Enterprises are keen to deploy tools to streamline work and nurture collaboration. In an increasingly hybrid and AI-infused work environment, employees need frictionless digital experiences to scale productivity. Leaders are keen on creating workplaces and workspaces that foster engagement and overall well-being.
The quest toward transforming the Digital Employee Experience (DEX) falls short unless humans are at the heart of thoughtful technology modernisation, which in turn leads to organizational success according to Gartner. The need to shift focus from process- to people-focused tech choices has never been greater than now.
Through an adaptive, outcome-driven approach for integrating AI augmentation with human centricity, digital workplace leaders can drive in significant new business value according to Gartner. Deploying smart and relevant solutions that align with enterprise business goals is a vital building block of the digital workplace.
The shift toward XLA
XLA-based strategy is displacing the traditional SLAs to offer enriching experiences. In an increasingly digital workplace, XLAs facilitate a more engaged workforce and drive better CX as it revolves around the quality of employee experiences matters rather than just the service delivery
XLAs garner increasing relevance as they are:
- Integrated into business strategies and better align IT services with outcomes so that EX translates to CX.
- Data driven by collecting XLA data to ascertain friction spots in employee interactions with processes and technology. This helps to proactively manage the workforce and their needs.
- Evolved with enterprise needs and feedback from employees. This ensures continual enhancements of workplace experiences.
- Driving up employee engagement levels by focussing on experiences and not just service delivery. Employees are happier and productive when they are well engaged in their work.
XLA vis-a-vis SLA: Here are some of the top 3 distinguishing differences.
| XLA | SLA | |
| Characteristic | Commitment to continual employee experience improvement to their evolving requirements. | Acts as a formal contract that outlines service delivery expectations |
| Gauge | Takes a holistic view of employee experiences—objective and subjective. | User satisfaction and qualitative aspects are not measured—quantitative in nature. |
| Emphasis | Focus on the workforce’s feelings and views about their experience of the services they get—user experience matters. | Rigidly focusses on metrics—service delivery, response times, uptime and others. |
Bring-your-own-anything
BYOA is garnering increasing attention.In the new era of work where technology, working class demographics and the economy are in a state of flux, enterprises are testing new models of managing IT environments that drive deeper Employee Experiences (EX) and CX. BYOA is one such working model that equips the flexible workforce by fostering empowerment plus autonomy.
This trend empowers employees to bring and use their preferred devices. Organizations support this by implementing cloud-based office solutions with a mandate to safely access data and applications from anywhere, to increase flexibility, productivity, and employee satisfaction. The blend between work and personal life will be evident as the workforce swaps between job tasks and personal work in a hybrid or remote work model.
- Flexibility and likely surge in productivity levels can be seen as employees are familiar and satisfied with their personal devices and have quicker access to applications.
- BYOA promotes enterprise cost efficiencies as they do away with new equipment investments and provide the convenience for employees to have the latest software updates and technology at their disposal.
- The trend dwindles the learning time taken for getting acquainted with the hardware.
Balancing robust data security with employee satisfaction is the key. BYOA does raise complex security challenges as personal devices are integrated into the corporate IT ecosystem.
In a flexi working environment, enterprise leaders need to enforce data protection, regulatory compliance, cybersecurity training to thwart data breaches and risks.
The other facets of the modern digital workplace such user experience design (UXD), BYOD, Mobile Device Management (MDM), security and accessibility fall in line with the overarching XLA strategy.
Digital Workplace trends in 2025
The big disruption of AI (GenAI and its enterprise knowledge-skill democratization capabilities) is clear as enterprise leaders contend with changes such as gig employees, skills-based talent, remote and hybrid work. In an AI-centric environment, enterprises have an opportunity to foster a continuous skilling and adaptability, automate threat detection against sophisticated cyber-attacks, and focus on employee development.
Here are some interesting trends albeit not an exhaustive list.
- Hybrid is the ‘new normal’ and will continue as it offers work-life balance and flexi timings. According to Gartner, 82% of company leaders intend to permit remote work at least some of the time. Flexi work arrangements will attract top talent as employers seek the sweet spot between remote work and office culture, according to thought leader, Bernard Marr.
- Alternative communication channels—Integrating XR (extended reality) impacts conventional work interactions by enhancing team building, onboarding and training via immersive environments. Interactions go beyond video or voice to become more personal. Immersive work will comprise VR meetings and AR training sessions.
- Multi-device anytime, anywhere infra: Spurred by the heightened demand for cloud computing services, cloud-based virtual services and BYOA,DaaS (Desktop-as-a-service) is becoming integral to the growing hybrid style of work to equip the workforce with access to resources from any place. The shift toward remote and hybrid work models has surged the dependence on public cloud/data centres for IT infra requirements. Comprehensive Desktop as a Service (DaaS) providers like Movate help enterprises pursuing a scalable, flexible and secured digital workplace with cost savings (instead of upfront on-premises infra investments), business continuity and productivity. The subscription-based ‘pay as you go’ flexi model that scales based on the demand and converges important cost-related aspects of security, maintenance, licenses and bandwidth under one umbrella to lower the TCO for the company. For the modern geographically dispersed global workforce, DaaS’s centralized administration provides a tighter data control, bridges security gaps, and greater agility (avoid upgrades, hardware maintenance). Employees have easy access to data and benefit from productivity and collaboration. Transitioning to DaaS offers the digital resilience by overcoming challenges of market uncertainties and disruptions.
- Reskilling (data literacy and AI) becomes the new economy’s foundation as AI is integrated into every facet of business and the adaptability factor will be the key as skilling becomes the lifeline. Think of it as “adaptive intelligence” or the gradual integration of AI tools into daily processes with confidence. Mindset of lifelong learning will be the norm as tech-literacy and socio-emotional capabilities gain importance amidst tech advances in automation and AI.
Gartner advises employees and leaders to dramatically increase the pace of upskilling and reskilling amid high executive expectations for productivity gains and work improvements. – 6 Digital Workplace Trends.
- Bridging the skills gap via internal mobility plans to transition employees into apt roles that match their skills—A perfect match between talent and capabilities (via AI-driven insights) boosts engagement levels at work; getting the optimal combination between machines and people matters in the AI-human hybrid workplace. Employers will zoom in on specific and niche skills for hiring talent instead of the traditional academic qualifications.
- Greater focus on wellbeing—According to SHRM, organizations will ramp up efforts in employee safety, hygiene and health as they invest in Employee Assistance Programs (EAP) and digital tools to de-stress and take care of themselves. Organizations are testing shorter workdays in a week.
Enterprises that proactively pivot in line with the latest developments are likely to stand out as the ‘preferred workplaces’ in a competitive talent landscape.
- Leaders need to exhibit emotional intelligence or human-centric leadership by nurturing people, building cohesive teams and fostering connection at a time when AI takes over the routine tasks.
- The Gig economy 2.0 will no longer be a side hustle but morph as a full-fledged career path, especially for those in healthcare, AI and cybersecurity. Gig will extend to ‘skilled professionals’ working on specific projects and not just a side gig. Platforms like Movate’s gig customer experience platform: Directly OnDemand blends gig experts, traditional support agents/experts with AI/automation platforms.
“The new era of the digital workplace is evolving as offices are becoming hubs of social interaction & innovation.” – Amardeep Juneja, Head of Europe Sales – ITO.
Bringing it to the workplace
As enterprises navigate the AI-human hybrid workplace, enhancing DEX should be at the heart of it all. A human-centric approach opens the flow of new ideas from an engaged workforce and offers convenience, collaboration, higher productivity. Technology advances such as Agentic AI, GenAI, hyperautomation, andcloud-enabled solutionsserve to augment the human workforce. While a nirvana state is unlikely, the quest toward the ideal or the most efficient digital workplace is an ongoing one.
Contact us for a comprehensive consulting-driven workplace transformation approach; drive EX with a focus on XLAs, organizational change management and continuous improvement programs. Modernize your digital workplace today.
References
- Blog: Movate is a “Leader” in Digital Workplace Transformation Services
- Flyer: Movate’s Digital Workplace services
- Gartner: Challenges and benefits of the Digital Workplace
- Gartner: eBook – 6 digital workplace trends
- First Up: Digital workplace explained
- SHRM: What Will the Workplace Look Like in 2025?
- Forrester’s Digital Workplace Model | Forrester
- Forbes: 16 Trends Set To Disrupt Workplaces In 2025 (And How To Prepare)
- Research Nester: DaaS market size and growth
With over 20 years of ITO experience, Amardeep brings a wealth of knowledge in sales, business strategy, business development, and successful direct & indirect sales management. He has held numerous leadership positions during his successful 18-year stint at HCL Tech, out of which, for 15 years he was in Europe, with a proven track record of success in leading teams, particularly in complex sales functions. Amardeep’s academic background traces its roots back to IT. He champions DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) and has notably been associated with Prince’s Trust.
Beyond his professional responsibilities, he is an avid reader, blogger, speaker, and a technology enthusiast who is fond of the game of cricket.
Contact him at amardeep.juneja@movate.com or check out his LinkedIn profile.