Business objectives for IT management have fundamentally shifted. Traditionally, organisations imposed a heavy-hand over the types of IT resources their workers employ and how they will use them. However, over the past decade or so, a growing awareness has supplanted these antiquated approaches suggesting technology should conform to the needs of the workers, rather than the other way around. It turns out that when users are presented with devices, applications, and services they prefer to use, they are far more productive and enthusiastic about their relationship to the organisations. Of course, the only thing shocking about that epiphany is that it took so long for businesses to broadly recognise something so obvious.

What is Digital Employee Experience (DEX)?

To be fair, the availability of resources to assist organisations with managing user experiences is a fairly recent addition to IT management practices. Digital employee experience (DEX) management processes and tool evolved over the last decade or so specifically to monitor the workforce utilisation of applications and devices and remediate any detected issues that inhibit their productivity. Management solution supporting DEX incorporate functionality from a variety of IT disciplines—including unified endpoint management (UEM), application performance management, and IT service management. Related solutions collect device and application performance information, survey users on their perspectives of IT services, intelligently identify the root cause of problems and improvement opportunities, and enable real-time automated remediation steps.

So, why are DEX solution so essential to modern business IT operations? DEX solutions maximise the value of IT investments by ensuring they align with actual user preferences and needs. While there are numerous benefits to this approach, the greatest value can be quantified in the following five areas.

1. Boosts workforce productivity

The most obvious benefit to DEX adoption is simply to enable workers to be more effective at completing their job tasks. Every time users are distracted by having to address tech issues, it can take them as much as 20 minutes to refocus back on the task. By eliminating unnecessary technology impediments, employees are able to better serve customers and more effectively deliver on business goals.

2. Supports hybrid workforces

With a majority of business tasks now being performed outside of the physical office, it is essential that hybrid teams have the same experiences utilising IT services when they are remote as when at office. This includes expecting the same level of performance from web and SaaS applications, as well as the ability to operate fluidly over non-business networks, such as wi-fi and internet services, without delayed or dropped connections.

3. Reduces security risks

Yes, you read that correctly—the improvement of user experiences in the application of security protocols fundamentally reduces the number of breach events and policy violations. The reason is rather obvious when you think about it. When workers are presented with security that doesn’t inhibit their productivity, they are far less likely to bypass those controls to perform their job tasks. For instance, dissatisfied users may distribute sensitive data over unsecured channels, such as public email systems, or prevent the installation of critical security updates. Responsible DEX solutions reduce friction when accessing business resources and minimise impacts from security processes, such as patching and malware scanning.

4. Attracts and retain talent

Modern business workers are more tech-savvy than ever before with very particular opinions on the level of performance they expect to receive from company devices and applications. It is not uncommon for professionals to leave their employer out of frustration over the support they are receiving from offered IT services, and often these resignations occur unexpectedly, without warning. Similarly, many talented and knowledgeable workers are  attracted to businesses with better IT implementations even if it means accepting a lower compensation rate.

5. Minimises burdens on IT administrators

Mundane end user requests to resolve usability issues with devices and applications constitutes a significant portion of IT administrator time and efforts. According to EMA research, more than half of IT teams diagnose and resolve these challenges manually. DEX platforms utilise intelligent data collection and analysis in conjunction with automated remediation to identify and rapidly resolve root causes of the most frequently reported user experience issues. This frees up administrators to focus on providing business-focused IT improvements and on introducing new services. As a bonus, this simultaneously improves the job satisfaction rate of the administrators, as they can spend more time on interesting projects rather than firefighting minor day-to-day distractions.

To find out more about the current state of digital employee experience (DEX) on the global market explore our recent research report.