Study of 1,300+ global senior decision-makers highlights major financial benefits of looking beyond just technology upgrades in the workplace and toward overall experiences for customers and employees at work

Avanade, the leading digital innovator on the Microsoft ecosystem, published new research highlighting the achievable ROI through successfully implementing a holistic workplace experience (WX) strategy. On average, the 1,375 senior decision-makers who participated in the survey, estimated they could achieve a 16-percent increase in annual revenues and reduce operational costs by 13 percent by implementing a workplace transformation that includes technology, operations, culture and employee experience. This equates to approx. $2B, based on the aggregated annual revenues of the participant organizations.

“Workplace modernization is a proven driver of sustainable business value. Our research shows that taking a holistic approach to WX—modernizing technology platforms, services and physical workspaces, reimagining culture and employee experience, and optimizing everyday processes—is a competitive differentiator. But most organizations are not where they need to be,” said Florin Rotar, Avanade’s Global Modern Workplace Lead.

Florin added, “What’s encouraging is that 95 percent of survey respondents agree that to maximize ROI, businesses need to put the workplace experience at the heart of their business transformation strategy. Overwhelmingly, our research highlights a great employee experience is as critical as delivering a great customer experience.”

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Unsurprisingly, 94 percent of respondents, which included c-suite roles across the board, including CEOs, senior HR, Operations, IT, Marketing Services stakeholders and other business leaders, cited their employees as a main source of competitive advantage for their business. Other key findings include that:

• 96 percent of those surveyed agreed that a successful workplace experience transformation requires a holistic approach
• 38 percent said an executive leadership team member should lead workplace transformation with a cross-functional group
• 26 percent indicated they would like to see their IT lead take charge of transformation with no other functional leads involved
• But when it comes to deployment, approximately half (47%-58%) of senior decision makers report that their organization’s executive leadership should be involved in deploying a transformation.

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While the case for workplace transformation is compelling, challenges persist across multiple areas, according to respondents.

Almost 47 percent cited modernizing IT as a significant challenge, and just over a third (34 percent) jointly cited upskilling talent, recruiting talent, and managing evergreen IT as additional obstacles companies need to overcome when implementing workplace experience strategies. Security was another key area highlighted by participants with 92 percent agreeing that “attack opportunities” facing enterprises are increasing in both scope and complexity. The same percentage believes ensuring that the IT security of an organization is at its best and most up-to-date will help to deter threats from outside and inside the business.

Despite these challenges, almost all senior decision-makers interviewed emphasized the importance of the following elements for a successful WX transformation:

• 99 percent say modernizing workplace platforms and services is important
• 96 percent say optimizing/modernizing operations is important
• 95 percent say bridging the physical and digital gap is important
• 94 percent say reimagining culture and employee experience is important.

WX Success with a New Avanade Methodology

To address the market need for a holistic approach to modernizing the workplace from a customer and employee standpoint, Avanade is developing a new and exclusive methodology that measures the relationship between a company’s CX and EX and its effect on their overall revenue, profits and ROI. Backed by extensive research, it believes this methodology can guide companies on how to transform their overall Workplace Experience (WX) to improve financial performance.

It leverages a set of algorithms, methods and data recommendations based on advanced data science, multivariate analysis, AI, machine learning and predictive analytics. As work on this methodology matures and reaches final stages, Avanade plans to make further announcements.

Currently, Avanade is the leading provider of innovative digital and cloud services, business solutions and design-led experiences delivered through the power of people and the Microsoft ecosystem. Our professionals bring bold, fresh thinking combined with technology, business and industry expertise to help fuel transformation and growth for our clients and their customers. Avanade has 38,000 digitally connected people across 25 countries, bringing clients the best thinking through a collaborative culture that honors diversity and reflects the communities in which we operate. Majority owned by Accenture, Avanade was founded in 2000 by Accenture LLP and Microsoft Corporation.

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