Remote work is driving investment in both front-end employee tools and back-end IT administration platforms, ISG Provider Lens™ report says

Enterprises are increasing their investments in workplace solutions to improve employee experience and ensure IT systems deliver that experience without interruption, according to a new research report published today by Information Services Group (ISG) (Nasdaq: III), a leading global technology research and advisory firm.

The 2023 ISG Provider Lens™ global Future of Work (Workplace) Solutions report finds that both large and small organizations have recognized the link between employee experience and business performance and are looking for ways to remain competitive in the new age of remote work. Due to widespread fears of an economic downturn, enterprises are focusing on how to achieve the highest possible productivity while containing costs.

“Workplace technology has a profound effect on a company’s ability to deliver what customers want,” said Dee Anthony, Americas lead, Future of Work, for ISG. “Tools that enable strong teamwork and innovation, day in and day out, lead to long-term business success.”

Enterprises are seeking out and evaluating employee-facing, front-end solutions that meet the challenge of giving all employees access to applications, communication and collaboration in remote, in-office and hybrid work modes, the report says. At the same time, they need back-end platforms for IT administrators that automatically identify and solve problems before they cause breakdowns that degrade employee experience.

Organizations are experimenting with generative AI as a component of back-end digital employee experience (DEX) solutions and unified communication and collaboration as a service (UCCaaS), ISG says. By generating summarized and analyzed views of the data supplied by DEX platforms, large language models (LLMs) help enterprises make automated agents smarter. Generative AI is also expected to bring more innovation to UCCaaS, giving employees smarter ways to connect with coworkers and resources.

“IT administrators see significant potential in generative AI for DEX software,” said Jan Erik Aase, partner and global leader, ISG Provider Lens Research. “Solution vendors are already integrating it into their offerings.”

Large enterprises are adopting specialized software tools for workplace requirements, such as experience measurement, meetings and productivity, and integrating them into overall solutions, ISG says. Small enterprises, with less mature IT capabilities and fewer employees to support, are more likely to use one platform for many workplace functions.

The report also explores other workplace solution trends, including the need for change management and the growing importance of security in device management.

For more insights into the workplace challenges facing enterprises, plus advice for addressing them, including how to reduce costs by using one technology for multiple functions, see the ISG Provider Lens™ Focal Points briefing here.

The 2023 ISG Provider Lens™ global Future of Work (Workplace) — Solutions report evaluates the capabilities of 57 providers across four quadrants: Digital Employee Experience (DEX) Solutions, Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) for SMBs, Unified Communications and Collaboration as a Service (UCCaaS) and Productivity and Collaboration Solutions for SMBs.

The report names Google as a Leader in two quadrants. It names 1E, 42Gears, 8X8, Atlassian, Cisco, Hexnode, IBM, Lakeside Software, ManageEngine, Microsoft, Nexthink, RingCentral, Riverbed, Scalefusion, Zoho and Zoom as Leaders in one quadrant each.

In addition, ControlUp and Zoho are named as Rising Stars — companies with a “promising portfolio” and “high future potential” by ISG’s definition — in one quadrant each.

The 2023 ISG Provider Lens™ global Future of Work (Workplace) Solutions report is available to subscribers or for one-time purchase on this webpage.

About ISG Provider Lens™ Research

The ISG Provider Lens™ Quadrant research series is the only service provider evaluation of its kind to combine empirical, data-driven research and market analysis with the real-world experience and observations of ISG's global advisory team. Enterprises will find a wealth of detailed data and market analysis to help guide their selection of appropriate sourcing partners, while ISG advisors use the reports to validate their own market knowledge and make recommendations to ISG's enterprise clients. The research currently covers providers offering their services globally, across Europe, as well as in the U.S., Canada, Brazil, the U.K., France, Benelux, Germany, Switzerland, the Nordics, Australia and Singapore/Malaysia, with additional markets to be added in the future. For more information about ISG Provider Lens research, please visit this webpage.

A companion research series, the ISG Provider Lens Archetype reports, offer a first-of-its-kind evaluation of providers from the perspective of specific buyer types.

About ISG

ISG (Information Services Group) (Nasdaq: III) is a leading global technology research and advisory firm. A trusted business partner to more than 900 clients, including more than 75 of the world’s top 100 enterprises, ISG is committed to helping corporations, public sector organizations, and service and technology providers achieve operational excellence and faster growth. The firm specializes in digital transformation services, including automation, cloud and data analytics; sourcing advisory; managed governance and risk services; network carrier services; strategy and operations design; change management; market intelligence and technology research and analysis. Founded in 2006, and based in Stamford, Conn., ISG employs more than 1,600 digital-ready professionals operating in more than 20 countries—a global team known for its innovative thinking, market influence, deep industry and technology expertise, and world-class research and analytical capabilities based on the industry’s most comprehensive marketplace data. For more information, visit www.isg-one.com.

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