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!

Even as the pandemic unfolded, physical workspaces have started to become obsolete with remote work growing in popularity. A U.S. Census Bureau data reveals that the number of people primarily working remotely grew from 5.7 percent in 2019 (roughly 9 million people) to 17.9 percent in 2021. An Accenture’s 2021 Future of Work survey shows how a whopping 83 percent of employees indicated preferences for hybrid work, while 63 percent of high-growth companies are already implementing hybrid work models to enhance workplace productivity and nurture a culture of flexibility and openness.

With companies world over implementing remote work policies, how well are you covered? Being able to work remotely is a great way to go if you have the right tools. That said, is investing in a comprehensive remote work platform on your radar?

Let’s help you figure it all out in our detailed guide on remote work software and its uses. 

IN THIS GUIDE

• Defining a remote work platform
• Common myths of a remote work software debunked
• Why is a remote work platform essential for today’s digital workforce?
• What are the benefits of a remote work software?
• What are the challenges involved in implementing a remote work software?
• How does a remote work software drive employee experience?
• Why should InfinCE be your go-to other remote work platforms?
• Conclusion

First things first, let’s explore a few myths that are typically associated when the topic of remote work is discussed. Let’s explore a few.

Defining a Remote Work Platform

A remote work platform is a digital tool or platform that allows individuals or teams to work and collaborate on projects, tasks, and assignments remotely from various locations. They are typically equipped with communication tools, task management, file sharing, and video conferencing.

Common Myths of a Remote Work Software Debunked

1. Remote work brings down productivity of employees: Well, this is a big no. A remote work software is equipped to handle virtual communication and collaboration tasks effectively without compromising on efficiency, thus playing a significant role in driving employee productivity. With optimized workflows cutting down on time-intensive processes, remote work tools help build agile teams that are ready to take on the challenges of a future-ready workplace. As the complexities of the modern workforce increase, the time is now to think about a comprehensive remote work platform that handles the a to z of communication, connectivity, and collaboration and helps employees adapt to the evolving needs of a dynamic business workplace.

2. Remote work can leave room for communication gaps: This is yet another misconception that often gets tagged with remote workplaces. A remote work platform helps remote teammates collaborate effortlessly through sharing files on the go over the cloud, manage projects efficiently, and track progress reports frequently by offering an integrated view of several linked workflows. This ensures that cross-functional teams stay well connected and are not working in isolated silos besides fostering an integrated working environment where team members can track project statuses, leads, define tasks, and set deadlines.

3. Remote work demotivates employees: With workplace demographics continuing to shift, the use of remote collaboration tools is on the rise and for good reason. Particularly fuelled by the growing demands to increase employee productivity and cut costs, remote work platforms act as a source of motivation by reshaping the very outlook of work.

Now that we have debunked some myths, let’s define the elements that constitute a remote work platform and understand the benefits it brings to the corporate table. Precisely, a remote work software entails a robust, technological version (aka a digital workplace) of a physical workspace, that encompasses all the technologies that both employers and employees use to get work done in today’s workplace. Ranging from HR applications, e-mail communication tools, core business applications to  instant messaging and enterprise social media tools and virtual assistants, a comprehensive remote work platform consists of a suite of several applications that are meant to transform the employee experience. 

Why is a Remote Work Platform Essential for Today’s Digital Workforce?

In today’s digital workplace, remote work platforms are essential for organizations to ensure seamless communication, collaboration, and project management. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the adoption of remote work platforms for many organizations. Remote work platforms provide a range of benefits to both employers and employees, including increased flexibility, reduced overhead costs, and improved work-life balance.

Remote work platforms enable employees to work collaboratively with their colleagues, thereby fostering teamwork and productivity. By using a remote work platform, employees can work on the same documents, share their ideas and collaborate on projects as if they were working in the same office.

What are the Benefits of a Remote Work Platform?

1. Greater employee retention and talent acquisition: A remote friendly work culture is a perk that any employee appreciates. Given that working remotely gives autonomy and flexibility to employees, there is a good chance that employees would opt for a lower paying job if they could work away from the office. Not just from the employee standpoint, employers also stand to gain with remote work as they get to hire top talent and indirectly save on business costs. 

2. Enhanced communication channels: Today’s digital workforce prefers modern communication channels that allows them to communicate on the go without having to gather in meetings that are all too time-consuming. 

3. Reduced costs: For employers in the digital age, investing in IT infrastructure and physical office workspaces may run into overhead costs in the long run. With fewer people in a physical office setup, organizations can cut down on their real estate footprint, reduce costs to run onsite business operations, including office space, equipment and travel reimbursement.

What are the Typical Challenges Involved in Implementing a Remote Work Software?

1. Steep learning curve: While a remote work software is composed of a bunch of applications serving distinct functions, it’s important for your remote work software to work as a unified platform that helps employees have a delightful employee experience. However, this comes with a certain trade-off. To make the most of remote work, it’s important for employees to be tech-savvy and invest time and energy on getting a grasp of multiple tools, no matter how simple they seem. 

2. Integration issues: It’s important to ensure that your technology teams work in cohesion with your infrastructure management teams to get through the traps of siloed implementations and disparate ownership. 

3. Data security and porting: While employees work with scores of data that gets exchanged across all remote work collaboration tools, it’s imperative to keep a tab on secure data sharing and porting. Switching and porting data between multiple apps leads to significant time losses. For instance, a typical day of a remote worker would involve attending a meeting over a video conference on a separate application while also writing an email via an email tool. So the need to maintain a unified view of data is important. 

How does a Remote Work Software Drive Employee Experience?

In addition to boosting productivity, remote work platforms also drive employee experience. These platforms help employees feel more connected to their colleagues and their organization, even when working remotely. Communication tools such as chat, video conferencing, and messaging platforms facilitate a sense of community and enable workers to build relationships with co-workers and managers.

Remote work software also contributes to work-life balance for employees. They allow workers to work from anywhere, anytime, thereby reducing the stress and time involved in commuting. Additionally, these platforms provide employees with greater autonomy, resulting in improved job satisfaction.

Remote work software is essential for organizations that want to stay competitive and provide the best experience for their employees. By using remote work software, businesses can empower their remote workforce to work collaboratively and productively, regardless of where they are in the world. Moreover, remote work platforms drive employee experience, enable work-life balance, and foster a sense of community among remote workers.

Must-Have Features of a Comprehensive Remote Work Software

We list some must-have features that should comprise an ideal remote work software. While investing in one, be sure to check on them.

1. Collaboration apps: Since collaboration is the lifeblood of remote work, your remote work platform needs to be fully equipped to facilitate video meetings, live chat, and bring up a comprehensive employee directory for quick lookup.

2. Productivity tools: Contextual tools that raise productivity such as spreadsheets, presentations, calendars, and calendars are an absolute must. 

3. Flexible integrations and mobile compatibility: Your remote work platform should be capable of unifying all your existing and future digital systems. This gives you an inherent edge because you are not only able to centralize the technology architecture but also indirectly increase enterprise-level flexibility. This helps businesses to scale up, or down, according to dynamic business needs.

4. Secure cloud file sharing: To support a workforce that’s spread across the globe, your remote work tool should be hosted on the cloud, facilitating employees to to work from any location and from any device, with just a basic connection to the internet. Besides being cloud-based, the tool should also have cloud storage to store all important business files and documents in order to make it easier for employees to access the latest versions of files, whether they are in the office or working from home.

Why should InfinCE be your go-to over other remote work platforms?

The following features make InfinCE truly beneficial for customers and offers them a competitive advantage over other remote work software. 

1. Comprehensive and customizable: InfinCE offers a comprehensive suite of tools and features to facilitate remote work across multiple departments in an organization. The platform can be customized to cater to specific business needs, ensuring a personalized and productive workflow.

2. Affordable and scalable: The pricing of InfinCE is transparent and budget-friendly, with no hidden costs or fees. The platform is scalable and can be adapted according to the size of the organization, making it accessible to small start-ups as well as large enterprises.

3. Secure and reliable: InfinCE is built with enterprise-grade security protocols to ensure data confidentiality and protection. The platform also ensures reliable access to data and applications with 99.9% uptime.

4. User-friendliness: InfinCE is designed to be user-friendly, with a user interface that is easy to navigate and understand. The platform is also compatible across multiple devices, making it convenient for users to work remotely from anywhere in the world.

5. Collaborative and efficient: InfinCE fosters collaboration among team members, making it easier to work together and achieve goals. The platform enables efficient project management, workflow automation, and streamlined communication among team members, resulting in improved productivity and efficiency.

Conclusion

As the modern workplace continues to evolve, and employee expectations shift, organizations that do not embrace the digital workplace risk falling behind. With InfinCE, you can experience seamless, integrated and intuitive collaboration with the perfect remote work software at play! Get in touch with us for a free demo, and we would be glad to chip in!

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!

Unprecedented changes over the last couple of years have dramatically changed the way we work. Combine this with amazing technological advancement and what we have is a rather welcome change – that of mushrooming digital workplace platforms. 

Encompassing all things that employees use to go about their everyday work and collaborative tasks, digital workplace platforms typically help manage internal communications, HR tasks, and other communication needs to ensure smooth functioning of a remote workforce. 

From instant messaging apps to high-end social networks, digital workplace platforms have been gaining popularity for all the right reasons. Key factors that drive this are the market availability of new tools, technologies that are advancing by the day, and employees’  demand for greater freedom and flexibility and of course employers’ goals to offer an improved employee experience. 

In this blog, you can discover how InfinCE’s unique pricing model sets it apart as a go-to digital workplace platform.

The Conventional Pricing Model for Digital Workplace Platforms 

Typically, a conventional pricing model works as a set standard price that is built keeping the average customer in mind, precluding potential custom needs of each customer. It is built with a one-size fits all approach that seeks to address market needs as a whole rather than unique needs of every customer. This makes it economical in terms of pricing as it does not particularly factor in specific buying circumstances of customers. A conventional pricing model for digital workplace platforms does not take into account dynamic price sensitivity, or product market segmentation. 

1. Lack of customizability: A traditional pricing model for digital workplace platforms can come in the way of flexibility. It takes a cookie-cutter approach to problem solving and does not cater to specific business needs of an organization. The guiding principle to remember while you set pricing for a digital workplace platform is to realize that it’s not for yourself, but for your target customers.

2. Not anchored in customer value: A traditional pricing model for digital workplace platforms ranks low on sophistication and therefore ignores important factors such as bundling and differentiation. Since remote work platforms need to be agile, flexible, and easy-to-set up, they need to be priced appropriately.

Read more: Is Remote Work Culture Hindering Your Company Productivity & Growth?

The Benefits of a Unique Pricing Model for Digital Workplace Platforms

1. Flexibility and cost-effectiveness: One of the essentials that you should look for in a digital workplace platform is its ability to be flexible. Competitive pricing that offers a trial version before a customer signs up for a remote work platform for a long period of time is helpful to understand fitment and purpose. This flexibility allows you to avoid lost sales due to high prices or missed opportunities due to low prices.

2. Scalability: Since it is based on real-time value, a unique pricing model helps companies scale up or down quickly as and when their needs change. This pricing strategy allows businesses to adapt very quickly to the changing demands of the business landscape without losing much in the process.

3. Improved ROI: Because of the personalized approach it takes to pricing, a unique pricing model for remote work platform helps increase profits by a significant margin. It is customer-focused and tailored to fit the wants and needs of your specific customer.

Use Cases of Unique Pricing Models for Digital Workplace Platforms

Unique pricing models particularly work for those companies that are looking to make their business operations more agile. Since it is guided by a usage-based model, a unique pricing model helps companies the liberty to pay according to how they prefer to use the remote work software. Some of the companies that have gone this route are tools and technologies. 

Working with a trusted IT services provider that has a unique pricing model helps ensure that end-to-end requirements are taken care of – from equipment maintenance and on-site configurations to training and support for your in-house team.

How to Choose a Digital Workplace Platform with a Unique Pricing Model

Criteria to consider when evaluating different digital workplace platforms: The most important criteria to remember while choosing a digital workplace platform is to see how it ranks on scalability and flexibility. Since modern day business needs are ever-evolving and growing, the digital workplace platform must have a server configuration that suits your business requirements and can be scaled up or down, per your business needs. Secondly, 

Tips for choosing the best platform for your business: Based on your unique needs and business challenges, it is important that you factor in the following parameters while opting for your remote work software’s pricing model.

• Cost-effectiveness
• Flexibility
• Scalability

Read more: Top 10 Digital Workplace Platforms Your Company Can Choose From

Conclusion

Choosing the right pricing strategy is important for a business to scale their IT resources up or down based on their needs, while keeping overhead costs at bay. InfinCE, along with customizable pricing options has features to effectively operate and progress in the digital era. Enabling data security, business continuity with private IT infrastructure, instant communication channels, productivity tools and more, InfinCE makes a perfect partner to stay ahead of the digital curve. Learn more about InfinCE today. Request a free demo!

A digital workspace is the virtual equivalent of your individual workstation. It is an integrated technology framework that leverages evolving technologies to enable you to work online by providing and managing a hoard of features like apps, data, task management functionality, desktop delivery, etc., on any device, anytime. Global Workforce Study 2021 by BCG and The Network says 89% of the respondents expect their jobs to be partly remote when the pandemic ends. So, remote work is here to stay, fully or partially. 

The pandemic caused businesses worldwide to quickly adopt digital workplace solutions to prevent disruption to their workflows. What started as a move triggered by the force of circumstances later proved to be so highly productive and beneficial that most forced adopters became strong advocates of digital technologies. Adopting a digital workplace solution is the first step toward creating a digital workspace. 

Read more: 6 Tips To Guarantee Data Security in a Digital Workplace      

Essential features of a digital workspace    

1. App and desktop virtualization to provide seamless access to your remote workforce
2. Secure and hassle-free access to SaaS apps in one place
3. Easy and seamless file sharing
4. Content collaboration tools to let teams create, edit, review, and post content that can be accessed by the right people
5. Automated workflows that save time and man-hours
6. Unified endpoint management of all devices by a central management console 
7. A single sign-on that provides your employees quick and secure access to data and apps  

You can improve the productivity and efficiency of your remote workforce by choosing the right kind of digital workspace with task management functionality that matches your business needs. Hewlett Packard Enterprise defines a digital workplace as “ a virtualized form of the traditional, in-person office environment, where many elements of collaboration and productivity are performed through some combination of digital applications, cloud computing, and other technology”. 

A digital workplace solution leverages cloud technologies to integrate all the apps and services required for the internal operations of your business on a single platform so that your remote teams can seamlessly access and share data in a secure environment. Companies create unified environments to enable seamless collaboration among their systems.  

So, what is a unified environment?

A unified environment or platform is an efficient, effective, collaborative, and scalable ecosystem consisting of people, systems, and data that work in unison to meet business goals. It enables seamless collaboration among teams and offers secure data access, independent of device and location. 

Salient features of a unified platform  

1. Secure and hassle-free exchange of data between systems and apps.
2. Seamless collaboration among teams across geographies.
3. Central and controlled access to data across all access points.
4. Scalable to accommodate the changing needs of your business. 
5. Enhanced security and protection against data breaches. 

Thus, unified platforms have multiple features that help employees improve productivity and meet goals. The pandemic-induced lockdowns and new health protocols have paved the way for increased adoption of remote work among businesses worldwide. The BCG Employee Sentiment Survey 2020 reports that 75% of the 12000 surveyees are able to maintain or improve productivity on individual tasks, while 51% confirm being able to maintain or improve productivity on collaborative tasks. As working from anywhere is becoming the new pattern of work, companies are increasingly embracing digitalization to overcome the challenges of an ever-evolving business environment.  

Read more: Ensuring Digital Wellbeing With The Right Digital Workplace Platform!

So,  how does a unified environment promote remote work? 

1. Provides a central hub for all business processes, thus eliminating the need to switch between apps to get work done. Multiple modules are integrated on the centralized platform, which can be accessed on dashboards.
2. Allows users to create their own workflows sans coding. Workflows can be reconfigured or changed to meet changing business objectives.
3. Offers flexible integration of apps and data. Data updates are synchronized across all tools, thus breaking silos to enable all pervasive integrations.
4. Uses dashboards for smart reporting. Smart dashboards simplify data analysis and help track and report KPIs and other metrics.  

Digital workplace solutions thus bring together people,  processes, and cloud technologies to deliver secure, efficient, and enriched employee experiences across multiple devices and geographies. They come endowed with a host of features to help your remote teams work smarter for your business growth. 

A smart digital workplace solution will have an extensive suite of collaboration apps to help you connect with your teams faster and smarter to meet your goals. It will help you streamline communication through a series of channels like email, live chats, easy file sharing, individual and group audio/video calls, etc. Above all, you can centrally control your entire IT assets from one place and manage your information assets with ease and security. You can even leverage private business IT infrastructure custom-built to meet your end-to-end needs for enhanced security. 

If you are looking for a digital workplace solution that unifies all your business tools to increase your employee productivity, InfinCE would be your answer. The curated marketplace on the platform includes apps from multiple vendors to meet all your business needs. And what’s more, our experts can guide you through adding custom apps to the platform to increase productivity and improve the experiences of your employees. Whether creating documents, handling emails, scheduling events, or managing tasks, InfinCE’s vast library of productivity tools will help you accomplish your day-to-day activities easily and raise your workforce efficiency. 

Get in touch with our experts or take a demo to know more.   

Changing market patterns, rising consumer demands, and gaining a competitive edge against the big fishes in the market have forever been challenging for small businesses. But as the economy tries to recover from the recent pandemic-driven recession, SMBs are predicted to foresee more challenges up ahead.

Since February 2022, inflation is known to have increased by 2.47% worldwide, making it the top challenge for SMBs in recent quarters. Subject to this, small businesses are now desperately trying to up their game by providing unique customer services, improved customer relations, and enhanced operational efficiency. However, COVID-19 issues stay relevant, disrupting the work patterns and productivity and creating a significant concern over employee safety, wellbeing, and morale.

Adopting the right technology seems like the only key to sustainability and resilience for small businesses. Yet, 80% of small businesses are not fully utilizing available technology.

Why?

This blog will take you through the top 10 challenges small businesses might face while adopting technology in 2022 and ways to tackle them. But before that, let’s look at how technology can benefit small businesses.

Top Benefits Of Technology For Small Business Owners

Considering today’s market challenges, small businesses must primarily prioritize: customers, employees, work efficiency, and profitability.

How can technology help achieve these priorities?

The rising capabilities of the cloud, artificial intelligence, and automation are impacting businesses tremendously, enabling operational efficiency, reducing human labor, promoting transparency, quick decision-making, and much more. Here’s a look at the top benefits small businesses can gain with the right technology.

“90% of CEOs believe the digital economy will impact their industry, but less than 15% are executing on a digital strategy.”
                         — MIT Sloan and Capgemini

Here’s a look at the benefits of technology for small business owners:

• Operational Efficiency: With tools to effectively collaborate, communicate, quickly track performances, and keep everyone on the same page, technology today contributes majorly toward operational efficiency.
• Improved Productivity with Automation: Eliminate redundant tasks with automation to save time and focus energy and resources on essential matters.
• Better Storage Solutions with Data Security: Deploying the rising capabilities of the cloud companies can resolve the most eminent issues of all – data storage and security.
• Remain Future-ready: With the changing market, especially work cultures, staying equipped with technology makes companies relevant and future-ready.
• Enhanced Customer Experiences: Woo today’s customers with services at their fingertips in no time with technology.
• Lower Cost and Improved Efficiency: Save costs on multiple resources, reduce downtime, improve efficiency and drive ultimate ROI.
• Digital Transformation: Deploying the right technology tools from the start of a business gives much ease to transform digitally and deploy rising technologies with time.

Why are small businesses still reluctant to adopt new technologies despite the benefits? Here’s our pick of the top 10 tech challenges small businesses face in their technology journey!

Top 10 Technology Challenges Of Small Businesses

1. Choosing the right software
2. Complexities with new technology
3. Easy accessibility
4. Keeping up with updates & integrations
5. Information security
6. Staying relevant to today’s changing work culture
7. Difficulties in integrating with existing systems
8. Offering employees a unified user experience
9. Cost concerns
10. Getting the right advisory

1. Choosing the right software

With thousands of vendors out in the market, selling more or less the same features, choosing the right software or technology solution itself becomes a major challenge. This challenge is especially major for small businesses due to the lack of proper information they are offered by the software vendors. Plus, today’s competitive work environment might prompt adopting multiple tools cause it’s hard to find all you need in one platform. But of course, investing in all the products that look suitable is quite unreasonable.

Tackling the challenge: It’s crucial that before SMBs make their decision on purchasing software, they thoroughly analyze their technology needs and identify their technology opportunities. Merely adopting technologies to match the competitors can result in huge losses, especially if your company is new to the digital transformation journey. Thus, choose a platform that quickly adapts to your ecosystem, is scalable with your changing business needs and tech capabilities, and can satisfy all your tech needs through a single platform.

2. Complexities with new technology

Adapting to a new digital tool takes time, be it a subtle or advanced technology. This is one reason why SMBs with fewer resources, less time, and more to achieve often hesitate to deploy new technologies. However, the right technology will eventually blend into your routine, making tasks more efficient and time-saving. But a technology that complicates your workflow further cannot be called the right solution.

Tackling the challenge: Invest in a technology that’s user-friendly, easy to navigate, can quickly be set up and get started with, and closely aligns with your workflow. Although, as mentioned before, the first few days of implementing new technology are always rough. Thus, try and invest in technologies that come with a tech consulting service or partner who can walk your company and your workforce through the transition.

3. Easy accessibility

Another reason why small businesses are reluctant to adapt to new technologies is due to a lack of accessibility. Tools or software that can be accessed from only certain premises limits its benefits and usability. Especially for SMBs that need their business up and running from anywhere are likely to lose interest in a platform that limits feature accessibilities.

Tackling the challenge: An apt software for small businesses would be the one that provides secure access to data, productivity tools, dashboards, performance metrics, and other features from anywhere. A platform enabling easy tracking, quick decision making, and effective and centralized IT management from anywhere can be called an ideal technology for small businesses. Plus, mobile support and accessibility are like the cherry on top of the cake!

4. Keeping up with updates & integrations

Most technology platforms come with subscription schemes that, after a while, turn out costlier than expected. There are monthly updates and integrations that one needs to keep up with, or it might affect the effectiveness of the tool. Imagine if you are using multiple apps for your business. Tracking the updates, subscription expiry, and integrations of all the tools would turn out to be a whole new task in itself, challenging the entire workflow and business effectiveness.

Tackling the challenge: Investing in a unified solution that integrates multiple features or functionalities into a single platform would be the best way to avoid such drawbacks. When you have all that you need under one platform, you have more visibility and can better manage your updates & integrations.

Read more: Why Does Your Business Need An Intelligent Digital Workplace?

5. Information security

Information or data security is the most crucial challenge for businesses today. Ransomware attacks were up by 150% in 2020 and grew even faster in 2021. And over 28% of such data breaches in 2020 involved small businesses. Ensuring one’s financial data, IP data, customer information, and other confidential data are safe can be challenging, especially when transitioning to new technology or using multiple apps. The fear of loss to such threats restricts small businesses from deploying new technologies. Also, secured data storage is often a concern for many companies

Tackling the challenge: Utilizing technology solutions that are known to provide effective data security would be the best way to tackle this challenge. Cloud technology is emerging to be most effective when it comes to information security and data storage. Thus, ensure to invest in technology platforms that guarantee data and IT security through virtual private servers, advanced firewalls, and access controls.

6. Staying relevant to today’s changing work culture

The changing work culture today is adding to the tech challenges of small businesses. Companies can no more fix solutions that are strictly apt for office workflow or remote work environments. However, the sudden and inevitable shift to remote work culture has shown an increase in the adoption of technology among small businesses. And that’s why it’s imperative that SMBs choose the right platform.

Tackling the challenge: Be it remote, hybrid, or office work culture, work efficiency, and productivity is what counts at the end of the day. That’s why it’s imperative that SMBs focus on technology that promotes effective collaboration, instant communication, easy and secured accessibility to tools and data, business transparency, and effective and centralized IT management from anywhere.

7. Difficulties in integrating with existing systems

Companies that may be using outdated systems are often reluctant to switch to new technologies, as this would need them to upgrade their entire ecosystem, losing time, money, and resources along the process. However, the reluctance or limitation to adopting newer tools and technology might end up affecting smooth functioning with clients and vendors or even a new digital opportunity.

Tackling the challenge: If your company is new to digital transformation, then choosing a platform or technology that scales with time is highly recommended. A platform that enables seamless third-party integrations and custom integrations will benefit in the long run. And if you are already using a technology that limits integrations, then it’s never late to shift to a solution that enables flexibility.

8. Offering employees a unified user experience

With staff working from various locations today, it has become challenging to keep everyone equally engaged, motivated, and on the same page. Of course, technology is doing much to solve this challenge, but what happens when your staff starts complaining of accessibility issues, incorrect credentials, or server errors?

Tackling the challenge: With the cloud, one can now enable easy and secured access to tools, applications, data, files, and more from anywhere. One can also grant temporary access to clients and vendors for further smooth functioning and unrestricted operations. And when such cloud abilities are added with Custom Dashboards, employees can stay engaged, updated, motivated, and remain connected from anywhere.

Read more: Driving Employee Engagement In Today’s Changing Work Culture!

9. Cost concerns

When running a business on a restricted budget, investing in technology platforms that may or may not be fully utilized for your operations might not be a wise choice. However, most SMBs end up paying on technology more than the benefits received, eventually prompting them to withdraw completely from the investment. That is why it’s imperative to ensure that the technology you invest in is 100% effective for your business.

Tackling the challenge: Invest in a platform that allows centralized IT management. When you have all your data, IT assets, storage, and even employee & client management done from a single platform, through a single login, you gain greater visibility and control over your operational costs. Moreover, let’s not forget the versatile storage management controls, enhanced security, and single sign-on convenience such a platform could bring to the table for your small business. Plus, in time, when you are thinking of expansion you can seamlessly and cost-effectively scale your server configurations and capabilities, and effortlessly power your business goals with technology.

10. Getting the right advisory

Most small businesses might not have an expert IT council or advisory panel within their workforce due to cost pressures. However, bigger organizations often have in-house technology advisory teams that can evaluate and select suitable technology solutions for their prevailing issues. For small businesses, getting the right IT advisory partner or consulting partner is often not considered an option for fear of escalating budgets.

Tackling the challenge: A tech partner is always an asset, whether a small or a big business. However, when the cost is a concern, it’s rational to depend on technology that comes with tech support or a tech partner who can help with the implementation or transition. If not, it’s always best to invest in a technology ecosystem with easy IT management, a quick setup process, and fewer or no complications when implementing.

In Conclusion!

The market is changing, and the competition is tough! If you need your small business to sustain and succeed, you need to invest in the right technology now! As discussed in this blog, deploying technology for small businesses might seem challenging. But if strategized the right way, it’s the best step you’ll ever take for your business. And that’s why we have platforms like InfinCE that makes transitioning to technology for small businesses quicker, simpler, and smarter!

Read more: How An Integrated Digital Workplace Solution Helps Mitigate Remote Work Hurdles

InfinCE is a complete digital workplace that allows businesses of any size and domain to easily adapt and deploy the rising capabilities of the cloud so that they can stay competitive and future-ready. Along with seamless communication, effective collaboration, business transparency, data security, and centralized management, InfinCE creates a secure environment for remote, hybrid, and office work cultures.

What makes InfinCE unique?

• Collaboration apps including video meetings, live chat & employee directory
• Online office tools
• Single sign-on
• Custom dashboards
• Application marketplace with custom integrations
• Centralized IT management
• Business Phone System with smart call management features
• Virtual private server
• Branded mobile app & more!

Read more: The Definitive Guide to Perfect Digital Workplace Solution

Transform your business with improved employee engagement and productivity.

Get in touch with our consultants today! Or just Sign Up for Free!

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.

Ensuring cooperation within the company is vital for a business to operate smoothly. It is even more important in today’s post-COVID-19 era, where virtual workspaces have become commonplace thing. One of the best ways to ensure and impart a sense of belongingness to your employees is to maintain internal branding.

There may be many ways to do this in the traditional office environment, but communicating corporate branding can be tricky in the digital workplace. However, employing a high-end internet software system can help achieve this. Below is explaining how a robust internet platform like InfinCE can redefine corporate branding with innovative solutions.

Read more: Why Should Modern Enterprises Rely on Private Cloud Platforms?

How Intranet Software Boost Corporate Branding

There are numerous benefits of integrating intranet software in the digital workplace for corporate branding. It helps to organize and strengthen overall engagements while clearing ways for achieving corporate goals. Employees are always updated about their organization’s operations and culture, which greatly influence them and keep them committed.

1. Better Communication and Collaboration

Proper communication is fundamental in ensuring the productivity of the workforce. Intranet software is an incredibly powerful solution for facilitating the same. It helps information and content be systematically channeled to the workforce within the internal network and environment of the organization, which in turn builds the platform for better collaboration among all. It also helps promote employee awareness and engagement, and thereby achieve the final goal – internal branding.

2. Helps to Unify Employee Experience

Another great side of intranet software is that it unifies the employee experience. In a corporate work setup, there is often the tendency to confuse the employees with too much information, which may not be relevant to them. This drawback is easily fixed with intranet software as it helps to customize the content and information based on each team’s specific requirements. For instance, when new policies or work procedures are introduced by the organization, each internal team only gets exposed to the filtered out version of it.

Read more: How Can Organizations Profit More from Collaboration Software?

Salient Features of Intranet Software in Corporate Branding

1. Helps to Recognize Employee Contributions

Recognizing each employee for their contribution towards the organizational goals is essential to build rapport and get them on board as part of a sincere and productive workforce. In addition to facilitating peer-to-peer recognition, intranet software helps to identify employee engagement levels and contributions more methodically. It helps to appreciate and motivate them for the daily roles the employee is handling in the organization, while also effectively ridding them of attrition.

2. Facilitates Employee Training

As a business evolves due to various factors such as changes in the product and services, changes in the market, or changes in the government regulations, new procedures have to be implemented and the workforce has to be trained accordingly. While this required lots of effort, time, and resources in the past, intranet software has simplified the whole process. It allows the management to conduct virtual training sessions for all employees and promote healthy conversation within the company.

Moreover, the management can easily ensure that everyone in the organization is on the same page when there is a need for organizing training sessions or awareness programs about any procedure changes.

3. Makes Evaluation Practical and More Accurate

Ensuring proper evaluation of the output of each member in the workforce is essential for setting objectives and figuring out the challenges. Intranet software can be a great tool for the quality assessment team to study each employee individually and find out their strengths and weaknesses. This style of innovative assessment with statistical and analytical data helps the management prepare more effective and constructive feedback. This helps provide a learning ground for the team and improve rather than keep working in the same ineffective work fashion.

4. Helps to Communicate Brand Identity

Integrating intranet software in your digital workspace gives you better chances for communicating your brand identity among your employees. You can customize the software to suit your business concept and establish a friendly communication channel. From choosing a catchy title to picking an aesthetically rich theme, there are myriads of options in InfinCE, which you can use to get your employees’ best cooperation and engagement.

5. Enables Value Reinforcement

Optimizing the intranet software will make it easier for the organization to reinforce the values across all business spheres. This will potentially boost the proper flow of information to the employees. In addition, this will give the company a competitive edge among others. A strong communication strategy is essential for the unification of the workforce and reinstatement of progressive work culture.

6. It Helps to Identify and Promote Talents

Intranet software acts as an effective platform for the employees within an organization to share their views, suggestions, and concerns. When experts share their suggestions with the company, everyone gets a chance to take note of it. Their strengths and expert-level knowledge get acknowledged by everyone. No organization will hesitate to utilize the insights of expert talents and give them ample chances to improve, as this will benefit everyone in the organization.

Read more: Shifting to a Digital Workplace? Here’s What You Need To Know!

7. Provides a Space to Have Some Fun

Organizations can use intranet software as a stress buster, allowing employees to share simple things or respond in their own comfortable and informal ways within a closed circle. Keeping the employees hooked to the intranet software should be your primary aim, and for that, simplicity is very much needed. When the digital workforce is more frequently engaged in the software, it gets more exposure, learning experience, and enjoys it overall. Unlike in a traditional enterprise setup, the conversation across intranet software will not sound like a daily chore.

8. Facilitates Quick and Easy Access to Information

Intranet software allows leaders to broadcast important documents, instructions, guidelines, and all other important stuff without the necessity of waiting for a convenient time. As the system allows the concerned managerial staff to keep track of the read status of the information by the employees, it becomes simpler for them to ensure that the needed information has actually been communicated to the relevant team or employee. Meanwhile, employees can respond with their concerns right away or share their feedback with their team leaders.

No doubt integrating intranet software will improve your internal corporate branding. As the digital workplace evolves every day by leveraging innovative solutions, it is high time to switch to an effective intranet platform and equip your business for the future. InfinCE, from every angle, is worth it. Call our experts today and learn more about how InfinCE can bring a change to your business!

Every business faces two types of challenges – the challenges from within and the challenges from outside. If you could make your employees satisfied, motivated, and excited to work, many internal issues would be solved even before they arise. One such internal challenge is Employee Engagement! Studies have found that more than half of the employees are uncomfortable with their workplace; hence they are not wholly focused on their work. But employing business collaboration software can resolve these issues.

An innovative all-in-one collaboration platform like InfinCE can minimize all workspace-related issues and motivate your employees to work more eagerly and enthusiastically. The most attractive side of InfinCE business collaboration software is that it lets you unify the entire workforce and brings together all of them to strive for a common goal. 

Below explains what you should consider when looking for a perfect team collaboration solution for your business.

Read more: A Guide to Improving Workplace Collaboration for the Modern Enterprise

Criteria for Choosing Collaboration Software

As there are numerous business collaboration platforms out in the market, entrepreneurs often find themselves in a dilemma when choosing one that will benefit their organization. Apparently, there are many things to be considered to ensure effective integration of the software in terms of its cost, output, and scalability. Some of the key features an ideal business collaboration solution should include are:

1. Advanced Communication Options

The primary goal of any business adopting a collaboration platform is to ensure streamlined communication among the employees. Therefore, integrating communication features like instant messaging, audio/video calling options, private and group chat options, etc., into the application makes it a perfect fit.

Different companies have different policies when it comes to communicating within their company. They may even change their communication policies from time to time. For example, some prefer emails, while some others may rely on audio/video conferences. Some may also use multiple communication channels for different employee hierarchies, such as video conferencing with top-level management and audio calling for others.

It is important to keep a tab on these aspects before you finalize a collaboration software for your company. Additionally, it is also essential to check the compatibility of the software across multiple types of devices – PCs, tablets, and smartphones to ensure it improves employee engagement.

2. File-Sharing Tools

Conventional file sharing via email has many drawbacks, and it even exposes the data in emails to cyber threats. Besides, as more and more emails with attachments pile up in the inbox, it would be pretty challenging to find the required data when you need to pull out something quickly before a meeting. However, in a modern business collaboration software like InfinCE, there are many user-friendly options for file sharing, which make it all effortless.

For instance, you can quickly share the link to a file stored in the cloud storage of InfinCE while at a conference. It allows the other team members to access the file and relevant data quickly. It is even possible to set user-level permissions on the files to limit the access to sensitive data for the top management. 

Often, it is quite a nuisance to download a file from one cloud storage space and upload it into the collaboration tool again or upload a file from the local device when you are in a virtual huddle. However, it will never be the same when you use the InfinCE collaboration platform for your business.

3. Event Management Solutions

Meetings and conferences are quite common in a modern business organization. However, keeping all the members informed about a scheduled meeting, getting their participation confirmation, and coordinating the events is no cakewalk. Business collaboration software plays another significant role here by giving you a streamlined calendar.

The integrated calendar in InfinCE allows you to keep track of all the upcoming events from a single dashboard. You can share the calendar with the team members to keep everyone in the organization informed on what is going on in the company, even if they do not need to participate in all planned events.

Read more: How InfinCE Online Collaboration Tool Helps Achieve Your Business Goals

4. Support Services

While moving to a new working ecosystem of collaboration software, we are bound to have many questions. Getting everything on track will take time and requires assistance for the same. With InfinCE collaboration software, you will not face any issues because it offers round-the-clock technical support services via three modes – email, chat, and phone. Be it a simple requirement or a complicated problem, you can reach out to the tech support team to resolve things quickly.

Another benefit of having dedicated support for your collaboration platform is that it flattens the learning curve. There could be many features that you are unfamiliar with and may not have someone to guide you through them. With 24/7 support, you can master the functions of your business collaboration tool in no time.

5. Security Features

Before you choose your collaboration tool, you need to find out the level of security it offers. Does it speak about the security policies, the precautions users need to take, and remedial actions to observe in case of adversity? 

When using a top-level collaboration tool like InfinCE, the admin is entrusted with huge responsibilities to ensure the security of the software. However, the software itself can provide high security only if a well-informed admin monitors the processes from time to time. That is where InfinCE delivers a unified dashboard to help the system and network admin track the security of the tool. At the same time, it also allows assigning roles and integrating security features like two-factor authentication and secured sign-in options to evade risks. Above all, you can count on the transparency of InfinCE for all your security concerns.

Watch: How InfinCE’s Collaboration Apps and Productivity Tools Helps Businesses Gain a Competetive Edge!

How Can You Benefit from Using Business Collaboration Software

When great minds work together for a common goal, the result will be amazing. Business collaboration software creates a space for improved cooperation and lays the stepping stone for achieving impeccable results. Moreover, with effective collaboration among the workforce, the time required for realizing the goals becomes shorter. It eventually translates into business growth and the overall profitability of the company.

Apart from breaking the barriers to business growth due to lack of communication among the workforce, a reliable all-in-one collaboration platform also paves the way for better scalability. When you can monitor all the resources, experiences, finances, and infrastructure from a unified dashboard, it is easy to proactively tackle any challenges and make effective problem-solving decisions. What’s more, when you ensure optimal employee engagement and productivity, you can explore modern markets, build new relationships, and invest in diverse market structures.

Collaboration is an integral part of every business’ success. The above-discussed points highlight how business collaboration software promotes employee cooperation and satisfaction in today’s new world order. Superior innovation, productivity, and efficiency are guaranteed when you integrate a modern collaboration tool like InfinCE and utilize its features to the fullest. Connect with our experts today to know more about InfinCE, or just Sign Up 30 days free trial to explore!

It is no surprise that embracing digital transformation is one of the core pillars of success for any business today. In fact, the COVID 19 pandemic accelerated the digital economy by leaps and bounds as more consumers preferred digital services for some of their most basic needs like shopping, banking, entertainment, and even education. Businesses of all sizes are rapidly investing in making their IT backbone reliable and robust to handle the huge surge in digital environments through which their operations are being subjected to. Gartner predicts that the worldwide IT spending budgets will reach a whopping USD 4 Trillion in 2021.

The increasing money flow is to fund new digital business avenues where most consumers are likely to interact and transact with a business going forward. While the spending on IT is justified, not all businesses may have the deep pockets to have an exorbitantly high IT budget. As a matter of fact, revenues of small and medium businesses (SMBs) have already been affected significantly during the COVID 19 pandemic period. Their financial assets and credit lines are nearly fully engaged in supporting their core business activities and unfortunately, IT may have to take a back seat.

However, if businesses can choose the right IT infrastructure and approach then there is no need to worry about budget overshoots and cost pressures. If we look at the way IT budgets are expected to be utilized across global enterprises as per Gartner, the lion’s share of investments is expected to be gobbled up by communication services and IT services.

So, what if businesses had a way to optimize the way their internal IT and communication can be streamlined at low costs? The answer lies in moving away from traditional heavy legacy IT infrastructure and transitioning into an agile, flexible, and reliable cloud-based enterprise digital platform like InfinCE to handle their end-to-end IT needs.

Read more: Shifting to a Digital Workplace? Here’s What You Need To Know!

So how does InfinCE solve the IT budget problem?

If you want the answer in a nutshell, here it goes. InfinCE is a world-class business management platform that allows organizations of all sizes to run their entire IT workflows on a scalable, cloud-based environment and empower employees to leverage numerous communications, collaboration, and operational capabilities of the platform on a subscription basis. However, for most businesses, it is important to have a full picture of how InfinCE can transform their IT infrastructure into a truly digital-friendly ecosystem without burning a hole in their pockets. Let us explore some key highlights of InfinCE that make it a worthy choice for transforming a business’s traditional IT infrastructure:

1. One-stop IT destination

A key benefit of InfinCE is that it offers a plethora of standard IT operational capabilities under a single roof. From centralized IT management tools to productivity, collaboration, business telecommunication systems, cloud hosting, and custom reporting, InfinCE eliminates the need for enterprises to invest in multiple applications from different vendors to have their IT needs to be fulfilled.

2. SaaS cost structure

InfinCE offers a cloud-based subscription model of deployment for any of its features that an enterprise wishes to incorporate in its digital landscape. This gives the benefit of cost efficiency as businesses only need to pay for the resources they need and when they need them. This is a highly desirable modern enterprise technology pricing paradigm as it allows enterprises to utilize their IT budgets more diligently, eliminate wastages of resources, and only use what they need. As the business grows in volume, InfinCE can be easily scaled up to offer more resources in alignment with the growth prospects be it user licenses, more storage or performance upgrades, etc.

3. Faster time to market

In the digital economy, time is money. Any business would want to bring out their latest tech innovations as immediately as possible into the market to remain competitive. With InfinCE, deploying a highly robust business management system for your enterprise is easier. With lower implementation workflows, highly automated services, and easy integration interfaces, InfinCE can become an integral part of your business in no time. Once on-board, it offers a simple and efficient IT backbone that supports new custom feature implementations faster allowing your business to launch customer-facing services quickly and win over their loyalty. For example, if your business plans on launching a new corporate website, InfinCE lets you set up a business domain, highly engaging website with custom branding options, and a mail server in just a matter of hours, and that too without any coding requirements.

Read more: How InfinCE Cloud Orchestration Platform Can Be A Game Changer For New Business Owners

4. Ease of use

Technology solutions may not be the core forte of every business. Hence their employees may not be tech enthusiasts who can master the learning curve of modern enterprise applications quickly. As a result, it requires extensive training sessions and more time for the fully-fledged operations of your business to be handled by your business management systems. This can lead to loss of competitive market presence as well as increase costs of operations due to prolonged training requirements. InfinCE has considered this pain point of businesses while building the platform and ensured that it has the simplest user interfaces possible to let employees quickly acquaint themselves with the new system. It also has strategically mapped workflows that minimize processes involved in managing the enterprise IT landscape.

5. Effortless collaboration

Whether it is facilitating seamless communication and information exchange amongst employees through productivity apps or empowering different departments or business units to manage each unit’s IT needs efficiently or enabling managers to seamlessly handle multiple projects with reliable reporting and task management, InfinCE lets businesses foster collaboration easily and with minimal costs. Even if the business or any unit within the business has its own preferred choice of software from another vendor, InfinCE allows custom integration thanks to its open-source architecture and seamless connectivity through APIs.

Read more: 6 Ways InfinCE Simplifies IT Infrastructure Management For Enterprises

IT budgets can often be a challenging dilemma for business leaders. They know that in the digital economy, IT is no longer just an enabler, but a direct contributor of value and a competitive differentiator in the market. However, it is important to ensure seamless IT excellence without losing control over costs and management overhead. InfinCE was developed with this philosophy at its core. Get in touch with us to explore how your business can transform its IT landscape with InfinCE with minimal investments.