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Kissflow

How to choose the right Digital Workplace Vendor for your Business

17.04.2023

Digital workplaces can be a challenge to build. In recent times, with the explosion in the number of organizations going digital, there has been a similar kind of exponential increase in the amount of technologies, applications and tools available for organizations to try out and incorporate into their digital workplaces. While many of these tools are web-based and can be purchased and installed instantly, these are also tools that a large number of employees will be using on a daily basis. Rather than just be called tools, these carry the potential of either becoming wonderful assets that become your organization’s asset or a liability that will drain time and resources. There are long-term commitments that organizations need to make into these tools and the digital workplace ecosystem they’re building with them. This is where the digital workplace vendor plays a key role in the success of your digital workplace.

What is a digital workplace vendor?

A digital workplace vendor, to put it simply, is an organization that makes one or more digital work tools that will form all or a part of your organization’s technology platform when it comes to your digital workplace. These are mostly SaaS companies that make digital work tools that you can purchase in various models of subscription. Rather than just being tools that you can use, they’re an important investment when you begin to transition to a digital workplace and you must give them due diligence. Let’s see why.

Keys to choosing the right digital workplace vendor

Features

Digital workplace tools aren’t generally complex, but they have the potential to become a liability if they don’t carry all the features you need. If they are really good at one aspect of your work, but not so good at the rest, your organization will need to invest in more than one tool to balance work and ensure productivity. In the long term, the costs of multiple tools can build up to a point where it is no longer practical to operate them. You need to make sure you find the right kind of vendor that offers the right kind of digital workplace tool with all the features you need.

User-friendliness

When picking digital workplace vendors, it is important to know that the tool they offer will be used by a vast swathe of your organization’s employees. This includes a wide generation gap among the employees that will use them. In order for a digital workplace tool to deliver maximum value to your organization, it has to be user-friendly. This means simple user interfaces, uncomplicated workflows and easy-to-understand processes. It also helps to know whether the tool you’re choosing is capable of being used equally easily by the youngest and the oldest person at your organization. That is a good benchmark.

Integrations

The holy grail of digital workplace tool perfection is the amount of integrations to other tools that it comes with. While full-fledged digital workplace platforms give you a vast number of features, apps and tools within a single window, the tool you need may or may not require such extensive features within. In such cases, you will be investing in a tool that has to connect seamlessly with other common work ecosystems like Gsuite, etc, so work can move smoothly without any technological obstacles or hassles. The key to choosing the right workplace vendor is to find the right tool with the maximum number of integrations.

Cost

It is a given that most organizations will build their digital workplaces with more than one tool. While this is not generally advisable, unique requirements might simply force organizations to operate more than one tool and engage multiple digital workplace vendors to build their digital workplaces. In this case, it’s best to understand your requirements and find the right mix of tools that offer you the best cost advantage. Multiple tools mean multiplied cost, so it is imperative that you choose digital workplace vendors that can offer you excellent integrations and features at minimal costs.

Support

Finally, the mark of a great digital workplace vendor is the support system they have created. Most of them will offer a great mix of features and tools, but those who really know digital workplaces know what it takes to maintain them. It is technology after all, and things go wrong more often than not. In such cases, it is important to have an assurance that you will have the support you need 24×7. It’s best to pick vendors who offer direct voice support so you can resolve any issues that arise in the shortest time possible. A broken integration or process has the potential to bring down productivity pretty fast and result in huge amounts of lost man-hours.

Make an informed choice

It’s best to do extensive research and have all your talking points handy when picking a digital workplace vendor. If you aren’t clear about what you want, it is easy to get lost in the maze of offerings that are out there and you will eventually make a not-so-great choice that you can’t walk back on easily. A great workaround is to pick a vendor that offers an all-in-one digital workplace platform that has the maximum number of features, integrations and tools within their platform so you know you have everything you need. Kissflow Digital Workplace Platform is a great tool that offers the entire digital workplace ecosystem you need within a single tool and platform. It is best to explore options like these so you can be sure you’re making a choice that offers optimal outcomes.