Goals of increased employee productivity and cost savings are a no-brainer in today’s digitally transformed business landscape. As Rodney Zimmel from McKinsey Digital observes, the whole point of digital transformation isn’t exactly to become digital. It’s actually to drive value for the business. And that value comes from understanding clearly how to move from a physical workspace to a hybrid or a digital workplace platform. 

Embracing a digital workplace is crucial for businesses looking to increase productivity, enhance collaboration, and reduce costs. The COVID-19 pandemic has been a key accelerator of the perceptive shift to the digital workplace.

Read More: The Definitive Guide to Perfect Digital Workplace Solution

In this blog, we’ll discuss the 8 key considerations you need to make while you make the much needed transition to a digital workplace. From the benefits to caution areas, to potential pitfalls – we have the rundown.

1. The Covid-19 pandemic as a watershed movement: The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the need for businesses to shift to a digital workplace, leading to improved efficiencies, cost savings, and a more agile workforce. According to a study by PwC, companies that adopt digital workplace technology experience a 67% increase in productivity. Additionally, Gartner estimates that the digital workplace market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 14.6% from 2020 to 2027, reaching $45.7 billion by 2027. Deloitte reports that businesses can save up to $11,000 per employee annually by adopting a digital workplace platform. With the rise of automation and artificial intelligence, businesses need to embrace digital transformation and stay ahead of competition. Failure to do so could result in a loss of market share and diminished profitability.
2. Investment in tools and technologies: To enable a successful digital workplace, businesses must invest in the right tools and technologies. This includes video conferencing, instant messaging, project management software, cloud storage, and more. These tools enable employees to communicate and collaborate, regardless of their location or time zone. Additionally, digital workplace tools and technologies offer companies the opportunity to enhance the employee experience, leading to better retention rates and improved employee satisfaction. Access to online training and development programs, as well as digital resources and tools for wellbeing, help employees to feel valued and supported by their employers. A case in point is Accenture, which has implemented a platform called “Collaboration 2.0.” This platform offers employees a range of tools and services to simplify and enhance collaboration and communication, including instant messaging, video conferencing, and document-sharing capabilities. Accenture has reported increased productivity and employee engagement as a result of Collaboration 2.0.
3. The need for continuous upskilling and training: As businesses shift to digital workplaces, it’s essential to upskill and train employees to use the latest technologies effectively. This can be done through online training, workshops, and mentorship programs. Upskilling employees can also boost morale and improve job satisfaction as employees feel valued and equipped with the skills to succeed in a digital workplace. A key example to highlight this is AT&T, which created a Future Ready Employee initiative aimed at providing ongoing upskilling and reskilling to workers while providing them with new career development paths. As a result, they have improved employee retention by 14% and accelerated digital transformation.
4. Cybersecurity as a crucial tenet: As businesses shift to a digital workplace, cybersecurity becomes a crucial consideration. Cyber threats such as phishing, ransomware, and malware can wreak havoc on a business’s operations, leading to data loss and financial losses. To maintain business continuity, it is important to stay wary of cyber attacks that can bring business operations to a complete halt, causing a loss in productivity and revenue.  Educating employees on cybersecurity best practices and investing in strong cybersecurity measures, such as password management and two-factor authentication, is critical in mitigating these risks.
5. Remote work as a key cost-effective driver: Remote work has become increasingly popular in recent years, with the pandemic intensifying the trend. Remote work offers many benefits, such as cost savings and increased productivity. However, managing a remote team can be challenging, requiring strong communication and collaboration tools and a clear structure for managing tasks and deadlines.
6. Change management: Shifting to a digital workplace requires a shift in thinking and behavior, which can be challenging for some employees. Change management is critical in managing resistance to change and ensuring a smooth transition. This involves involving employees in the process and providing them with the support and training necessary to adapt to the new reality. Training employees to get up to speed with the latest tools and technologies is key to successful implementation of a digital workplace platform. The risk of working in silos is also cut to a great degree if there is a cohesive change management plan that drives key resources toward a co
7. Generative AI and the future of work: The future of work is set to be increasingly digital, with emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, and virtual reality playing a significant role. Businesses must continue to invest in digital tools and technologies to remain competitive and harness the potential benefits these technologies offer.
8. Processes and best practices: To successfully shift to a digital workplace, businesses must adopt best practices. This includes creating a digital transformation roadmap and involving employees in the process.
   1. Create a clear digital transformation roadmap: Develop a clear roadmap that outlines your goals, timeline, process, and milestones. This will ensure that everyone in your organization understands the direction of the digital transformation.
   2. Involve employees in the process: Employees are key stakeholders in the transformation process, and their involvement is crucial for the success of the project. Get them involved in brainstorming sessions, focus groups, testing, and feedback.
   3. Secure buy-in from leadership: Secure the buy-in from senior leadership to ensure that the transformation receives the necessary resources and support. This will demonstrate the importance of the project and its impact on the organization’s growth.
   4. Evaluate and choose the right digital tools and platforms: Carefully choose the digital tools and platforms that fit your organization’s needs and culture. Ensure that the tools provide the required features and functionality to achieve your goals.
   5. Train and support employees: Ensure that your employees have appropriate training and support throughout the transformation process. Provide training for new tools and processes to improve their adoption and comprehension.
   6. Measure the success of the transition: Regularly review the progress of the transformation using metrics that are relevant to your goals. Assess the results and adjust plans where necessary to achieve intended outcomes.
   7. Ensure data security and privacy: Implement appropriate data security measures to protect data and comply with applicable laws and regulations.
   8. Simplify processes and eliminate redundancies: Use the transformation to simplify processes and eliminate redundancies. This will optimize the use of resources and reduce costs.
   9. Foster a culture of innovation and continuous improvement: Encourage innovation and continuous improvement in your organization by creating a culture that promotes creativity, experimentation, and learning.
   10. Communicate effectively: Communicate the transformation plans and progress consistently and openly with all stakeholders, partners, and employees. This will ensure that everyone is aware of the efforts and the benefits of the transformation.

In addition to this, the implementation of best practices needs to be reviewed to get a tangible measure of success. Therefore, defining key performance indicators against very specific goals is crucial in ensuring the transition is successful.

Read more: Role of a Digital Workplace Platform in Hybrid Workplace

In conclusion, the shift to a digital workplace is essential for any business looking to remain competitive in an increasingly digital world. The benefits of enhanced collaboration, increased productivity, and cost savings are significant, but the transition requires careful planning, investment in the right tools and technologies, and upskilling and training employees. 

To know more about how InfinCE can take your business to new heights, connect with our experts today!

Ever since the pandemic brought in the dynamics of remote work and hybrid models, Microsoft Teams has become a household name in the world of remote work. A 2022 press release indicates Microsoft’s revenue of $51.7 billion in the December quarter, a rise of 20% from the same quarter last year, and profits of $18.8 billion, a steady increase of 21%, with earnings per share of $2.48, up 22%. In terms of quick numbers, the number of daily active users doubled in the wake of the pandemic – from 75 million in April 2020 to 145 million in April 2021.

Despite its immense popularity, it’s not without its shortcomings. Microsoft Teams is feature rich yet falls short of some basic essentials that drive effective communication and collaboration. It’s also probably why several businesses are on the lookout for Microsoft Teams alternatives. 

• For one, it is limited in its use for large scale enterprises that have several cross-functional teams. It offers only about 30 private channels that can be a bottleneck for several communication workflows across large companies.
• Secondly, nuanced access control is not a well-thought out feature with Microsoft Teams. Rankling several industry leaders who have considered switching to Microsoft Teams, the absence of an evolved access and permission control has made it a rather unpopular option.

In this blog, we take a quick tour of 10 Microsoft Teams alternatives that offer an array of features beyond messaging and video conferencing.

1. Zoom

Primarily seen as a video conferencing tool with an instant messaging service, Zoom is equipped with a native cloud phone solution. 

• Integration with other tools and platforms: Available on iOS and Android, Zoom can host a large audience and has powerful integration capabilities. Zoom offers integration with other tools and platforms such as Slack, Dropbox, Google Drive, and Microsoft Teams.
• User experience and ease of use: With a simple and intuitive interface, Zoom enables easy scheduling and joining of meetings from desktop and mobile devices.
• Security: Zoom provides several security and privacy features, such as end-to-end encryption for video meetings, password protection, and waiting rooms for meeting attendees.
• Customer support: Customers can access Zoom’s customer support through email, chat, or phone besides offering a comprehensive resource section that serves as a knowledge base. 
• Pricing: It offers a limited free plan with paid plans starting at $149.90/year (or $12.50 / month).
• The flipside: One thing that deters ease of use is that it is loaded with too many add-ons that may not particularly make financial sense for a small business. Also, one of the major cons of Zoom is the mandate to download the app, thus lacking browser only functionality. 

Read More: Why Is InfinCE A Better Choice For Safe Video Calling Than Zoom

2. Google Meet 

Google Meet is a video conferencing tool that allows users to have video meetings directly from their Google Calendar event, email invite, or Gmail.  

• Integration with other tools and platforms: Google Meet can be integrated with other Google tools such as Google Calendar and Google Drive and other third-party tools such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Slack.
• User experience and ease of use: It has a simple and user-friendly interface that makes it easy to use for both hosts and participants. The platform offers features such as screen sharing, real-time captions, and recording abilities, which enhance the user experience.
• Security and privacy features: Google Meet features end-to-end encryption for video meetings, two-factor authentication, and enterprise-grade security.
• Customer support and resources available: Google provides extensive support and resources to its users through the Google Meet Help Center.
• Pricing: Offers a free plan for starters with paid plans priced from $8/ user per month.
• The flipside: Browser support is limited, which means some users may need to rely on apps for a smoother experience. The platform does not provide advanced webinar features, such as Q&A sessions or polling, which could be a drawback for larger meetings.

Read More: 5 Workplace Innovations You Can Welcome with Video Conferencing

3.  InfinCE

Here’s how InfinCE Scores over other remote platforms. 

• Tailored for remote work: Infince is designed to cater to the needs of remote teams by centralizing communication, collaboration, and data management in a single platform. The platform is optimized for remote access, usage, and management, providing businesses with flexibility and control over their operations.
• Enhanced security: Infince uses the latest security protocols and encryption methods to ensure data privacy and protection from cyber threats. The platform is hosted on a private cloud infrastructure, which provides additional security layers compared to public cloud hosting used by Microsoft 365 or Google Meets.
• Cost-effective pricing: Infince offers scalable pricing plans suitable for businesses of all sizes and budgets. The pricing is transparent with no hidden costs, making it easy for businesses to budget and predict their expenses.
• High degree of customizability: Infince features highly customizable templates that businesses can tailor to match their brand identity. This allows businesses to create a professional look and feel for their platform without the need for expensive customization.
• Dedicated support: Infince provides users with dedicated 24/7 support via phone, email, or chat. This ensures that businesses always have access to help when they need it, improving the efficiency and productivity of remote teams. It is in fact a perfect alternative during Microsoft Cloud or Google Cloud outages.

4. Cisco Webex

• Integration: Integrates with multiple tools, including Microsoft Teams, Salesforce, and Google Calendar.
• User Experience: Offers an easy-to-use interface, with features like screen sharing and virtual backgrounds.
• Security and Privacy: Provides industry-leading security measures and end-to-end encryption.
• Customer Support: Offers technical support through multiple channels, including phone and chat. 
• Pricing: Offers a free plan with paid plans ranging from $14.95/host per month.
• The flipside: Limited customization options and slightly higher pricing compared to other video conferencing platforms.

Read More: 6 Ways to Build a Secure File Sharing Practice Within Your Organization

5. ClickUp

• Integration: Integrates with popular tools such as Slack, Trello, and Google Calendar.
• User Experience: Offers a customizable interface, with various views and templates.
• Security and Privacy: Provides options like two-factor authentication and GDPR compliance.
• Customer Support: Offers 24/7 customer support through email and live chat.
• Pricing: Comes with a free plan for unlimited users and paid versions starting at $5 per user/month. 
• The flipside: Steep learning curve and requires a longer setup time compared to other project management tools.

6. Chanty

• Integration: Integrates with G Suite and third-party apps like Zapier and Trello.
• User Experience: Offers a simple, clutter-free interface with features like threaded conversations and file sharing.
• Security and Privacy: Provides end-to-end encryption and compliance with GDPR.
• Customer Support: Offers support via email, chat, and phone, with a detailed knowledge base. 
• Pricing: Provides a free plan for up to 10 members and a paid plan with $3/user/month.
• The flipside: Lacks advanced features like screen sharing and video calling, and limited integrations compared to other team chat platforms.

7. Pumble

• Integration: Integrates with Google Drive, GitHub, Bitbucket, and Zapier.
• User Experience: Offers a simple, user-friendly interface with features like public and private channels and voice messaging.
• Security and Privacy: Provides end-to-end encryption and complies with GDPR.
• Customer Support: Offers 24/7 support through a dedicated team and a comprehensive knowledge base. 
• Pricing: Offers a free forever plan that works for the needs of small and medium-sized businesses. Paid plans start at $1.99 per user per month with access to most Pumble features. 
• The flipside: Limited integrations and lacks video conferencing capabilities compared to other team chat platforms.

Read More: 5 Tips To Effectively Manage Remote Teams During Challenging Times

8. Brosix

• Integration: Integrates with other tools via Zapier and offers API for custom integration.
• User Experience: Offers a user-friendly interface with features like group and screen sharing and a customizable chat environment.
• Security and Privacy: Provides end-to-end encryption and complies with EU data privacy laws.
• Customer Support: Offers 24/7 customer support through phone, email, and live chat.
• Pricing:A forever free plan that works for small teams that are just getting started. Paid plans begin at $4 user per month.
• The flipside: Limited integrations compared to other team chat platforms and higher pricing compared to some competitors.7. Pumble:

• Integration: Integrates with Google Drive, GitHub, Bitbucket, and Zapier.
• User Experience: Offers a simple, user-friendly interface with features like public and private channels and voice messaging.
• Security and Privacy: Provides end-to-end encryption and complies with GDPR.
• Customer Support: Offers 24/7 support through a dedicated team and a comprehensive knowledge base. 
• Pricing: Offers a free forever plan that works for the needs of small and medium-sized businesses. Paid plans start at $1.99 per user per month with access to most Pumble features. 
• The flipside: Limited integrations and lacks video conferencing capabilities compared to other team chat platforms.

9. Zoho

• Integration: Offers integration with many popular tools, including G Suite, Salesforce, and Slack.
• User Experience: Offers a user-friendly interface with features like task management and a customizable dashboard.
• Security and Privacy: Provides industry-standard security measures and promotes data privacy.
• Customer Support: Offers support through phone, email, and chat, with a comprehensive knowledge base and user forum. 
• The flipside: Advanced features require higher-tier subscriptions, and some users may find the interface and navigation slightly overwhelming.

10. Slack

• Integration: Offers integration with various tools, including Google Drive, Zoom, and Trello.
• User Experience: Offers a user-friendly interface with features like channels and direct messaging, file sharing, and app management.
• Security and privacy: Provides various data security and privacy measures, including enterprise-level encryption and two-factor authentication.
• Customer Support: Offers 24/7 customer support through phone, email, and chat, with a detailed knowledge base and user forum. 
• The flipside: Lack of threaded chats, and some users may find it challenging to locate specific conversations or messages

To Summarize

Remote work is gaining popularity with the various shifts in work culture. How companies strategize, evaluate and implement the right tools would define the path to their success. Where, some businesses might focus on improving work efficiency, others might depend on advanced tools and technologies to enhance work collaboration. However, a platform like InfinCE is built to help embrace the ever changing digital work environment and thrive with the rising technology advancements. 

Connect with us today to learn more about InfinCE!

Despite the soaring popularity of virtual meetings since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers point toward the concern that virtual meetings aren’t as effective as the traditional, in-person meetings. 

“Part of the problem might be that we’re worse at taking turns in virtual conversations than in physical ones.” (Stanford University, 2022)

“The number of meetings grew by 7.4% between June 2020 and December 2021, but the meetings were typically of low quality.” (University of Cambridge Judge Business School, 2022)

Many employees are annoyed with the amount of time lost due to technical issues, delayed meetings, irrelevant agenda, off-topic discussions, unpreparedness, and loud background noises. These challenges, however, cannot deny the fact that virtual meetings are here to stay. Gartner data shows that by 2025, 50% of all enterprise virtual events will be held on the video meeting platforms commonly used by organizations today, proving that video meetings are not likely to disappear from our workplace anytime soon.  

What does it take to run an effective virtual meeting that facilitates collaboration, engagement, and communication between in-office and remote teams? 

Common Challenges in Hosting Virtual Meetings

The use of virtual meetings in workplace can raise several concerns, some of the most commonly cited issues are discussed below:

• It can be difficult to pick up on non-verbal cues such as body language and gestures in virtual meetings. For instance, the meeting host or speaker may not be able to gauge whether other members of the meeting are puzzled, distracted or have lost interest.
• Video meetings can lead to Zoom fatigue, a unique kind of exhaustion that occurs when people participate in video meetings for an extended time period. The constant need to focus on screens, lack of breaks, and the difficulty in understanding non-verbal or social cues lead to fatigue and reduced productivity.
• Technical glitches that you have no control over, such as server or internet connection outages, microphone failure, audio problems, crashing of shared applications, or the trouble of logging into a virtual meeting. 
• Many people prefer face-to-face, in-person interaction instead of virtual team meetings. Remote team members may not get enough time to bond with each other and build formal relationships. The result can be a lack of mutual trust which, in turn, can impact your team’s productivity.
• Scheduling virtual meetings could be a challenge when you want remote teams working from multiple locations and different time zones to join the meeting at a reasonable hour.

Best Practices & Tips to Make Your Video Meetings More Effective

1. Turn your camera on during virtual calls

In a prolonged remote work environment, your employees get only little in-person face time with their colleagues, supervisors, or managers. Keeping the camera on during virtual meetings will make your video conferences more accessible, exciting, and intuitive for participants. 

By observing the facial expressions and body language of the participants during a video call, you can pick up contextual cues that are often lost over audio calls or text-based modes of communication such as chat or email. Encouraging your team members to turn on their cameras during video meetings can make them feel more connected, engaged, and productive.   

2. Use interactive tools to increase engagement

Utilizing interactive tools like polls, surveys, quizzes, and breakout rooms during virtual meetings will allow participants to get involved as if they are all in the same space.

Breakout rooms are one of the most popular features in InfinCE video meeting platform that helps create a dynamic virtual meeting experience. Meeting organizers or hosts can use the breakout rooms to divide participants into smaller groups for focused discussions and effective collaboration. 

InfinCE video meeting software allows you to create and launch polls/ quizzes during a virtual meeting and gather the responses from your participants. You can frame customized questions for your polls and see the results in real-time to make informed decisions or next steps. 

Using the Raise a Hand feature in the InfinCE video meeting platform, a participant can notify the meeting host that they want to discuss a point without disrupting the flow of the meeting. All these tools promote better participation and collaboration and provide valuable feedback to the meeting organizers.

3. Allow short breaks between each meeting

Back-to-back virtual meetings can be stressful and decrease your ability to focus and engage. Participants should be encouraged to step away from their screens and take a short break in between successive meeting schedules. It prevents stress from building up. 

Here are a few tips to make your moments of respite successful:

• View breaks away from your computer will help shift your mind and re-energize before joining the next meeting.
• A short meditation break or a simple physical activity such as a stroll will help you feel refreshed and recharged when you start your next meeting.
• Before scheduling a video call, do check if you really require a meeting to discuss the issue or if it can be solved through email, live chat, or document collaboration. 
• Make your meetings more intentional. Create and share an agenda ahead of time, think about who attends the meeting, start and stop on time, and transition to a five-minute recap at the end of the call. 
• Raise your hand, polls and quizzes, breakout rooms, and other interactive tools are great ways to keep your participants involved and elicit creative and strategic conversations.  

4. Find the right balance between virtual and in-person meetings

Despite returning to normal after the pandemic, virtual calls continue to be a staple of the daily business routines. Though virtual meetings cannot completely replace face-to-face meetings for good, they are likely to remain as a part of our working lives as most businesses adjust to a hybrid way of working. 

Here are a few tips to balance both in-person and virtual meetings:

• Choose the meeting type based on the topic or context. If you’re reaching out to a client for a quick check-in, a virtual meeting would suffice. If you want to discuss a major portfolio change or strategy adjustments, it’s better to meet in-person, if possible.
• Schedule virtual meetings and invite participants ahead of time to best manage your time and theirs, especially when you’re collaborating with remote teams located in different time zones.  
• Gauge the complexity level of the issue you’re going to discuss. If you’re tackling a thorny problem that’s difficult to comprehend or is emotionally complex, it’s better to go for an in-person meeting. 
• Finally, choose the meeting type that would be more inclusive. Consider your participants’ availability (proximity) for an in-person meeting. Check if they have a tight schedule that makes it difficult to find a common time for an in-person meeting. In this case, scheduling a virtual meeting can ensure maximum participation and inclusion.  

The Final Word

In the post-pandemic era, the workplace could mean different things for different people. With the erratic work arrangements across companies, individual teams, and industry segments, workers need video meetings more than ever.

The real challenge for employers now is to foster true collaboration in a hybrid workplace setting by balancing remote and in-office employee experiences – and a video meeting platform is the key to achieving that. 

With InfinCE, your organization can experience all the benefits and features of a modern digital workplace. Enable your team to work together from anywhere, using any device with our comprehensive virtual meeting software. Get started today.

Connect with our experts today or Request a Free Demo!

Definition and Evolution of Digital Workplace Platforms

Digital workplace platforms have evolved tremendously over the past few years, with the modern workplace requiring much more than just a basic communication tool. In a dynamic business environment where change is the only constant, employees require a cohesive digital experience to collaborate, access important information, communicate with colleagues seamlessly, and manage their workload effectively.

As a result, modern digital workplace platforms now provide a range of features that enable businesses to meet these needs. A suite of applications that enable businesses to function remotely, collaborate online, and have access to cloud-based tools to run day-to-day operations, digital workplace platforms include communication tools such as email, instant messaging, video conferencing, and project management tools. Analogously, these platforms act as virtual offices where employees can share files, communicate with colleagues, and complete work tasks. A digital workplace platform is like a toolbox that provides everything you need to get the job done from anywhere on any device, examples of which include HR databases, knowledge management systems, and customer relationship management software.

Read more: What is a Digital Workplace: A Complete Guide! 

Employee Experience: The Key Driver 

Several studies have confirmed that a positive employee experience leads to higher engagement, productivity, retention, and even profitability. For example, according to a 2023 Gartner Survey, 83% of HR leaders believe employee experience is crucial to their organization’s success. On the other hand, companies with poor employee experience see high turnover rates, low productivity, a bad work culture, and even customer dissatisfaction.

For a digital workspace to translate to building a positive employee experience, personalization, mobile accessibility, and ease of use are some critical ingredients.

1. Personalization involves tailoring the digital workspace experience to each employee’s unique needs and preferences – this can be achieved through customized dashboards, relevant information feeds, or custom notifications. 

2. Mobile accessibility means enabling employees to work from anywhere, anytime, on any device. An easy-to-use interface and accessibility from anywhere ensure employees can navigate the digital workplace platform without friction, frustration, or confusion. This also contributes to shorter learning curves and lesser training mandates.

Robust Integration with Third-Party Applications: A Must-have

According to a study conducted by the Aberdeen Group, companies that integrate their enterprise applications experience a 20% increase in productivity. This includes everything from marketing, sales, and supply chain management to HR and finance. Key integration capabilities that need to be present in a digital workplace include compatibility, security, and scalability. Compatibility means having the ability to integrate with a variety of applications, ensuring that you have access to your entire suite of tools. Security is important to ensure sensitive data remains safe and protected. Finally, scalability refers to the ability to add or remove apps as needed without disrupting the current workflow.

The Three Cs – Cloud, Collaboration, and Communication

Microsoft reported a 27% increase in revenue from investing in intelligent cloud, with an overall revenue uptick of 39% attached to the cloud. If you want to take a leaf from their book, you know where to put your money. Cloud-hosting is your best bet for a digital workplace platform especially because it safeguards important information, reduces the risk of data loss, increases security, and of course, allows your employees to share and access files from a central location, lending to a simple and seamless experience. Following suit, communication, and collaboration are key elements that have to fall in place if a digital workplace platform is considered successful.

Read more: Role of a Digital Workplace Platform in Hybrid Workplace

Adherence to Regulatory Compliance and Security: The Much-needed Protocol

Adherence to security and compliance policies is critical to the success of digital workplace platforms. Companies that comply with regulations and protect user data enjoy higher levels of trust and customer loyalty, leading to increased revenue and growth. It is essential to prioritize security and compliance to safeguard against the cost and reputational damage of a security breach. The implementation of security features like single sign-on, two-factor authentication, and data encryption has become crucial for digital workplace platforms to protect sensitive information. According to a report by Verizon, over 80% of data breaches are caused by weak or stolen credentials, which can be prevented by using these security measures. Companies like Slack and Microsoft Teams have successfully implemented these features, resulting in improved security and increased adoption rates. In fact, Microsoft Teams reported a record 2.7 billion meeting minutes in a single day in March 2020, attributed to the platform’s security measures.

Embracing Web3 Technologies

Gartner predicts that by 2024, AI will have automated as much as 75% of the manual work involved in project management-related administrative tasks. Better yet, a study by Accenture found that AI adoption could increase workplace productivity by as much as 40%.

Artificial intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning learning (ML) are becoming increasingly important in the digital workplace, and new platforms are designed to leverage these technologies to enhance productivity and automate routine tasks. One example of how these technologies help personalize user experiences is through intelligent recommendations. By analyzing employee behavior, such as the types of tasks they complete, the documents they access, and the apps they use, ML algorithms can suggest relevant content, information, and tools that are unique to each user. This personalized approach helps employees work more efficiently and effectively by streamlining workflows and reducing the time spent searching for information.

Connect with our experts know more about InfinCE

The advent of IT fundamentally changed the way businesses operate. It empowered companies with hardware and software capabilities to manage information overload better, and their workforces upgraded their skills to manage digital devices to fast track their work. As workplace demographics changed and expanded, big companies began to increasingly digitize their business operations to stay competitive and successful, thanks to the emergence of cloud technologies. When Covid19-induced lockdown disrupted workflows, small and medium-sized companies started digitizing their business operations to remain competitive. The last two years saw on-premise systems replaced by cloud-powered technologies at a much faster pace than ever before, and digital workplaces have come to spearhead the digital transformation of businesses. 

So, what is a digital workplace? A digital workplace is a virtual workplace setting wherein your employees across all departments get to stay connected as and when they want, across geographical boundaries, on devices of their choice,  and access all data and information relevant to get their work done. The cloud-backed tools of the digital workplace platform have the capabilities to enhance your employee experiences.

So, what is employee experience? Gartner defines employee experience as “the way in which employees internalize and interpret the interactions they have with their organization and the context that underlies those interactions”. In short, it is an employee’s perception of his job. HBR Analytic Services defines employee experience as “how hard or easy it is for employees to do their best work, taking into account technical, cultural, and physical touchpoints”.

So, why is employee experience important to businesses? The digital revolution has made companies realize that engaged, collaborative, and productive employee experiences are vital to delivering excellent customer experiences. Companies have discovered that the best way to build good customer experiences is by building good employee experiences. Communication and collaboration enabled by digital workplaces are vital to building good employee experiences. Sharing data across departments and geographies has paved the way for employees to build fruitful business relationships beyond their immediate workgroups or teams. Good employee experiences create good employee engagement.

Read more: Five Myths Around Hybrid Workplaces Demystified

Your digital toolbox will have all the tools and technologies required to help your employees stay connected, thus seamlessly easing their workflows. Pandemic-induced lockdown and remote work have redefined the way companies let their employees work. The introduction of digital workplaces has caused the line between employees’ professional and personal lives to blur, enabling them to leverage the tools available on their digital workplace platforms to seamlessly communicate and collaborate with their dispersed team members virtually. A good digital workplace leverages cloud technologies to integrate all applications required for business communication and employee collaboration like email, enterprise social media tools, virtual meeting tools, CRM, file storage and sharing, HRM, etc. InfinCE is the right partner for your company’s digital aspirations, with all the applications available on a single platform!  

An efficient digital workplace like InfinCE can improve your employee experience in more ways than one! Here is how:

1. Offering an efficient remote working environment.

The Talent Tech Outlook 2022 Study says 82% of employees prefer working from home. Remote work gives employees the freedom to set their own schedules and manage their work from whichever place they like. In addition, most employees consider the time saved by avoiding daily commutes a big blessing. InfinCE is a one-stop technology solution that has efficient office tools to bring your workforce together no matter which geographical location they work from. The platform enables secure storage and quick sharing of documents too. Thus, improving your employee experience by leaps and bounds. 

2. Providing instant communication and effective collaboration tools.

InfinCE has an extensive suite of collaboration apps that eases communication and collaboration with your company’s in-house and external contacts. While remote working is undoubtedly an aspect that enhances your employee experiences. 

3. Offering your business a unified, centralized platform to access all its applications.

Businesses need to use multiple apps to manage their daily operations. InfinCE has a curated applications marketplace with a growing list of apps to choose from, providing a wide range of solutions, including CRM, CMS, and HRM, hosted in secure environments. You have the absolute liberty to choose the applications you deem are right for your business operations. Seamless integration of multiple apps on a single platform eases business operations and improves employee experiences.  

Read more: How A Collaboration Software Can Improve Productivity

4. Boosting productivity.

With InfinCE, your employees get to connect to a  custom workspace that displays information based on your preferences through flexible tiles. A branded workspace easily connects your employees and aligns them to your organization’s core values, which raises engagement and productivity. The platform has multiple productivity tools to organize and manage your data and work. Its advanced data protection features enable private storage and secure sharing of your valuable data. InfinCE is a cutting-edge digital workplace that can help your business streamline its work very efficiently and effectively. Better employee experiences lead to increased productivity.

5. Providing single sign-on accessibility.

A single sign-on provides access to all your business software and productivity tools from anywhere. 

6. Offering device independence and ensuring work continuity.

InfinCE lets you enjoy the freedom to access your entire business software from anywhere through any device and allows you to continue working from exactly where you had previously left off. The device independence feature will definitely serve to improve your company’s overall employee experience while ensuring your work continuity.  

7. Providing absolute data security.

Your data enjoys absolute privacy and security on secured private virtual servers. Advanced firewalls and encryption/password-based access controls add to the security protocols of your data. Getting to work in a virtual environment that keeps your data safe and secure is an aspect that enriches your employee experience. By adopting an efficient digital workspace like InfinCE, your business can enhance its employee experiences in many ways and nurture a work culture wherein your employees would always want to do their best and improve their performances. InfinCE endows your company with the right kind of capabilities to achieve the true digital culture, thus helping its employee experiences scale new heights, leading to increased productivity and improved customer experiences. 

Read more: Why is It Necessary to Safeguard Data Privacy in Project Management?

In the digital ecosystem, employee experiences determine productivity, which shapes customer experiences. When you choose InfinCE to spearhead your digital transformation, you get access to the platform’s numerous features, which would serve to improve your employee experiences.

Get in touch with our experts to know more about how InfinCE can enhance your employee experiences. 

The pandemic has ruffled our daily lives and work-life routines in many ways. It has changed the mode of working for businesses! The way businesses shifted to remote work has indeed shattered traditional work designs. Born out of sheer necessity to ensure uninterrupted workflows during the pandemic, remote work has led companies to create digital workspace teams and embrace hybrid work models. Compared to the on-premise infrastructure, cloud platforms are globally accessible, secure, and less expensive (post-adoption). 

As the name indicates, a hybrid workplace model is a blend of in-office and remote work that offers more flexibility and support to employees and helps them achieve a better work-life balance. Decision-makers have shifted their business operations from location-centric models to human-centric models by providing suitable technological infrastructures and encouraging the right work culture of shared understanding of mutual needs and expectations. However, despite hybrid work being around for more than two years, several misconceptions still exist about hybrid workplaces. Let us have a look at five common myths about hybrid workplaces. 

Read more: Things to Know When Adopting Enterprise Hybrid Cloud

Myth #1: Remote work hinders productivity

This is one of the biggest illusions about remote workspaces. On the contrary, lines between working hours and off-work hours tend to blur when employees work in a hybrid environment. Extreme flexibility drives productivity, and the absence of physical monitoring nurtures a culture of trust, empathy, and empowerment, boosting work outcomes. 44% of Buffer State of Remote Work /2022 Report say remote work helps them focus better on work, and 59% feel not having to commute daily has left them with more time on their hands that they can use productively. Being productive at work is more about following a culture of striking the work-life balance and achieving corporate goals than about the long hours of work you put in. Work outcomes matter more than activity metrics.

InfinCE a remote workplace collaboration platform, can help project team members to boost their productivity and efficiency by assisting them to work faster through collaboration and optimal use of resources. InfinCE has the tools that can bring together people across multiple geographies to plan meticulously and efficiently execute, allocate, track, and manage tasks while easing the management of documents.   

Myth #2:  It is more challenging to collaborate remotely than face-to-face

This runs true only in the case of non-adopters and nascent adopters of hybrid workspaces. Hybrid workspaces empower companies to develop capabilities to let their employees work from anywhere. Adopters of hybrid work technologies have at their disposal the right tools and methods that facilitate virtual teamwork and seamless collaboration.

InfinCE is a one-stop solution for businesses that plan to adopt a hybrid work model as it comes with multiple tools having capabilities to perform multiple tasks. In addition, the cloud-based solution provides an efficient collaborative work environment for all team members – internal, external, and remote – to come together in a virtual environment to work towards achieving project objectives and facilitate better workstreams. Besides, you can also buy additional apps that meet your specific business needs.

Read more: 5 Tips to Manage At-Home Workers and Boost Remote Work Productivity

Myth #3: Remote work hinders creativity and innovation

Proponents of this theory fail to realize that being in the office actually limits your chance to express your creativity to a handful of people around you. In contrast, the cloud technologies of a hybrid work environment enable reaching out to more employees, thus tapping more unique ideas and perspectives. Creative and innovative inputs from every team member are brainstormed, and the team jointly owns the final outcome. Therefore, it builds a culture of mutual trust and a sense of ownership. Unique perspectives never fail to be heard in a hybrid workspace. 

InfinCE enables real-time chat and communication among team members, and its centralized data, contacts, and documents help make informed decisions whenever online meetings are held. Intentional collaboration backed up by the tools that InfinCE offers will significantly drive innovation in workspaces.

Myth #4: Hybrid workspace models erode the corporate culture

This is yet another unfounded myth about hybrid workplaces that has gained traction. The fear that a lack of face-to-face sessions in a hybrid work environment erodes corporate culture is unfounded. Lack of future fitness and absence of key digital attributes like agility, speed, and autonomy in decision-making rendered several pre-pandemic work cultures sluggish. On the other hand, hybrid workspace models have the capabilities to reinforce corporate culture. Remote and hybrid employees have reported more culture satisfaction than on-site employees. Organizations must first identify the cultural norms they want to promote among their employees and the activities that reinforce those norms. Then plan measures to promote these behaviors in a hybrid model to create a common, shared purpose. For example, leaders could promote team bonding activities like movie/book club, contests, etc., to promote employee engagement and satisfaction.  

InfinCE can help foster virtual gatherings to enable intentional meetings of employees across diverse units and geographies. Online campaigns can be held to mark special and auspicious days to promote the participation of one and all. Such intentional collisions help them connect and interact with each other, which would be an unlikely scenario in the real world.

Watch: How to Keep Your Work From Home Staff Productive and in Touch – InfinCE Digital Workplace

Myth # 5: Speed and efficiency of hybrid work environment comprises reliability and efficiency of infrastructures

This myth reflects a legacy mindset that puts constraints on infrastructure speed and agility. As cloud technologies are constantly evolving, constant re-engineering and upgradation of IT strategies and infrastructures have become the norm of the day. Future-fit organizations employ “Everywhere Enterprise” strategies to empower dispersed hybrid workforces and widely distributed infrastructures to serve their omnipresent customers. 

Serving your ubiquitous customers ‘everywhere’ calls for a hybrid workforce, and what better way to make that happen than by embracing an efficient hybrid workspace solution like InfinCE? Being an efficient digital workplace, InfinCE has the tools and the technical and infrastructural capabilities to constantly upgrade our capabilities to ensure that organizations never miss out on state-of-the-art technologies. In addition, we provide individual dedicated servers for each organization with custom dashboards and tiles to facilitate smarter and simplified data analysis. 

Businesses must ensure consistent and secure network access for all employees to meet the ‘everywhere’ needs of a hybrid workforce. And InfinCE is here to simplify the IT operations of your business through a seamless collaboration of teams across diverse geographies and centralized management of tasks and documents. InfinCE is an infinite cloud enterprise for organizations at your fingertips!  

Reach out to our experts to know more.     

A digital workplace is a single platform that integrates all disconnected applications a business relies upon. It connects its employees across geographical boundaries to access relevant tools and data to reshape an organization’s culture, productivity, collaboration, and leadership. A cloud-based digital workplace platform helps companies centrally manage their apps, projects, and data to facilitate their employees collaborating and working in a virtual environment. Gone are the days when work was restricted to the confines of physical workplaces. Pandemic has made the lines between the personal and professional lives of employees blur, letting employees collaborate and communicate with each other, transcending boundaries. It has redefined the way people work, and businesses operate. Remote work has proved to increase employee productivity and engagement. Despite the proven track record of the merits of maintaining a digital workplace, few non-adopters are apprehensive about embracing it, feeling discouraged by the negative myths that surround it. If you are one among them, it is high time you changed your mind as most of these myths are baseless and serve only to stop your business from getting future-fit.

Let us look into the truth behind five myths on digital workplaces.

# Myth 1: A digital workplace is an assortment of disjoint business tools 

Nothing can be farther from the bare truth than this myth! A digital workplace is a single integrated platform that enables your employees to access relevant business tools from anywhere and, in the event, improve their efficiency and collaboration. It is a digital ecosystem of multiple functionalities that empowers businesses to conduct their day-to-day operations and let employees perform their work seamlessly and efficiently. A virtual replacement for physical office space, a digital workplace solution that streamlines and digitizes your business’s business operations by integrating the technologies involved in its internal business processes. 

InfinCE is a one-stop technology solution that can efficiently and effectively integrate all your company’s internal business operations at ease. These capabilities include enabling seamless collaboration among employees across geographical boundaries, easing safe and secure sharing of documents, securing your data on private virtual servers,  choosing from an array of business applications on multiple domains (hosted on secure cloud environments) to suit your business needs, and much more.

Read more: Workplace Trends That Will Shape 2022

#Myth 2: It is too expensive with unpredictable future costs

Cloud migration needn’t be as expensive as you think, as you are at liberty to use the connections you already have in place. Legacy systems call for heavy investment in on-premise infrastructure. In contrast, cloud-based systems are easy to implement and cost less as the investment required on hardware is much less. In addition, once your custom digital workplace is up and running, you are at perfect liberty to make strides to meet your business demands. Not to mention the added advantage of not worrying about the back-end systems required to run your business operations!

InfinCE lets you set up your website and mail server with a few clicks. It also empowers you to scale quickly in tune with your business growth by increasing your server capacity and storage space sans any hidden costs. A cost-effective digital workplace solution simplifies your business’s IT management and reduces operational and infrastructure costs.  

#Myth 3: Data wouldn’t be secure in digital workplaces 

This is yet another myth around digital workplaces that is baseless. When it comes to complying with data security standards, cloud servers follow stricter protocols than any other on-premise server. Thus, your data enjoy better security and the agility of cloud premises, ensuring better data protection with the latest security updates to meet any threat looming in cyberspace. In addition, data is usually duplicated and securely hosted in two different data centers in two different geographies. So even if the worst happens with one set of data, the services would seamlessly transfer to the other without fail.   

InfinCE has the technologies and procedures to ensure that your valuable data remains safe and secure in our cloud servers. At the same time, you get to access it from multiple devices. Our virtual private servers, advanced firewalls, and encryption/password-based access controls ensure absolute data privacy. 

Read more: 5 Ways Today’s Workplace Has Transitioned Digitally

#Myth 4:  Digital Workplaces are too complex to implement  

If unfounded worries about the complexity of digital workplaces deter you from embracing cloud-backed digital workplace solutions, you are not alone. Groundless worries about embracing cloud technologies would cause your business to keep struggling ahead with outdated on-premise infrastructure at the expense of your employee productivity, agility, and running costs. You can choose to move all your business operations to the cloud at once or use a service that bridges both the existing and the new systems. The right delivery plan ensures that you get it right in either case. 

The simplified cloud-based technologies of InfinCE will guide you through setting up your website, mail server, and business apps with just a few clicks. Within a matter of a few hours, sans any coding, your business will be equipped with state-of-the-art technologies to run its internal operations seamlessly. 

#Myth 5:  My business doesn’t need a digital working place as it is too small/big

A digital workplace is crucial for future business success, irrespective of the size of any business. And for that reason, businesses are increasingly adopting digital workplace platforms as part of their digital transformation strategies. PwC’s US Remote Work Survey, January 2021, says that 52% of executives surveyed have confirmed increased employee productivity when working remotely. And adopting a digital workplace platform is imperative for a business to transform from on-premise systems to cloud technologies, no matter how big or small. Small businesses and startups that run on stringent budgets and workforce benefit more from adopting digital workplaces. They allow partial automation of business processes, freeing human efforts to focus more on core work. In the case of large businesses, digital workplaces help digitize their business processes across multiple departments and render them more transparent and easily trackable.  

Read more: How A Collaboration Software Can Improve Productivity

InfinCE helps businesses, irrespective of their sizes, carry out their projects faster and efficiently. It efficiently takes geographically dispersed teams through the planning, task management, allocation, tracking, document management, and other functions involved in the execution of the project. 

Businesses running on limited capital shouldn’t hesitate to embrace InfinCE to shore up their digital capabilities because it is a secure and economical platform. 

Feel free to get in touch with our team to know more. 

Every workplace has its ecosystem. As a result, all of its aspects are constantly evolving. Employers today understandably want to establish a safe digital sanctuary for employees who have returned from the pandemic.

Because of the expanding technological adaptations, the digital workplace has limitless options. It contributes to a highly coordinated and running facility solely focused on providing a safe ecosystem and giving new experiences. Disruptive science, high-tech gear, and machine learning with AI are guiding workplaces toward a powerful digitalization that revolutionizes the way organizations operate.

A quick glance at the top digital workplace trends to expect in 2022.

Read more: Transform your Data Sharing Practices to Win Customer Trust?

1. Hybrid or Remote Work

Flexibility in how, where, and when individuals work is no longer a differentiator; it’s standard practice. Employers who do not provide flexibility will continue to see higher turnover, as employees seek roles in organizations that provide a value proposition more aligned with their objectives.

Organizations can benefit from data privacy with virtual private servers, robust firewalls, encryption/password-based access controls, concierge service, easy scalability, and reduced costs with InfinCE’s cloud architecture. Organizations may rapidly set up a business domain, website, mail server, and business apps without coding. Employees can gain access from anywhere using any device and continue from where they left off, presenting the organization with enhanced flexibility.

2. Four-Day Work Week is on the Way

According to LinkedIn’s Annual Big Ideas Report, industries will embrace the four-day workweek in 2022. This practice has already gained traction on a global scale, with organizations making the switch. (According to LinkedIn News, trial results reveal better employee well-being, work-life balance, and productivity.)

3. Employee Well-Being Prioritization

Organizations are increasingly concentrating on work-life balance, and employee mental health. This is likely to continue until 2022 especially as the epidemic causes more stress and burnout. Prioritizing employee well-being can also imply giving additional employee benefits, increased flexibility, and sign-on bonuses.

With InfinCE’s Collaboration Apps, employees can engage and connect, forming a professional bond that promotes teamwork and a sense of belonging, making way to a happier workplace experience.

Read more: How A Collaboration Software Can Improve Productivity

4. Focus on Centralized Communication

With teams dispersed across geographies and time zones, centralized communication will continue to surge to the top of the priority list to combat communication overload and miscommunication among team members. As a result, many large corporations are increasingly pursuing centralized communication platforms and improved work management.

With InfinCE, you can centrally oversee your complete IT infrastructure – server, storage, and staff. As well as create access controls for your files and apps using a single login, giving your organization superior insight over your authorized resources. In addition, you get to enable seamless business operations with InfinCE by accessing contacts with a click, live chats, one-on-one video calls, and frictionless video meetings.

5. Automation

Technological options include automated visitor management, capturing guest contact information, tracking and scanning visitors for COVID symptoms, recordkeeping, and even notifying hosts of visitors’ arrivals. According to a report published on fortunly.com, the total work hour completed by humans will decrease by 13% as they will be done by robots, or in simple terms, automated. As a result, automation will stay and govern the sectors in the future decade.

With InfinCE’s productivity tools, you can provide your employees with a plethora of ready-to-use productivity tools – documents, spreadsheets, and presentations – to manage business data in a variety of formats, securely share your documents with any person, team, department, or collaborators outside your organization via a simple link, and elevate your organization’s credibility and maintain a favorable brand image among your customers with personalized business email. Additionally, InfinCE provides custom dashboards driven by a selection of tiles. All this and more results in automating your workplace to a large extent.

Read more: All You Need to Know About Dashboards and Data Security

6. Shifting the emphasis from Roles to Skills

According to Gartner, in the post-pandemic era, the attention of employers will move from job roles that require a collection of “unconnected and disparate talents” to “specialized skills” catering to specific business demands and difficulties. This is mainly due to companies realizing that roles are more closely linked to a post in an organization’s hierarchical system. In contrast, talents are tailored directly to business goals and difficulties.

7. Geography and Location will be irrelevant

The sole benefit that the pandemic brought was the acceptability of remote jobs. The propagation of the virus led the globe to believe otherwise. As a result, even when businesses reopen, remote working is thriving and adopted by many organizations.

InfinCE allows your organization to benefit from hassle-free remote working, making distance unimportant. Get real-time insights into the CPU, memory, and storage utilization of your office and application servers’ OS, Files, and DB with Server and Storage Monitoring.  InfinCE allows you to automatically update these boundaries when they exceed their present capacity, ensuring optimal resource use at all times.

8. Employee Monitoring, Productivity, and Behavioral Analytics

Employers are increasingly investing in technologies geared to monitor and track their employees’ activity to increase productivity and efficiency. For example, platforms now enable firms to monitor employee behavior across email and technologies like Slack to gauge productivity.

With capabilities such as productivity tracking, reports, and behavior analytics, our platform, InfinCE offers you insights into your employees’ activities. Using this data, the organization can schedule further training for individuals who require it, boost productivity, and identify and control bottlenecks.

9. HR Transformation Using Technology and Data 

By 2022, more firms will have transformed their human resources departments by leveraging indirect sourcing and talent acquisition data analytics. HR professionals can also use data to determine why employees leave their companies and reduce turnover. In addition, people analytics or insights drawn from data related to worker talent are assisting companies in uncovering critical information about organizational performance and individual employee requirements. 

Custom Dashboards help increase business efficiency. InfinCE provides custom organization, department, team, and personal dashboards for increased visibility and efficiency.

InfinCE presents your organization with a growing library of tried-and-true business software solutions, some of which are free to use. In addition, this carefully curated InfinCE Marketplace offers your company a wide range of open-source and commercial business software alternatives from several software suppliers.

Read more: 5 Ways Today’s Workplace Has Transitioned Digitally

10. The Great Resignation will pursue

Employees are resigning in unprecedented numbers, particularly in the United States and the United Kingdom. As a result, many teams and organizations have made employee retention a primary goal. As a result, the “Great Resignation” will be present until 2022.  

How will these trends impact the workplace culture?

The realities of these trends will get piled on top of longer-term technology transformations, continuous DE&I journeys, and persistent disruptions and uncertainties. We believe these trends can hugely impact the workplace culture in the following ways: 

• Leaders will be proponents of conflict resolution. Their jobs will focus more on bringing things together than just being functional champions. 
• New-age technologies and breakthroughs that come faster than expected will emphasize the importance of having a digital mindset and transformation. We will need to be flexible and troubleshoot our current and future needs. Organizations will be made or broken by their ability to innovate. 
• Building new processes and practices to support the Hybrid workplace will be necessary. We will require a shift in both people’s and leaders’ mindsets. Managers who believe in one-on-one physical connections will need to adapt quickly because professional interactions will now be in virtual mode. 
• Organizations will have more feet on the ground and thinner central resources. The skills hired for locations will be sharper because they will need to establish their support systems. 
• Well-defined career prospects and progress will be a source of attraction and retention. People will start prioritizing training and upskilling to define their market value and existence. Every organization will need to prioritize workplace competence and performance. 
• Managing the new style of working and living puts strain on individuals. Managers must be more alert and respect this transition. As a result, engaging on a deeper level will benefit both.

InfinCE is capable of meeting your diverse needs in the best way possible. InfinCE provides everything you need to assist various digital office operations, from corporate chat tools to data management software. With InfinCE, your organization gets to enhance the workplace by offering a streamlined experience, cheaper costs, and effective deployment and change management.

Take an InfinCE Demo to explore the business gripping features for effective workplace management.

Data sharing is increasingly battling data-privacy concerns in an AI-dominated business society. As a result, organizations must be exceedingly cautious with any private, sensitive, or confidential data in the approaching era of data protection laws. Simultaneously, it is vital to exchange and collaborate data to stimulate innovation and discovery.

As enterprises make inroads into data-intensive AI applications, these multiple and sometimes contradictory objectives will become even more imperative. Organizations are not alone as they struggle to negotiate the twists and turns in the path to data sharing while maintaining data privacy. Many corporations and research organizations are working to assist them in addressing the difficulties at hand — and paving the way for a future in which data sharing does not conflict with data-privacy concerns.

Read more: 5 Ways Today’s Workplace Has Transitioned Digitally

Security concerns associated with Data Sharing

External sources listening on the network, unauthorized users, and internal users handing out the store endanger the integrity and privacy of data. This section describes the potentially dangerous conditions and assaults that could compromise your data.

• Accidental Exposure – Many data breaches are consequences of negligence or exposure of sensitive data rather than a deliberate attempt. Employees in an organization frequently share, grant access, lose or mishandle valuable data, either accidentally or because they are unaware of security standards.
• Data Tampering – With distributed setups comes the prospect that a malevolent third party can commit a computer crime by tampering with data as it passes between sites.
• Eavesdropping and Data Theft – On the internet and Wide Area Network (WAN) environments, public carriers and private network owners frequently route their networks via insecure landlines, vulnerable microwave and satellite connections, or several servers. These tend to expose valuable data to any external party.
• Ransomware – Ransomware is a significant threat to data. Ransomware is a virus that infects corporate devices and encrypts data, rendering it unusable without the decryption key.
• Falsifying User Identities – Criminals steal users’ credit card numbers and then use them to make purchases on their accounts. Or they steal additional personal information such as checking account numbers and driver’s license numbers and use it to open phony credit accounts in the name of someone else. 
• Accountability – If the system administrator cannot trace user activities, users cannot be held accountable for their actions.
• Complex User Management Requirements – The complexity of handling user accounts and passwords in large-scale environments leaves your system exposed to errors and attacks.

Read more: Why is It Necessary to Safeguard Data Privacy in Project Management?

Data Sharing Security – Why it matters?

According to the Ponemon Institute’s Cost of Data Breach Study, the average cost of a data breach in the United States is $8 million. Furthermore, a data breach affected a total of 25,575 user accounts, meaning that, in addition to financial losses, such occurrences lead to a loss of customer trust and a damaged reputation. 

Almost everyone in the consumer goods sector understands that poor brand experiences can swiftly undo years of brand building, a hard-earned favorable reputation, and perhaps most significantly, the trust a customer places in a brand. In today’s age of big data and digital marketing, where consumer goods businesses and merchants build detailed profiles of individual consumers based on data sources, a single data breach can significantly undermine consumer trust.

Winning consumers’ trust will be critical in the future when customer data will be a source of competitive advantage. Companies open and honest about their data usage have the opportunity to win confidence. According to Gartner, firms who successfully build digital trust will engage in 50% more ecosystems, extending revenue generation by 2023. 

Businesses must transition to a mutually advantageous data approach that gives customers greater control and gives them authorization for direct access to high-quality data in return for improved, hyper-personalized solutions with enhanced security and privacy. For this, management must develop a culture, train executives, change its organizational architecture and operating model, and evolve skills, technology, and procedures to improve how customers interact with the company and its goods at every touchpoint.

Read more: All You Need to Know About Dashboards and Data Security

How InfinCE helps to boost Customer Trust

At InfinCE, we see data privacy and security as more than just a risk management issue; but as a possible strategic asset that can be a component of brand building and company reputation. When you subscribe to InfinCE, your valuable data is kept on a virtual private server that is accessible only by your organization. You may safely access your data from anywhere from across the globe through an internet-connected device. Except for the files you download, all data is stored on InfinCE and cannot get saved to a user’s computer. As a result, you get to broaden your business with InfinCE to achieve process improvements, cost reductions, rapid business growth, and, most importantly, increased customer trust.

Some interesting features of InfinCE include: 

• Customizable Dashboards
• Collaboration Apps
• Branded Mobile App
• Business Phone System
• Domain Registration
• Productivity Tools
• Curated Application Marketplace
• Virtual Private Server
• Server and Storage Monitoring

InfinCE’s comprehensive approach, based on numerous layers of security that contribute to increased consumer trust, includes:

• Improved Data Security – Enjoy complete data privacy by utilizing virtual private servers, firewalls, and encryption/password-based access controls.
• Concierge Support – You get to use concierge support via email, phone, and live chat to assist firms in planning and deploying the best technology solutions to streamline operations.
• Device Independence – Access the business management software from anywhere using any device and resume where you left off. 
• Easy Scalability – Scale effortlessly as your business grows by expanding server capacity and storage space without incurring additional expenditures.
•  Simplified IT Management – Build from the ground up, upgrade existing programs, or interface with your existing systems using a unified platform. 

Need assistance determining how to keep your data secure regardless of what? Talk to our experts for a quick tour of the InfinCE platform.

Today’s workplace is a sharp deviation from what it was a decade ago. The pandemic has significantly contributed to accelerating the need for change, almost setting a blueprint for the future of work in the long haul.

While the COVID-19 pandemic seems to be dominating headlines all over again now, with new variants posing newer threats to everyday life, regular workplace functioning has taken a beating. Considering the vagaries of this scenario, the much-awaited return to the office in physical work environments seems like a far cry.

Amidst this continuously evolving workplace landscape, organizations worldwide are adopting innovative tools and technologies to keep pace with the dynamic challenges that are characteristic of today’s remote working model.

As we debate how a hybrid model will dictate the post-pandemic workplace, one thing is for sure – the current day workplace is highly digital, offers more flexibility than in the past, and is in a constant state of flux.

Let’s take a look at the many facets of the workplace that have undergone a significant transformation over the past few years and how they have had an impact on overall workplace productivity.   

1. Employee-oriented workplace policies

Human resource managers have their tasks cut out with today’s digitally empowered workforce. Both employers and employees today value transparency and frequent communication and are looking forward to embracing an open culture that shuns hierarchy. A recent McKinsey report states that organizations that have clear open policies and approaches, and streamlined communications have employee well-being and productivity rise.

An interesting observation is that organizations with a clear mandate about post-COVID-19 work arrangements have a significant uptick regarding employee-reported feelings of support. There is a three-fold increase in terms of a feeling of inclusion and an almost five-fold increase in individual productivity. 

From this, it is clear that a cookie-cutter approach to workplace policies is no longer a sustainable solution. 

2. Increased agility in work environments

The traditional on-premises work model would typically include a standard set of tools such as Microsoft Office suite, a company-wide email network, and an internal communicator application. Today, all of this has undergone an interesting makeover. With the advent of the cloud, we are heading towards an entirely cloud-based system that is equipped with smart tools for better collaboration, increased accessibility, enhanced openness, and embracing agility on the whole. 

The physical work environment has slowly yet steadily pivoted from a fixed location model to a co-working or collaborative workspace. It is supported by the superior technological prowess of IoT and other smart capabilities. In addition, immersive technologies such as augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) show increasing readiness for mainstream business adoption, particularly for conferencing and multi-hosting events. Leveraging the power of IoT and other immersive technologies with their limitations is an important step in determining how successful a remote workplace can guide employee productivity. It remains to be seen, although it offers the scope for immense potential at face value. 

Read more: How A Collaboration Software Can Improve Productivity

3. Rapid skill enhancement/ upskilling via virtual learning

The pandemic has taught us enough lessons on how it is important to be well-equipped to handle change when things come to a grinding halt. Drastic changes in workload allocation with resource crunches have led to an acceleration in the creation of new roles. In such a scenario, it’s essential for today’s workforce to reskill themselves to fit themselves better and contribute effectively to overall organizational changes. In a Feb 2020 McKinsey Global Survey, 87 percent of executives reported going through skill gaps in the workforce or expected them within a few years. Reskilling and upskilling can be path-breaking because they help employees acquire cross-functional acumen, making it seamless for them to work across different business functions. In the same vein, it is seen that the remote working environment is ripe to facilitate on-the-job learning and self-learning activities.

4. Embracing holistic development with a focus on health and safety

COVID-19 has sounded alarm bells concerning employee health and safety. Therefore, dialogue and discussion in that direction have been on the rise, rightly so. Health and legal experts have mandated the need for on-the-job medical screening as a prerequisite to working in offices in the future. To that end, several global organizations are willing to extend support to employees during the pandemic and in the long run with perks such as providing access to mental health resources and childcare coverage. 

5. Sustainability and carbon footprint will assume prime focus

Largely touted as the practice run for the next crisis, climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic has set the stage for organizations to factor in environmental sustainability as a crucial goal. At the same time, they draw up their business objectives. Companies such as Microsoft Corp., Facebook Inc., and Alphabet Inc.’s Google have pledged to become carbon neutral by 2050. Building an environmentally sustainable workplace model must go beyond achieving individual goals such as minimizing carbon emissions. It should be a collective mindset that addresses a mosaic of related issues in tandem and fundamentally becomes the core facet of organizations’ business models.

Read more: Moving to Hybrid Work Culture? Here’s What You Need to Consider!

How does a comprehensive digital orchestration platform like InfinCE come into play while we build a future-ready workplace?

As the hybrid workplace model comes under the spotlight and is here to stay, we can confidently say that technology will play a crucial role in its success. So every organization looking to make a mark at the global level can set itself up for success if they consider digital disruptions the first step toward thriving in their respective industries. Digital tools for friction-free business management can make employee interactions and customer interactions seamless across all types of environments, thus enhancing productivity several notches higher.  

An all-under-one-hood enterprise platform such as InfinCE can arm you with the competitive edge you need to have in today’s dynamic work environment. Replete with a wide array of features such as Calendar and Task Management, Intranet and File Exchange channels, Collaborative Document and File management, etc. InfinCE allows you to up your game with digital transformation, reimagined!

Get in touch with us to know more about InfinCE.