Forrester Research report
The Forrester Wave™: Digital Employee Experience Management Solutions, Q4 2026
Forrester evaluated the 10 top DEXM providers across 38 criteria. See how they stack up.
Read the reportNo registration required.
Q4 2026
Lakeside Software is a DEXM Wave Leader
What Forrester Found in the DEXM Wave
In Forrester’s evaluation of 10 DEXM providers across 38 criteria, core capabilities have become table stakes while vendors diverge on vision. See how each provider scores, and what to weigh when choosing an outcome, a vendor orientation, and a partner for adoption.
Pick the Outcome First
Some DEXM vendors center on IT operations and automation, others on employee experience and business impact. Forrester advises deciding which you need, then testing each vendor’s roadmap and customer use cases against it.
Buy the Path to Value
Many customers still stop at reactive monitoring and troubleshooting. Forrester points to implementation services, support, and community as what turns platform capabilities into adoption and ROI.
Weigh Ecosystem Against Freedom
DEXM inside a broader platform brings native integrations and fewer tools, but may require added modules and licenses. Forrester suggests pricing the full investment and checking lock-in and data portability.
Lakeside Software is a Wave Leader
Lakeside’s SysTrack platform received the highest score possible in 19 of the 38 criteria.
Highest score possible
Current Offering
- Data Collection & Coverage
- Data Querying, Management, & Retention
- Integrations & APIs
- Proactive Remediation
- Intelligent Service Automation
- Cross-functional Experience Operations
- Endpoint Experience Telemetry
- Application Experience Monitoring
- Synthetic Monitoring
- Experience Correlation
- Persona Modeling
- Root Cause Diagnosis
- Remediation Automation
- Compliance Validation
Highest score possible
Strategy
- Vision
- Partner ecosystem
- Adoption
- Pricing flexibility and transparency
- Supporting services and offerings
“Lakeside’s differentiated vision centers on site reliability engineering (SRE) principles to make the digital workspace measurable, resilient, and governed by service-level objectives.”
The Forrester Wave™: Digital Employee Experience Management Solutions, Q4 2026, Forrester Research, Inc.No registration required.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Forrester Wave™: Digital Employee Experience Management Solutions, Q4 2026?
It’s Forrester’s evaluation of the 10 most significant DEXM providers. Forrester scored each one against 38 criteria and placed them as Leaders, Strong Performers, or Contenders.
What is digital employee experience management (DEXM)?
DEXM software measures how employees experience their devices, applications, and digital workplace, then helps IT find and fix problems, often before anyone files a ticket.
How did Forrester evaluate DEXM vendors?
Forrester scored 38 criteria: 31 for Current Offering and 7 for Strategy. Each score is a 1, 3, or 5, relative to the other vendors evaluated, and the criteria carry different weightings.
What should buyers consider when choosing a DEXM vendor?
Forrester advises deciding on the outcome you want first, whether IT operations or employee experience. Then look at the services and community that turn capabilities into adoption, and price the full investment, including lock-in and data portability.
How did Lakeside Software perform in the Forrester Wave for DEXM?
Lakeside Software is a Wave Leader. Lakeside’s SysTrack platform received the highest score possible in 19 of the 38 criteria: 14 in Current Offering and 5 in Strategy. Forrester says Lakeside well suits complex enterprises seeking deep endpoint intelligence, rigorous diagnosis, and governed automation.
Where can I read the report?
Read the report. No registration required.
Forrester Disclaimer
Forrester does not endorse any company, product, brand, or service included in its research publications and does not advise any person to select the products or services of any company or brand based on the ratings included in such publications. Information is based on the best available resources. Opinions reflect judgment at the time and are subject to change. This report is part of a broader collection of Forrester resources, including interactive models, frameworks, tools, data, and access to analyst guidance. For more information, read about Forrester’s objectivity here.