Digital Workplace Software

Buyers guide

Technology is continuously evolving and it has transformed the way we work. The workplace now is not necessarily a physical location that we need to go to. Instead, companies now operate through digital workplaces that can be accessed from anywhere, as long as users have computers and internet connection. This calls for a tool that can help organizations offer collaboration among team members located at different locations.

A digital workplace software system has features that help employees to get work done in the virtual environment. These features could include instant messaging, virtual meetings, and web conferencing.

In this buyers guide, we’ll explain what is digital workforce software, its common features, some considerations to help informed purchase decisions, and the latest trend.

Here's what we'll cover:

• What is digital workplace software?
• Common features of digital workplace software
• What type of buyer are you?
• Benefits of digital workplace software
• Key considerations when selecting digital workplace software
• Market trends to understand

What is digital workplace software?

Digital workplace software is a tool that allows businesses to move their work to the collaborative virtual space with features such as instant messaging, video conferencing, file sharing, document management, calendar management, and content management that employees need to work in an online interface.

Digital workplace software allows employees working remotely to effectively collaborate and access files and systems they need. Additionally, digital workplace software helps in project management, issue resolution, business process automation, and employee engagement.

Common features of digital workplace software

What type of buyer are you?

The right type of digital workplace software depends on your unique requirements. Consider the following buyer types before making any decision:

• Small and midsize businesses: Small and midsize businesses typically operate with up to 500 employees and have a small team that manages limited projects. They want to simplify access and collaboration for all their employees and connect data from different sources and devices in a single platform. For this reason, they might want to consider a digital workplace solution that allows their employees to access and view their calendars, email, documents, and other files related to their workflows.
• Large enterprises: These buyers are large businesses operating in multiple areas and they have large numbers of employees based at different locations and time zones. Because of this, they cannot ignore the collaboration and connection aspect of the business. They would want a digital workforce solution that helps them manage huge projects. They may need a tool that offers additional features such as calendar management, document management, task management, and content curation along with basic communication and file sharing features.

Benefits of digital workplace software

Here are the key benefits of digital workplace software for your business:

• Collaborative environment: By providing your employees with all the features they need to communicate with the other team members, a digital workplace solution helps you create a collaborative culture in your organization.
• Automation can save time: Repetitive tasks can take up too much of your employees’ bandwidth thus leaving them bored and stuck. This can be avoided by deploying digital workplace solutions that enable business process automation. Digital workplace software can automate repetitive tasks such as data entry, which can save a lot of time.
• Cost saving: A digital workplace solution offers a host of capabilities to handle document management, content curation, file sharing, collaboration, and task management. Investing in separate solutions to manage these functions can be very costly. Therefore, deploying a digital workplace solution that offers all these functionalities in one platform can help save extra costs.
• Centralized information: Organizations with teams distributed across locations and time zones often face issues with remote collaboration. This issue can be resolved by using a digital workplace solution that centralizes content at a single location and reflects updates in real time.

Key considerations when selecting digital workplace software

• Total cost of ownership: While choosing the digital workplace solution that fits your budget, do not rely solely on what you see as the subscription cost. Make sure to consider the upfront expenses that come hidden along. These could include costs for implementation, support, training, and professional services.
• Post-purchase support: When working on a digital workplace, you not only need a strong implementation experience but also adequate support and training to make sure the virtual workplace keeps performing optimally. Select a vendor who supports you through the implementation journey and provides sufficient training to help you optimize the value of your solution.

Market trends to understand

• Application of artificial intelligence (AI) is skyrocketing: Technologies are evolving at a rapid pace, and AI is one such technology that can help your employees work smoothly in a virtual environment. For instance, digital workplace solutions with inbuilt AI-powered chatbots can answer common questions related to internal applications that employees need answers to. These chatbots can also be integrated into other existing applications such as intranets or CRMs and can act as a single point of contact for employees to get their questions answered.

With so many options, choosing the right digital workforce tool can be difficult. If you want a second opinion before making a decision, schedule a free call with our advisors.

Note: The application selected in this guide is an example to show a feature in context and is not intended as an endorsement or recommendation. It has been taken from sources believed to be reliable at the time of publication.