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The Employee Experience is About to Break

In response to the global pandemic, companies have given their workforce the tools they need to work remote. And research shows it has increased their engagement and productivity. But these gains are on the brink of being wiped out. According to a new study from Citrix Systems, Inc., employees feel they've been given too many tools and not enough efficient ways to execute. And it's hindering their ability to get things done.

"People are working the same or more hours, but they're accomplishing less because technology is getting in their way," said Tim Minahan, EVP of Business Strategy, Citrix. "As companies organize around new, hybrid work models, they need to rethink the role of technology and how they apply it across their organizations so that employees, rather than being frustrated, are empowered to succeed."

To help them do this, Citrix conducted the Work Your Way survey of  1,000 IT decision makers and 2,000 workers across the United States conducted by OnePoll, that revealed a few significant trends:

App Sprawl is Out of Control

The number of tools employees are required to use to do their jobs has significantly increased, as has the complexity they are creating in the workplace. For example:

■ 64% of workers are using more communication and collaboration tools than they were prior to the pandemic

■ 71% say they have made work more complex

"Employees are frustrated, and to keep them engaged and performing at their best, companies need to eliminate the friction and noise from work and deliver technology that adapts to their workstyles rather than forcing them to learn new ways of doing things," Minahan said.

A New Digital Divide is Emerging

But workstyles have fundamentally changed. "People are not going back to working the way they did," Minahan said.

The survey confirms this. Nearly 90% of respondents to the survey say they want the flexibility to continue to work at home and in the office post pandemic.

"Regardless of their physical location, employees need to be empowered with tools that provide a consistent, secure and reliable experience and allow them to work the way they work best," Minahan said.

Digital Workspaces Are the Future of Work

Savvy organizations recognize this and see digital workspaces as a way to deliver it. With digital workspaces, companies can:

■ Unify work – Whether at home, on plane or in an office, employees have consistent and reliable access to all the resources they need to be productive across any work channel, device or location.

■ Secure work – Contextual access and app security ensure applications and information remain secure—no matter where work happens.

■ Simplify work – Intelligence capabilities like machine learning, virtual assistants and simplified workflows personalize, guide, and automate the work experience so employees can work free from noise and perform at their best.

Almost 90% of survey participants say their companies use digital workspace software platforms to facilitate hybrid/distributed working. And they are delivering results.

■ 72% of employees say they have improved productivity

■ 77% indicate they have aided collaboration

"In creating a layer between employees and the technology that frustrates them, companies can empower them to efficiently engage with the apps they need to execute work and achieve their goals," Minahan said.

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Businesses that face downtime or outages risk financial and reputational damage, as well as reducing partner, shareholder, and customer trust. One of the major challenges that enterprises face is implementing a robust business continuity plan. What's the solution? The answer may lie in disaster recovery tactics such as truly immutable storage and regular disaster recovery testing ...

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The Employee Experience is About to Break

In response to the global pandemic, companies have given their workforce the tools they need to work remote. And research shows it has increased their engagement and productivity. But these gains are on the brink of being wiped out. According to a new study from Citrix Systems, Inc., employees feel they've been given too many tools and not enough efficient ways to execute. And it's hindering their ability to get things done.

"People are working the same or more hours, but they're accomplishing less because technology is getting in their way," said Tim Minahan, EVP of Business Strategy, Citrix. "As companies organize around new, hybrid work models, they need to rethink the role of technology and how they apply it across their organizations so that employees, rather than being frustrated, are empowered to succeed."

To help them do this, Citrix conducted the Work Your Way survey of  1,000 IT decision makers and 2,000 workers across the United States conducted by OnePoll, that revealed a few significant trends:

App Sprawl is Out of Control

The number of tools employees are required to use to do their jobs has significantly increased, as has the complexity they are creating in the workplace. For example:

■ 64% of workers are using more communication and collaboration tools than they were prior to the pandemic

■ 71% say they have made work more complex

"Employees are frustrated, and to keep them engaged and performing at their best, companies need to eliminate the friction and noise from work and deliver technology that adapts to their workstyles rather than forcing them to learn new ways of doing things," Minahan said.

A New Digital Divide is Emerging

But workstyles have fundamentally changed. "People are not going back to working the way they did," Minahan said.

The survey confirms this. Nearly 90% of respondents to the survey say they want the flexibility to continue to work at home and in the office post pandemic.

"Regardless of their physical location, employees need to be empowered with tools that provide a consistent, secure and reliable experience and allow them to work the way they work best," Minahan said.

Digital Workspaces Are the Future of Work

Savvy organizations recognize this and see digital workspaces as a way to deliver it. With digital workspaces, companies can:

■ Unify work – Whether at home, on plane or in an office, employees have consistent and reliable access to all the resources they need to be productive across any work channel, device or location.

■ Secure work – Contextual access and app security ensure applications and information remain secure—no matter where work happens.

■ Simplify work – Intelligence capabilities like machine learning, virtual assistants and simplified workflows personalize, guide, and automate the work experience so employees can work free from noise and perform at their best.

Almost 90% of survey participants say their companies use digital workspace software platforms to facilitate hybrid/distributed working. And they are delivering results.

■ 72% of employees say they have improved productivity

■ 77% indicate they have aided collaboration

"In creating a layer between employees and the technology that frustrates them, companies can empower them to efficiently engage with the apps they need to execute work and achieve their goals," Minahan said.

The Latest

According to Auvik's 2025 IT Trends Report, 60% of IT professionals feel at least moderately burned out on the job, with 43% stating that their workload is contributing to work stress. At the same time, many IT professionals are naming AI and machine learning as key areas they'd most like to upskill ...

Businesses that face downtime or outages risk financial and reputational damage, as well as reducing partner, shareholder, and customer trust. One of the major challenges that enterprises face is implementing a robust business continuity plan. What's the solution? The answer may lie in disaster recovery tactics such as truly immutable storage and regular disaster recovery testing ...

IT spending is expected to jump nearly 10% in 2025, and organizations are now facing pressure to manage costs without slowing down critical functions like observability. To meet the challenge, leaders are turning to smarter, more cost effective business strategies. Enter stage right: OpenTelemetry, the missing piece of the puzzle that is no longer just an option but rather a strategic advantage ...

Amidst the threat of cyberhacks and data breaches, companies install several security measures to keep their business safely afloat. These measures aim to protect businesses, employees, and crucial data. Yet, employees perceive them as burdensome. Frustrated with complex logins, slow access, and constant security checks, workers decide to completely bypass all security set-ups ...

Image
Cloudbrink's Personal SASE services provide last-mile acceleration and reduction in latency

In MEAN TIME TO INSIGHT Episode 13, Shamus McGillicuddy, VP of Research, Network Infrastructure and Operations, at EMA discusses hybrid multi-cloud networking strategy ... 

In high-traffic environments, the sheer volume and unpredictable nature of network incidents can quickly overwhelm even the most skilled teams, hindering their ability to react swiftly and effectively, potentially impacting service availability and overall business performance. This is where closed-loop remediation comes into the picture: an IT management concept designed to address the escalating complexity of modern networks ...

In 2025, enterprise workflows are undergoing a seismic shift. Propelled by breakthroughs in generative AI (GenAI), large language models (LLMs), and natural language processing (NLP), a new paradigm is emerging — agentic AI. This technology is not just automating tasks; it's reimagining how organizations make decisions, engage customers, and operate at scale ...

In the early days of the cloud revolution, business leaders perceived cloud services as a means of sidelining IT organizations. IT was too slow, too expensive, or incapable of supporting new technologies. With a team of developers, line of business managers could deploy new applications and services in the cloud. IT has been fighting to retake control ever since. Today, IT is back in the driver's seat, according to new research by Enterprise Management Associates (EMA) ...

In today's fast-paced and increasingly complex network environments, Network Operations Centers (NOCs) are the backbone of ensuring continuous uptime, smooth service delivery, and rapid issue resolution. However, the challenges faced by NOC teams are only growing. In a recent study, 78% state network complexity has grown significantly over the last few years while 84% regularly learn about network issues from users. It is imperative we adopt a new approach to managing today's network experiences ...

Image
Broadcom

From growing reliance on FinOps teams to the increasing attention on artificial intelligence (AI), and software licensing, the Flexera 2025 State of the Cloud Report digs into how organizations are improving cloud spend efficiency, while tackling the complexities of emerging technologies ...