End-user experience management delivers on cost-saving and Net Zero targets

CIOs are under constant pressure to cut costs, reduce tech waste, and increase productivity, but never more so than this year with the looming threat of recession. Rather than concerning themselves with the issues a weakened economy may bring, savvy CIOs should consider the opportunity 2023 brings to meet longstanding efficiency and sustainability goals.

By gaining observability to the health of their IT infrastructure -- specifically, the end-user experience -- executives can gain insights, software and hardware performance analysis to find critical cost reductions. An IT infrastructure review could improve efficiency and, in turn, make business more productive, profitable, and sustainable.

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How to use end-user management technology to make better decisions

Your employees' ability to use workplace technology efficiently directly impacts productivity, as does providing them access to the right tools to support their work.

Multi-environment workplaces require significant end-user experience management (EUEM) to maintain and improve productivity. EUEM includes managing end-user services and ensuring they are fully functional across all working environments. It can help identify downward trends that are predictors of future problems and solve a myriad of organizational challenges, such as reduced observability, data collection via disparate tools, and help desks lacking real-time data on end point devices.

EUEM, also known as digital experience management, can also be beneficial for improving sustainability efforts. With limited knowledge about the performance of software installed and end-user devices' usage patterns (and their overall performance), organizations cannot make informed decisions. By using EUEM to collect end-user metrics from across the entire technology landscape -- including hardware, software, virtual machines, networks, and more -- businesses can measure a more accurate carbon footprint.

Companies, especially in the technology and financial fields, have the infrastructure to adopt methods for comprehensive data collection, implement targets, and automate monitoring for improvement and compliance. These companies can easily implement cloud-based software into the back end of their technology stacks to analyze energy waste and consumption.

While there might be a desire to improve productivity through an enhanced end-user experience, overall information will inevitably be lacking without a comprehensive understanding of how installed technologies and devices are used on a day-to-day basis and how they all work together to aid the user. Organizations should also encourage easy adjustments to reduce waste, like shutting down employee devices over lunchtime and at the end of the day.

EUEM offers clear visibility into the end-user experience, enabling companies to calculate essential processes -- like an optimal equipment refresh schedule that is based on the actual efficacy of equipment rather than just replacing tech based on age. Without enhanced observability, investments in new technology may be made based on a calendar rather than an actual need.

Rationalizing end-user experience management

End-user device performance largely goes untracked, and most organizations have little to no visibility into the performance of their end-user tech stack. This is in conjunction with disparate tracking tools that only make it more difficult to answer when the CEO calls up and asks why the network and applications are moving so slowly.

Organizations are looking for solutions that comprehensively address end-user device health, collect relevant data on endpoints, reduce service desk time-to-issue resolution, lower ticket volume around routine device patches and upgrades, potentially extend hardware lifecycle, and improve overall end-user satisfaction.

A holistic EUEM-based view of your tech stack is the answer. It provides the data and insights needed to ensure that you have your finger on the pulse of your entire tech stack at all times. Indeed, end-user experience management software is pivotal for enterprises looking to reduce spending while continuing to meet business objectives. Gathering and analyzing end-user device data (collected from CPU, disk, memory, connectivity, and other data points) is critical to pinpointing and resolving issues before they become detrimental to employee productivity.

When implemented strategically, EUEM builds a holistic, accurate picture of an organization’s technological health. Thus enabling IT professionals to better assist and empower employees to do their jobs at the highest possible productivity levels.

Reduce tech waste and make a positive environmental impact

A study by Forrester found that end-user experience management helps organizations track performance degradation over time to calculate health scores, collect user feedback about performance, and compare different types of equipment and hardware against one another to identify which lasts the longest. In some cases, this study showed that EUEM increased the average life-cycle of devices by 15 to 25 percent. As a result, this significantly reduced annual replacement costs and ultimately led to less tech waste through a lengthened equipment lifecycle on hardware like desktops, laptops, and more.

Organizations also found that they could identify and resolve issues remotely, ultimately reducing the shipment of devices for repair by 75 percent and cutting device inventory in half. Reducing the amount of hardware shipped for repairs also helped decrease the organization’s environmental footprint through lowered carbon emissions leading to better sustainability outcomes.

Reduce admin and overhead costs

By understanding employees’ experience with technologies, an IT department is afforded time to focus on big-picture projects and issues. The constant analysis of software and hardware performance and health -- along with proactive patching and remediation before issues detract from employee productivity -- enables CIOs to better understand the performance and functionality of their organization’s tech stack as a whole.

From an administrative perspective, end-user experience management supports full IT visibility across an enterprise. Leveraging end-user data and device performance metrics helps organizations achieve better business outcomes by optimizing IT environments for better performance. Robust performance data and analysis help administrators keep a finger on the pulse of organizational health. Ideally, data should be collected from all endpoints, leading to a more accurate IT budget and, ultimately, to better financial performance and management.

Prepare your business for CRSD

As the EU moves to net-zero emissions, sustainability efforts are increasing. For instance, the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), which begins in January 2024, requires companies to provide significantly more detail on the impact their activities have on their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) efforts and their progress towards net-zero emissions. This reporting now needs to be in the form of detailed, accurate document submissions and will be heavily audited, with non-compliance and transgressions subject to hefty fines.

CSRD will affect companies in the EU, UK, US, and beyond, and aims to ensure that larger companies -- including international firms with operations in the EU -- are held accountable as they are the largest contributors to emissions. Under this directive, international firms must implement aggressive sustainability strategies and increase transparency on positive environmental impact and performance against sustainability goals.

While technology giants have been working on sustainability for a while, the vast majority of tech companies are just beginning to consider and discuss sustainable practices. Business leaders are only just starting to assess carbon footprints, fossil fuel consumption, and the supply chain journey of their products and services. Every company needs to demonstrate they take sustainability seriously. Tech vendors will also need to provide assurance of compliance to clients who might be subject to penalties for their vendors’ non-compliance. Future B2B customers are more likely to choose companies achieving their ESG goals rather than letting them fall by the wayside.

For technology companies, success will begin with choosing a cloud-based approach that provides detailed data on energy usage, endpoint device performance, and business activities, from the top level down to individual end users. Sustainability reporting can become as ingrained as financial reporting as sustainability becomes a core part of company culture. The CSRD will be here in less than 12 months, so the time to act is now.

Investing in the right IT solutions will ensure business leaders have the insights (not assumptions) needed to make decisions that will impact their organizations. Before cutting back on IT spending, leaders must consider where their organizations can strategically invest in the long-term health of an IT department and the financial health of the company. CIOs need to conduct a deep dive into their IT infrastructure to determine whether it is healthy enough to drive streamlined operations while improving productivity, profitability, and sustainability.

End-user experience management is the tech-forward initiative corporate leaders must take in order to future-proof their organizations. IT infrastructure is an essential component of productive and effective business models. Leaders looking to embrace sustainability and encourage productivity while simultaneously cutting costs should first assess their end-user systems to determine effectiveness. A single review of IT data can transform the trajectory of a business, boost its efficiency, and nudge it forward to environmental responsibility goals.

Image credit: Paul_Cowan/depositphotos.com

Ayelet Elstein is VP EMEA -- Lakeside Software.