5 Digital Must-Haves for an Employee-Centric Workspace

The digital transformation of an organization essentially reflects its ability to digitize business processes sustainably to serve its employees and customers. This plays a pivotal role in addressing the top business priorities listed below.

Digital tools and processes in the workspace go a long way in helping employees achieve their peak productivity. Especially in the hybrid workplace, where employees collaborate remotely and their devices move with them across environments.

With the right technology, employers can ensure that company resources can be easily accessed, IT security can be enforced and employees can enjoy a disruption-free experience. Technologies such as powerful laptops, collaboration software and IT self-service portals can all contribute to employees’ output.    

A Gallup survey found 76 percent of respondents cited improved work-life balance as the top hybrid work benefit.

With a digital workspace, employees are not restricted to work from a fixed location or time zone. They can better prioritize their well-being, manage stress more effectively and collaborate with team members easily, wherever they are.

The many business benefits of AI can only be reaped when your workspace supports AI integration. This requires your company data to be digitized and your devices to be compatible with AI workloads.

By embracing digital tools and processes, you can improve your AI readiness and realize its value faster. From simplifying data analysis to helping your employees with everyday tasks, AI can truly transform your organization.

With cloud and data centre innovations, organizations can now provide business apps, data and even a consistent desktop experience digitally across the world. This ensures that employees have everything they need beyond the secure perimeter of the office.

This seamless availability helps employees avoid productivity bottlenecks. They can begin a task at the office and continue where they left off back at home, with no interruption to their work.

To drive employee-centric outcomes at the workspace such as high performance and low levels of stress, organizations must aim for systematic digital adoption. From harnessing AI benefits to facilitating digital collaboration, we have identified five components to incorporate in your digital transformation strategy.

AI-ready devices offer employees a smooth AI experience across compute-intensive tasks such as image and video generation. With the integration of NPUs for accelerating AI tasks, these machines can run AI workloads at the device level.

This improves response times for on-device AI tasks and extends battery life for more hours of productivity. Learn how our partners at Dell can help you bring AI-ready devices to your workspace.

Employees need the right technology to innovate everywhere and empower their digital workspace. CDW and Dell Technologies take a human-centric approach in the design of intelligent solutions to empower users and IT to work and innovate everywhere.

We focus on delighting the end user, simplifying IT and advancing sustainability. This helps architect a plan for the modern workplace that is centred on people and accelerates ideas into innovations. Benefits of these devices include:

• Delight the end user - Achieve efficiency and productivity.
• Simplify IT - Enhance agility with reduced downtime and vulnerabilities.
• Advance sustainability - Empower your organization to make an impact on the future.

Dell’s latest portfolio of Latitude laptops is designed with features that make employees feel more connected to their work.

Dell Latitude 7455

Work efficiently with AI and the new Dell Latitude 7455. The Latitude 7455 Copilot+ PC powered by Snapdragon® X Elite Platform with on-device AI automates your workflow.

Now you can accelerate productivity, spend more time innovating and get ahead of any job wherever it takes you with impressive battery life.

Dell Latitude 9450

The new Latitude 9450 ultrapremium 2-in-1 is designed to run powerful AI-accelerated software for an intelligent experience, seamless collaboration and productivity everywhere. The laptop also features a haptic collaboration touchpad.

Fuel productivity and collaboration with a complete Dell ecosystem that is designed and tested to work better together with your digital workspace.

• Dell UltraSharp 27 Thunderbolt hub monitor
• Dell Premier wireless ANC headset
• Dell Premier multidevice wireless keyboard and mouse

Lenovo ThinkPad

The ThinkPad portfolio now includes the first Copilot+ PC from Lenovo ThinkPad with 40+ TOPS capability. The sleek and ultrathin Lenovo ThinkPad T14s Gen 6 brings to life the convergence of next-level productivity and laptop portability.

The premium user experience combines a minimalist design with a simplified interior, enhanced accessibility and sustainability for design without compromise. Plus, with Microsoft Windows 11, this Copilot+ PC delivers local AI processing, providing efficiency and security in one place.

AI companions that can assist with information retrieval, search and processing tasks can help your employees achieve greater productivity. From composing emails to summarizing long team meetings, these AI companions enable employees to get through the day more quickly.

Learn how products from our partners at Microsoft can help bring AI to your workspace.

Microsoft 365 Copilot

Microsoft 365 Copilot is a new AI assistant that helps you work smarter and faster across Microsoft 365 apps. It can answer your questions, create content and reason over data using natural language commands.

Microsoft Surface lets you engage with Copilot in ways that are natural and intuitive through keyboard, pen, touch and voice.

This allows you to stay in your flow and maintain focus on the task at hand. Copilot in Windows serves as an AI assistant for everyday tasks, streamlining your workflow with personalized support, contextual assistance, insights and suggestions.

By leveraging Microsoft’s AI products alongside CDW’s expertise and dependable solutions, Copilot empowers your business to enhance creativity and unlock productivity, while being protected by a responsible, secure AI platform.

Microsoft Surface lets you engage with Copilot in ways that are natural and intuitive through keyboard, pen, touch and voice. This allows you to stay in your flow and maintain focus on the task at hand.

CDW’s dedicated Microsoft practice is here to help your organisation get started on your Copilot journey. We offer a range of services to support your organization including Copilot adoption, change management and end-user training.

As your employees tackle collaborative projects across locations, they need the right equipment to stay in sync and avoid distractions. The latest collaboration tools allow them to navigate noisy boardrooms, connect from anywhere and work with multiple devices.

Our following partner solutions are designed to improve digital collaboration for your employees.

Poly’s videoconferencing solutions

To create a hybrid workplace that meets employees’ needs and supports collaboration, you need a strategic partner that makes adoption and support as simple as possible. Poly offers solutions for every workstyle and workspace: headsets, video devices, desk and conference phones, management software and global service support.

When it comes to digital workspaces, there are two considerations. The first is the experience of those in the space and second is that of everyone else on the call. A small huddle space will have different audio and video needs than those in a conference room.

A desk in a private office or at home may not require the noise-limiting technology you’d need for a higher-density environment like a customer support floor.

Poly offers a customized solution for your business needs. See some of their complete videoconferencing solutions below:

For large conference rooms

• Poly Studio X70 and TC10
• Poly G7500 with Studio E70

For small conference rooms

• Poly Studio R30
• Poly Studio X30
• Poly Sync 40

For focus rooms

• Poly Trio C60

HP is empowering everyone, from corporate knowledge workers to freelancers and students, to unlock the power of AI. Users can connect with anyone in the world with real-time translation to 40 languages, become master presenters with their personal communication coach and quickly create videos like a pro.

Between HP’s compute devices and specialization in AI and Poly’s line up of videoconferencing solutions, CDW is your one-stop shop for your digital workspace needs.

Lenovo’s Think portfolio

Easy to deploy and highly customizable, Lenovo’s digital workplace solutions offered by CDW comprise a strong suite of products and services to scale along with your needs.

The Think portfolio of products and services allows your employees to connect seamlessly and work smarter, together. Wherever your remote workers do business, empower them with the latest technology. Lenovo’s portfolio includes a range of reliable hardware, software and services purpose-built for the modern workforce.

Lenovo ThinkSmart

ThinkSmart is a collection of smart devices designed to enhance collaboration in meetings with a mix of tools for a more collaborative, productive workforce, no matter the platform or employees’ locations.

Immersive, interactive and high-quality, ThinkSmart empowers everyone on the team to have a voice. Transforming spaces into connected and collaborative meeting rooms is made more seamless with Lenovo’s range of specialized solutions, designed to enable flexibility, productivity and collaboration.

Lenovo ThinkVision

ThinkVision monitors help remote workers feel like they’re in the office, delivering absolutely clear audio and stunning visuals with VoIP functionality, making collaboration a breeze.

Apple’s Mac series

The Mac has long been synonymous with creativity, innovation and efficiency. As businesses continue to evolve and adapt to the ever-changing landscape of technology, the Mac remains a powerful tool for professionals.

How the Mac empowers employees

With a robust operating system and hardware designed to withstand the rigours of daily use, Macs provide peace of mind for employees who rely on their devices to perform critical tasks. Additionally, the Mac's compatibility with industry-standard software ensures employees can easily transition between platforms without sacrificing productivity.

Macs enable employees to work efficiently in the office and on the go. Whether it's a MacBook Air for the everyday knowledge worker or a MacBook Pro for those who require more horsepower, there's a Mac to suit every professional's needs.

Mac is secure by design with built-in enterprise security. Apple can provide this comprehensive approach because they design and build solutions with integrated hardware, software and services that are balanced with excellent user experience.

The Mac's reputation for attracting and retaining top talent cannot be understated. By providing employees with access to Mac, businesses can improve their overall productivity and enhance their ability to compete for top talent in today's competitive job market.

In conclusion, the Mac is an essential tool for businesses seeking to empower their employees to perform complex tasks and workflows on the go. With its reliability, portability, battery life, performance and ability to attract and retain top talent, the Mac remains a valuable asset for organizations looking to optimize their digital workspace.

Workspace ergonomics have an important role to play in keeping employees active and fit. Whether it’s work from home desks or in-office cubicles, furnishings must meet employees’ well-being needs.

Fortunately, our workspace partners at Ergotron offer a range of ergonomic solutions for your employees.

Ergotron’s ergonomic solutions

The way people work has dramatically changed, emphasizing the need for collaboration and productivity solutions tailored to a diverse workforce. To attract and retain top talent, companies must invest in spaces that meet the varied needs of their employees.

Ergotron addresses this by transforming sedentary office environments into active, dynamic spaces that enhance productivity and well-being. Leveraging human-centered design principles and unique technology of movement, Ergotron creates ergonomic products that promote movement and flexibility in the workplace.

This approach helps eliminate the constraints of traditional office setups, fostering a culture of activity and collaboration. Ergotron’s range of products, including adjustable standing desks and monitor mounts, adapt to the personal needs of each individual.

By integrating these ergonomic solutions, companies can build work environments that inspire creativity and yield long-term results. Ergotron’s designs not only improve comfort and flexibility but also encourage a more engaged and motivated workforce.

The commitment to creating active workspaces highlights the importance of movement in the modern office. By prioritizing employee well-being and productivity, Ergotron helps organizations develop spaces where people thrive, ensuring a more dynamic and effective workplace for all.

As you introduce new tools and assets to your digital workfront, your IT administration’s workload also increases. Therefore, it’s essential to modernize your IT service management practices so your digital workspace stays resilient to disruptions and security threats.

Our device management partners at Jamf bring ease of IT management to your digital workspace.  

Jamf Apple enterprise management

Jamf’s purpose is to simplify work by helping organizations manage and secure an Apple experience that end users love and organizations trust. Jamf provides a complete management and security solution for an Apple-first environment that is enterprise secure, consumer simple and protects personal privacy.

Purchasing Apple hardware is only part of the technology equation. How you secure, manage and empower your end users with technology makes all the difference.

Whether you have a handful of Mac, iPhone, iPad and Apple TV devices, or tens of thousands – Jamf has nearly 20 years of experience, a stellar reputation of same-day Apple OS support and a complete security and management platform to extend the Apple experience.  

Trusted Access by Jamf

When coupled with CDW’s legendary support and services, Apple, Jamf and CDW are a winning combination. The modern workplace requires modern management and security. Trusted Access by Jamf is a reliable solution to deliver device management, user identity and endpoint protection.

With Jamf, enhanced security does not come at the expense of user experience. Trusted Access ensures that only trusted users on enrolled, safe devices can access company data. This dramatically increases the security of your modern workplace while streamlining work for your users.

The Jamf platform allows your users to feel empowered and productive, while also maintaining the highest levels of protection for your devices and sensitive company data – regardless of where work happens.