Transforming IT: A Proactive Approach to Digital Employee Experience (DEX) 

In today’s rapidly evolving workplace, the digital employee experience (DEX) has become a critical factor in organizational success. As technology continues to shape how we work, proactive IT departments must lead the charge in creating seamless, intuitive digital environments and user experiences that enhance productivity and satisfaction. 

The Digital Workplace Challenge

Despite the undeniable importance of the digital employee experience, research from Gartner® highlights a growing problem: our digital workplaces have become increasingly complex and fragmented. Organizations have accumulated layers of applications, creating a chaotic digital environment where employees struggle with information overload and constant context-switching. The traditional approach of treating all employees as identical technology users no longer serves our modern workforce.

A DEX Blueprint for Enterprise IT Transformation

For proactive IT organizations, the path forward requires a strategic transformation of the digital workplace—one that more accurately aligns proactive IT support of the digital employee experience (DEX) with role-based personas. Gartner has created a DEX Blueprint to help organizations on this journey.

This framework is a great guide. But how can IT organizations implement the framework in a practical way? Here’s how forward-thinking IT departments can lead this change:

Start with visibility across the enterprise IT estate

The foundation of an effective DEX strategy begins with a comprehensive audit of your digital ecosystem. Lakeside Founder Mike Schumacher says it best, “What’s the one tool you need to clean up your IT estate? Visibility. But you can’t have visibility without data.”

You first need to understand what’s in your estate before you can make any decisions to improve it. This approach includes gaining insights on hardware health and usage, software bloat, shadow IT, and other costly inefficiencies that could be hiding in your estate.

Gartner says employees “on average, use 11 different applications to get work done, and more than 7% use anywhere from six to 25 applications at work.” With the increasing number of applications, it comes as no surprise that employees are frustrated by digital friction and poor digital experience. That’s why building a strong foundation of the Gartner DEX blueprint is critical, and the foundation of any successful DEX strategy must be built by data. However, not just any data will do. You need to collect as much telemetry and endpoint performance data as possible. Only with breadth, depth, history, and quality data can you truly make data-driven decisions based on what’s really living in your IT estate.

DEX is not just an IT problem

Success requires close collaboration between traditionally separate teams. Infrastructure, operations, and security no longer can operate in isolation. Align your digital workplace roadmap across these groups and redesign digital risk governance to enable innovation while maintaining security.

This collaborative approach ensures that DEX initiatives receive the support and resources they need to succeed. In fact, the Gartner Magic Quadrant™ for Digital Employee Experience Management Tools claims that “80% of DEX tool deployments that account for only IT-focused use cases will fail to achieve a sustainable ROI.” That means that DEX initiatives should include cross-functional groups such as HR (e.g., for proper digital onboarding and employee engagement in general.

Personalize your IT to the employees’ needs

One size doesn’t fit all when it comes to digital tools. Gartner drives home the point by saying, “It’s not a homogeneous, faceless technology ‘user,’ nor is it IT’s ‘customers.’ They are colleagues and co-workers who need a human-centric approach to DEX.”

Develop detailed employee personas and map their journeys to understand how different roles interact with technology. This persona-based approach allows you to tailor applications and workflows to specific needs, dramatically improving efficiency and satisfaction.

“When you know what your people need based on their job roles and responsibilities, you can give them the right technology to do their jobs. Use the appropriate data to build and implement persona planning, and discover new opportunities for improving the employee experience, saving money, and boosting results throughout your organization,” said Geoff Hixon, VP of Solutions Engineering, in the Reworked article “How much will employee persona planning save you?”.

Speak the Language of Business

To secure support for DEX initiatives, IT leaders must communicate their value in terms that resonate with business and finance leaders. Focus on concrete business outcomes and ROI rather than technical specifications. Show how improved DEX translates to enhanced productivity, better employee retention, and stronger business results.

In his recent Fast Company article “Uncovering IT-cost savings now to re-invest in your 2025 digital innovation”, Lakeside CEO Dave Keil gives examples of an insurance company that saw $1M return on investment and a healthcare company that saved $8.8M by avoiding common tickets. By quantifying the business impact of DEX, IT leaders can position DEX as a strategic differentiator and not just another costly IT project.  

Usher in the new era of IT with Lakeside Software

For IT organizations, implementing a comprehensive DEX strategy isn’t just about technology – it’s about fundamentally transforming how employees interact with digital tools. By following this blueprint and building the strongest foundation possible, organizations can create a more engaging, productive, and satisfying digital workplace that drives business success.

The key lies in taking a holistic, employee-centric approach while maintaining strong alignment with business goals. As enterprises continue to navigate an increasingly digital workplace, those that prioritize DEX will find themselves better positioned to attract and retain talent, improve productivity, and achieve their business objectives.

Remember, this transformation is a journey, not a destination. Start with small, meaningful improvements and build momentum through demonstrated success. By maintaining a proactive stance and keeping employee experience at the center of your IT strategy, you can create a digital workplace that truly works for everyone.

Gartner Disclaimer

Gartner, 7 Steps to Apply the DEX Blueprint and Improve Employee Experience, Jason Wong, Dan Wilson, Max Goss, Tori Paulman, 13 July 2024.

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