A new survey of small and medium-sized businesses across the UK and US reveals that the majority believe technology which facilitates homeworking helps to make their staff more productive.

The LogMeIn SMB IT Pulse study also shows that over half of such enterprises plan to increase their use of homeworking technology over the next six months.

LogMeIn's Andrew Burton says that, of the 500 businesses surveyed, nearly a quarter – 23 per cent – of employees work from home or another remote location at least once a week, with around 12 per cent opting to work virtually. As a result, he deems information technology "a strategic enabler" for small and medium-sized firms.

"Whether end users are remaining productive while outside the office through remote access technologies or IT departments are expanding their support for consumer devices, business managers and IT providers are working together to make their organisations more productive and competitive every day," he observes.

Of the individuals surveyed, 63 per cent of managers and 71 per cent of IT managers agreed that remote access services make their staff more productive. Personal computers and smartphones were cited as some of the technology most often supported by IT managers.