsible — useful if you’re dividing tasks between HR, IT and line managers.
How to prioritise fixes
Start with the problems that hurt revenue, compliance or capacity. A simple prioritisation method I use with firms is:
- Identify pain points reported by staff and managers (and repeat causes in support tickets).
- Estimate business impact (lost billable hours, delayed invoices, reputational exposure).
- Apply low‑cost, high‑impact fixes first (MFA, device encryption, a basic knowledge base).
- Plan medium‑term projects (device refresh, managed services, improved SLAs) with clear outcomes: less downtime, lower monthly support cost, faster onboarding.
That keeps projects tied to outcomes — not just tech for tech’s sake.
Real‑world traps to avoid
- Don’t overcomplicate policies. If a rule is ignored by most staff, it isn’t practical.
- Avoid one‑size‑fits‑all tools that don’t reflect the mix of roles in smaller firms — sales teams have different needs to finance.
- Don’t leave onboarding to chance. A one‑page checklist for new starters saves days of confusion.
FAQ
How much will better remote IT support cost?
Costs vary, but think in terms of replacing unpredictable, repeated downtime with predictable monthly spend. Many businesses find the saving comes from fewer firefights, faster hires and less lost time on video calls. It’s worth modelling the cost of productive hours saved when you evaluate options.
Can we keep personal devices and still be secure?
Yes, with controls. Managed BYOD—where company apps and data are separated and secured—lets staff use personal kit while keeping company data protected. The key is enforced policies and a way to wipe company data if a device is lost.
What if staff won’t follow new rules?
Communication matters. Explain the business risk and make the new way easier than the old one. Training, short how‑to videos and a clear support route cut resistance. If rules protect client data, that’s usually persuasive in commercial conversations.
How do we handle large outages at home (e.g. broadband fail)?
Have fallbacks: mobile data allowances, co‑working days, or a policy that allows crucial staff to use office space when needed. Plan these in advance so people aren’t stuck improvising when deadlines loom.
Closing thoughts
Remote teams offer real commercial advantages, but only if the IT support model is designed for them. Focus on practical fixes that reduce downtime, protect data and make life easier for managers and staff. Do that, and you’ll save time, reduce costs and look more credible to customers and partners — quietly, without drama.
If you’d like help turning this into a simple plan for your firm — fewer interruptions, clearer costs and a calmer leadership team — a short review can often point to immediate wins.
