Types of

Digital
workplace
solutions
Types of Digital Workplace
Solutions

The modern workplace has evolved significantly in recent years, with advancements in technology,
the growing number of tools used to get work done and the emergence of a young workforce.

95% of organizations agree that a digital workplace is important and 44% stated that they
already have a solution in place. A further 17% expressed their willingness to transform their
workplace within two years. Source: 2017 State of the Digital Workplace report.

These numbers prove that organizations are well aware of recent changes and are willing to adopt
digital workplace solutions to get the best out of their teams.

1 - What is a digital workplace?

Digital workplace is a buzzword these days. You might think it is straightforward enough, but actually
different people use it to mean different things. So what is a digital workplace?

As with any pithy concept, the Internet offers a number of definitions. A networking and consulting
firm, the Digital Workplace Group, wrote a comprehensive blog post on different definitions of
digital workplace, counting at least 8 of them. It is worth a read, especially if you are interested in the
concept’s evolution or the philosophical implications of it. Below is the definition we like best, as it is
the easiest to understand:

The digital workplace is the virtual, digital equivalent of the physical workplace.

The way employees perform their activities, communicate with their peers and collaborate on
different projects has evolved over the years. The modern workplace witnessed a significant
evolution from traditional tools like e-mail, fax, intranet portals and specific business applications to
what is currently known as the digital workplace.

A digital workplace represents a holistic user-centered solution used within an organization to get
work done. It integrates a set of applications, tools and platforms for improved communication and
collaboration within and between departments and geographically distributed areas.

Intranet portals that were mainly used for top-down communication and static content in the 90s and
early 2000s represent the backbone of the digital workplace used today. Traditional intranet portals
and digital workplace solutions share some similarities, as they are both used to convey all sorts of
information and represent a common place for employees. However, the growing number of
business applications used daily within organizations, coupled with the need to engage employees
through bottom-up communication, created the need for solutions that can encompass all of these
apps under one umbrella: thus, the emergence of the digital workplace.

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2 - Digital workplace benefits

2.1 What drives organizations to implement a digital workplace solution?

Every digital workplace implementation initiative is driven by different challenges faced by

organizations. More often than not, these challenges include:

A disengaged workforce :
Employee engagement is consistently mentioned as the number 1 HR challenge of the 21st century.
With job markets becoming more and more tense, competition for talent intensifies and strategies
aiming at enhancing human capital are put in place. Companies aim at improving their employee
experience and put digital workplaces in place to achieve that.

An aging intranet portal :

Whether built internally or purchased by an organization, a traditional intranet portal does not
respond effectively to the needs of a modern workplace and the emerging young workforce. The lack
of social dimensions and integration of business processes reduce the solution to being just an
internal website to which employees can connect with no significant impact on the way they operate.

Disconnected departments and subsidiaries :

Communication within and between departments and subsidiaries is key to the success of any
organization. A disconnected workforce can lead to reduced cooperation on projects and the
dispersion of critical information, which directly leads to decreased productivity.

Decrease in productivity :
he increasing number of business applications, tools and even social media platforms used internally
by employees for their daily activities represents a real threat to organizations. The overload of
business tools leads employees to spend a considerable amount of time looking for information and
switching between the different tools, which contributes to decreased efficiency.

According to a 2018 Nintex study, “The Definitive Guide to America’s Most Broken

Processes”, a survey of 1000 full-time U.S. employees,49% of employees have trouble

locating documents. A further 43% identified document sharing and document approval

requests as a frequent problem.

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Types of Digital Workplace
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2.2 Benefits of a digital workplace

Boost employee engagement :

A digital workplace solution has a positive effect on overall employee engagement. First, it improves
the employee experience by better addressing needs and expectations of employees, especially
those of the younger generation. Information and tools are easier to find, processes simpler to use.
A digital workplace also enables employees to work from anywhere, creating more flexibility at work.

In addition to improving the employee experience with technology, digital workplaces provide
motivation levers through social connections, collaboration opportunities and reward mechanisms.

Only 15% of employees worldwide are engaged in their job.

(Source: State of the Global Workplace, Gallup)

Instill your company culture :

Traditional intranet portals were mainly used for top-down communication to convey news and
announcements. Although an effective way to keep employees updated on the company’s latest
activities, this often leaves them unable to participate in discussions and to voice their opinion, which
in turn leads to frustration and disengagement.
A digital workplace solution with social dimensions can provide employees with the possibility to
interact with different types of content through likes, comments and shares. It also acts as a common
place where collaborators can share their opinion, expertise and ideas. Knowing that their opinion is
valued, employees will be keen to participate and interact with their peers, which drives a sense of
togetherness.

Only 13% of employees report to consult their intranets daily.31% never do.

Source : Prescient Digital Media survey

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Boost collaboration :

Companies that promote collaborative working are 5 times as likely to be high performing.
Source: Forbes, a recent joint study between the Institute for Corporate Productivity (i4cp) and Rob
Cross, Edward A. Madden Professor of Global Business at Babson College.

Implementing a digital workplace solution can help organizations change the way employees
communicate with each other and collaborate on different projects. It enables companies to leverage
internal expertise by providing an intuitive virtual environment where business units or
cross-department teams can get together, coordinate its project activities, assets, apps and
discussions and get things done more quickly.

Share Knowledge :

The time spent by employees searching for insights in different business applications and
communication tools is among the most recurrent challenges facing organizations nowadays.

An average knowledge worker spends more than 30% of his work day searching for internal
information.
Source: McKinsey

Knowledge management in general refers to the process of acquiring, storing and sharing
information from several sources and making it readily available to exploit and evolve in a simple
way.

An integrated KMS improves the way employees create, share and find information. It contributes to
reducing the time spent by collaborators switching between the different tools they use to locate
information.

Building a rich knowledge base also helps in dealing with employee onboarding, as newcomers can
access all types of content to facilitate their training and integration.

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Drive innovation :

Innovation almost always happens at the intersection of several fields, when concepts from one area
of expertise are applied to another. That is particularly relevant in business innovation, where
collaborative synergies often provide new ideas and concepts.

The highly interactive nature of modem digital workplace solutions facilitates communication and
collaboration. It also promotes a culture of cooperation and exchange of expertise and ideas within
and between departments. This encourages employees to be more creative and open to contribute
more often, which drives innovation across the whole organization.

Promote employee recognition :

Recognition programs are gaining momentum within the modern workplace. Nowadays, digital
workplace solutions and social media platforms like Linkedin are implementing recognition
programs that let users thank their peers for the work or activities they have done.

Only 53% of American employees feel recognized for their achievements at work

Source: AttaCoin study

Well-implemented recognition programs can help businesses keep hold of their talents and achieve
better results. According to a research study published on Forbes, companies embracing a
recognition culture had a 31% lower turnover rate. This statistic reflects the importance of
recognition within the workplace as it helps in engaging employees, increasing their willingness to
collaborate and interact with their peers. This healthy work environment eventually contributes to
an overall better business performance.

Building a rich knowledge base also helps in dealing with employee onboarding, as newcomers can
access all types of content to facilitate their training and integration.

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3 - Digital workplace Types

Based on our experience with our clients, we identified five types of digital workplaces:
corporate intranet, collaboration platform, enterprise social network, knowledge management
system and full digital workplace.

They differ from each other in the main focus and the main goal that they pursue:
Corporate intranets focus on content
Collaboration platforms focus on collaboration
ESNs focus on social connections and information flow
KMSs focus on knowledge organization
Employee-centered digital workplaces focus on employee experience and engagement

Collaborate Communicate
Entreprise
Social Network
Collaboration Platform
Corporate
intranet

Digital Workplace

Knowledge
Management
System
Recognition
Solution

Empower Reward

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3.1 Corporate Intranet

What is it ?

A corporate intranet usually designates a portal used to inform and align the workforce through
content and top-down communications display. In some cases, the intranet also provides each
employee with access to its tools, external information sources and HR processes.

What’s in it ?

A typical intranet portal acts as a centralized place in which employees can learn about the latest
company activities and access key business applications. In terms of features, it typically includes:
some form of web content management allowing the display of content
and portal capabilities, providing users with access to external links and applications.

With the emergence of modern digital workplace solutions, corporate intranets with their
unidirectional type of communication (top-down) progressively evolve towards more holistic and
employee-centered solutions. However, corporate intranet still designates a solution mainly focused
on content and information display.

Who is it for ?

Corporate intranets are best suited for organizations that are new to the digital workplace and
employee-centered solutions and prefer a traditional, internal-communications-focused approach.
Internal Communication departments are the main beneficiaries and usually the owners of corporate
intranets, which they use to improve top-down communication.

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Example of a Corporate Intranet

The local government of Val d’Oise implements a digital workplace for its employees

The local government of Val d’Oise in France is located

just outside Paris and serves over one million citizens. It is
in charge of the administration of local resources for
infrastructure, school transportation, housing, sanitation,
education and other social services. Nearly 4,000
administrative officers are employed by the local
government, organized into various departments and
project-specific groups.

Val d’Oise wanted to implement a digital workplace to

improve communication and collaboration between
administrative staff spread across several departments at
geographically distributed sites.

The platform called “Mosaik” is a holistic information hub

integrating different capabilities within one solution. The
intranet displays the organization’s news and information,
but also provides each user with useful links and
applications. The intranet also features a social stream,
evolving from pure corporate intranet towards a more
user-centric solution.

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3.2 Collaboration platform

What is it ?

A collaboration platform is a type of digital workplace focused on enabling collaboration across the
organization.

Distributed teams, disconnected and working in silos, lead to lack of innovation and slacking
productivity. It is mainly to address those issues that organizations implement digital collaboration
solutions.

What’s in it ?

A collaboration platform is a type of digital workplace focused on enabling collaboration across the
organization.

Distributed teams, disconnected and working in silos, lead to lack of innovation and slacking
productivity. It is mainly to address those issues that organizations implement digital collaboration
solutions.

Who is it for ?

Digital collaboration platforms are the solution of choice for organizations looking to connect teams
from geographically distributed areas, improve the way they cooperate on projects and promote a
collaborative culture.

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Example of a digital collaboration platform

Oman Business Forum

The Oman Business Forum (OBF) is a professional platform for enhanced and facilitated dialogue and joint
action between the Sharaka Public-Private Task Force and graduates of the Diwan of Royal Court’s
National Leadership Programs.

The main challenge facing the

organization was to find a holistic
collaborative solution to enhance
communication and facilitate the
dialogue and joint action between
different members from the
public and private sectors.

The platform is targeting 500 OBF

members. Used daily by a big
portion of users, the platform has
been progressively improving
communication and collaboration
between different parties since its
official launch. A number of

collaborative spaces have emerged within the platform, in which OBF members discuss and collaborate
on different projects.

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3.3 Enterprise Social Network

What is it ?

An enterprise social network (ESN) is an internal social network that applies social media principles
and features to connect employees and enhance the way they interact at work.

What’s in it ?

ESN solutions focus on employee engagement, in particular in distributed and siloed organizations. A
typical ESN consists of a number of functionalities that can help address challenges revolving around
communication and connectivity, such as:
Searchable rich profiles for each user, usually connected to the company active directory
An activity stream in which users can post, interact and share pieces of content
Communities and workgroups created by users to communicate and discuss topics
revolving around work and other shared interests
An integrated chat application allowing quick discussions between users and groups

Who is it for ?

An ideal solution for organizations looking to promote an open culture, connect and engage their
workforce, ESN sometimes replaces outdated intranets and becomes a centralized hub for the whole
of company information and communication. More often, however, ESNs complement institutional
corporate intranets, adding bottom-up and peer-to-peer information flows. They are the solution of
choice for communication specialists aiming at diversifying their communication channels,
strengthening company culture and fostering internal communities.

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Example of an enterprise social network

The French National Guard enterprise social network connects its 100,000 guards daily

The National Guard ensures public security in France, as well as abroad within French embassies. As
officers work 24/7 in different time zones, the organization needed a communication tool to allow its
workforce to connect, exchange information and participate in group discussions regardless of time
or distance.

In order to address this challenge,

the National Guard put an ESN in
place to complement its
institutional top-down intranet. The
ESN features activity stream,
instant messaging, profiles,
collaborative spaces and unified
search. This way, users spread
across different locations were able
to communicate and exchange
critical information easily.

The availability of the ESN on

mobile devices with push
notifications played an important
role in improving the way guards performed their duty on site as they were notified instantly about
different incidents.

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3.4 Knowledge Management System

What is it ?

A knowledge management system is a type of digital workplace focused on locating, capturing,

storing and making available all types of company knowledge.

What’s in it ?

Knowledge is among the greatest assets of a company. However, often it is difficult to locate –
sometimes because it is altogether unavailable, other times because there is too much information
to sift through. It is also sometimes difficult to capture. Indeed, a lot of knowledge is silent and exists
only in the minds of experienced employees close to retirement, for instance. Knowledge can also be
dispersed when the same problem is solved differently by geographically distant teams without
putting their solutions together and coming up with a better one.

An average worker spends close to 30% of their time searching for company information.

Source: McKinsey

An effective knowledge management system aims at putting company knowledge at the employee’s
disposal. A typical knowledge management solution includes capabilities such as:
An organized knowledge base and an easy way to enrich and update that base so that the most
knowledge gets captured
A search functionality allowing users to find and access information in a quick and timely manner
through keywords and tags
A way to put knowledge into context
A way to share knowledge
A social dimension, with users able to ask questions and capture silent knowledge and also
promote knowledge through social interaction (like, comment and share)

Who is it for ?

KMS solutions are best suited to companies dealing with large sets of information, such as the
consulting/service industry, education sector and legal firms. However, generally speaking, any
company valuing its knowledge and its potential can benefit from a knowledge management
solution.

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Example of a knowledge management solution

The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs builds a knowledge base of French diplomatic information

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development (MAEDI) is the French administration
responsible for implementing the foreign policy of France and for ensuring relations with foreign
states. The ministry is responsible for diplomacy and coordinates the activities of over 250 embassies
and consulates.

With 14,000 employees working in all French embassies and consulates around the world, the ministry
wanted to modernize its existing intranet portal by adding tools to improve knowledge sharing and
facilitate discussions and teamwork.

eXo Platform knowledge management capabilities enabled employees to create, find and share
various types of knowledge in a quick and timely manner reducing the time spent looking for
information and improving overall effectiveness.

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3.5 Employee-centered digital workplace

What is it ?

A digital workplac e represents a holistic user-centered solution used to motivate and empower each
employee to deliver their best. Through an employee-centered hub, it encompasses a set of tools,
applications and platforms for a complete work experience.

What’s in it ?

A digital workplace usually includes all of the capabilities mentioned in the other types, but used in an
employee-centered manner. As the primary concern, the employee experience at work is considered
in an holistic manner, so that relevant tools interact in a way that provides the most benefits. The
capabilities include:
A way to inform employees by displaying content
A social component so that employees can connect to each other and exchange information
A collaboration suite to enable project management and teamwork
Portal integration capabilities so that the employee business apps are at employees’ disposal
within the workplace
Knowledge management capabilities throughout the experience, allowing organization of and
access to company knowledge assets
Sometimes, as is the case with eXo Platform, the digital workplace could also offer employee
recognition tools to motivate employees and enhance employee contributions.

Who is it for ?

Digital workplace solutions are best suited to organizations focused on improving their business
performance through a combination of enhanced business processes and employee engagement..

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Example of a digital workplace

De Gaulle, Fleurance and associates – a Parisian law firm builds a digital workplace for its
lawyers and its clients

De Gaulle, Fleurance et associés is a Parisian law firm specializing in corporate law. Founded in early 2000 by
Louis De Gaulle, today it comprises 175 people, 120 of which are law practitioners distributed in company
locations in France and Belgium.

The company wanted to improve its employee experience, and that of its clients, with a shared digital
workplace. The firm put in place a unified digital workplace with three pillars:
Communication – the solution centralizes internal communications, allowing communicators to create
content and broadcast it to different target audiences
Collaboration – the solution enables collaboration not only between company employees, but also clients
and partners, in a secure manner
Efficiency – the employee has access to internal information, its work tools, collaboration projects, peer
discussions and client work from the same workplace

The solutions brings several benefits to the firm, to its clients and to its employees: better client service,
innovation through collaboration and a modern employee experience.

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Conclusion
what is the future of the digital workplace?

Technological advancements and the emergence of social media apps, as well as trends like BYOT
(Bring Your Own Technology) and BYOA (Bring Your Own Application), have been changing the
workplace and the way employees perform their daily activities.

Enterprise-ready solutions designed to facilitate work within organizations and help employees to
communicate and collaborate have come a long way from traditional intranet portals and e-mail to
digital workplace solutions.

Over the years, solutions have been progressively adopted to respond to specific needs. Intranet
portals deployed mainly for top-down communication evolved into collaborative intranets and ESNs
that offer more social and collaborative features. KMS solutions came into the picture to allow better
creation, sharing and management of information. Finally, digital workplace solutions, as they are
known today, brought all of these solutions together for a complete work experience.

The evolution of the workplace is expected to pick up the pace in the coming years. The introduction
of technologies like AI and blockchain, coupled with the growing importance of employee
engagement and security, will play an important role in shaping the digital workplace of the future.

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eXo Platform is the leading open source provider of innovative collaboration and communication
solutions for businesses, with hundreds of successful deployments.

eXo Platform supports companies of all sizes in engaging their employees, improving their expe-
rience, and encouraging knowledge sharing throughout their organizations. Since 2003, we have
been providing satisfaction to our customers around the world.

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eXo Platform has an online community, more than 200 customers, as well as a large network of certi-
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