We’ve already explored how investing in technology can transform IT into strategic enablers, driving growth and innovation. And how, by extension, an efficiently equipped IT organization can improve productivity, enable you to do more with less, and generate company-wide ROI. But what about futureproofing your business?
For many, ongoing economic uncertainty means there’s increasing pressure to make wise investments now that businesses will benefit from in the years to come. Forrester’s Global Tech Market Forecast, 2022 to 2027 shows global tech spending is forecast to reach $4.4 trillion, despite a “choppy macroeconomic climate”, highlighting that leaders recognize the ROI of tech investments.
When it comes to IT, making effective investments now will help set your teams up for lasting success. This raises the question, however, are leaders focusing on the right areas of tech investments to benefit from cost-saving and futureproofing?
Invest now for long-lasting benefits
Research suggests not. Forrester’s Priorities Survey, 2023, shows that employee experience (EX) falls behind other priorities. While it may be tempting to place something like customer experience (CX) at the top of your list, it’s become clear in recent years that EX is the key to wider business benefits. For example, when you optimize EX with digital employee experience (DEX) tools, you create a virtuous cycle that also pays dividends in your customer experience efforts.
“While DEX may seem like a “nice-to-have,” it’s an absolute must, especially when degraded employee experiences negatively impact customer and business outcomes. The smartest companies know this, and we won’t see them cutting back DEX investments” – Andrew Hewitt, Principal Analyst, Forrester
It’s clear, that adopting a DEX focus now will pay dividends later. Enterprises that continue to invest in DEX will quickly reap the rewards when the economy stabilizes. Research shows that by investing in EX and the technology associated with this, organizations are 59% more likely to indicate they are in growth mode.
So, where can we start reaping the futureproofing and cost-saving benefits of DEX tools? End-user experience management (EUEM).
EUEM, your secret weapon
With many facing budget constraints, the pressure is on to justify spending and showcase the tangible ROI of investing in EX. You can highlight the tangible benefits of DEX with end-user experience management (EUEM).
What is EUEM? End-user experience management (EUEM) is focused on using data to improve DEX. This refers to monitoring the performance of IT resources from the end user’s perspective and focuses on quantifying that end user experience. Why does it matter? Investing in EUEM is essential for delivering business outcomes, driving down IT operating costs without sacrificing employee experience.
End-User Experience Monitoring (EUEM) tools are essential for IT departments to understand and improve the digital experiences of their users, whether they are external customers or internal employees. These tools provide a comprehensive view of the user experience by collecting and analyzing data related to the performance of end-user devices, applications, and networks. EUEM is a subset of Digital Experience Monitoring (DEM), which focuses on both application performance and user experience, but EUEM specifically prioritizes performance metrics and monitoring strategies that reflect the end-user experience.
Effective EUEM tools will enable you to:
- Understand the experience of your end-users, providing comprehensive visibility over the entire digital employee experience
- Track user experience with digital experience scores and use quantitative and qualitative metrics to benchmark experience
- Reduce time spent on root-cause analysis (RCA)
- Drive remediation at scale across thousands of endpoints.
- Improve remediation through self-healing
The ROI of EUEM
How does this translate into futureproofing your business and saving on costs? The impact of EUEM tools can be realized in many ways, from reduced disruptions to increased reliability, or improved compliance.
Consider remediation, for example. To keep employees productive and business flowing, IT needs to be able to understand and remediate issues quickly—or, better yet, prevent them from arising at all. EUEM tools enable IT to drive remediation at scale and improve remediation with self-healing options. Improving remediation in this way leads to a better digital employee experience and less digital disruption. A smooth-running digital workplace equates to happy and productive employees, leading to higher output of work and lower turnover of frustrated or unhappy employees. This saves on the cost of work lost due to downtime and/or outages and the cost of onboarding and hiring and ensures you won’t find yourselves understaffed.
EUEM tools enable IT to monitor the entire service delivery chain, even when some resources aren’t under the IT department’s direct control. This is particularly beneficial for organizations with a hybrid workforce or those that extensively use SaaS applications or other cloud services. The complexity and widely distributed nature of the underlying infrastructure in such environments make it challenging for IT to identify the source of performance problems. EUEM tools help eliminate blind spots and allow for end-to-end performance monitoring.
In conclusion, as businesses navigate ongoing economic uncertainty, strategic investments in technology prove pivotal to futureproofing operations, cost-saving, and driving long-term success. Amidst budget constraints, EUEM emerges as a strategic imperative, offering a tangible pathway to optimize DEX and drive down IT operating costs – without compromising on employee satisfaction. By leveraging EUEM tools, organizations can gain comprehensive visibility into the digital employee experience, streamline remediation processes, and mitigate disruptions.
