Business Class or Economy: Which DEX Do You Prefer?

If you’ve been on a long flight, (especially for work), wedged in a very uncomfortable economy seat, you no doubt made a promise to yourself to start trading up to business class. As the person in front of you reclines their seat all the way back and just as your plastic fork breaks for the second time, visions of having spacious legroom, a semi-flat bed and real cutlery dance in your head. It’s not that you need the ‘ultimate, life-changing experience’ when flying, but the headphone port that only works in one ear and the TV screen that requires a reboot creates friction that impacts your experience. In short, you want a frictionless flight, or as someone once told me about their recent trip, ‘Simon, it was non-eventful.’ In the same way, it’s what you expect from your Digital Workspace, too and it’s why Digital Employee Experience (DEX) is a thing right now!

The opposite of a good DEX, like the bad economy flight, is laden with friction: Zoom calls that disconnect during a meeting; slow device logon times, too slow SaaS application performance and application meltdowns that must be restarted at the most inopportune times.

Like any travel experience, a poor digital experience also exists in an imperfect world where external hiccups can happen. Your flight may be delayed. An internet outage delayed you completing work tasks that day. This is reality, but in the areas that it can impact, a powerful DEX solution can effectively ensure that friction can be minimised through real time visibility and automated remediation.

Less Friction = Happier Employees

When a worker sits down at their digital workspace with their coffee or tea in the morning they aren’t thinking of a ‘frictionless’ day but if you listen to their desires for a satisfying collaborative and productive workday, avoiding friction is an underlying need.

A mature DEX solution prevents friction by enabling reliable unified communication [no dropped Zoom calls]; identifying and remediating application glitches to support smooth workflows; implementing up-to-date software and facilitating fast connection to all applications [no frustrating slow logon]. It accomplishes this by monitoring and automating remediation to fix issues before they turn into a friction event for the worker.

DEX at its best accomplishes two business initiatives that have been steadily gaining steam since the pandemic:

1. Increasing employee productivity by providing satisfying, efficient digital tools, and platforms, and
2. Intensifying employee engagement and retention by proving you have listened to employees’ needs for digital workspaces that are free of inadequate tools and underperforming end user computing software.

There are numerous studies published on the changing nature of the hybrid/digital workforce. The link between productivity and giving employees what they need for a satisfying digital workspace has become one of the central themes. Qualtrics’ 2025 report on employee experience trends notes nearly 40% “report feeling pressure to be more productive. The pressure primarily comes from trying to keep up with the pace of change, as well as the overall economic environment and strategic changes to the business. When employees feel pressure, they are less engaged, and their well-being suffers.”

Providing employees a less friction-laden experience helps them to meet the expectations of productivity and stay engaged. DEX and individual productivity are inextricably linked.

All Teams Win with DEX – Not Just the Traveller or the Employee!

In the same way that a frictionless flight not only means a happy traveller but a happy flight attendant, a powerful DEX platform that fights against friction is a win across the enterprise, and especially for those in IT! It reduces IT support tickets, thus saving IT staff costs and giving IT more time to address AI and other competitive initiatives. It saves time through automation, and can even save money and the planet! By monitoring workspace performance and obtaining feedback on employees’ use of applications, CIOs, CFOs, and digital leaders can make more informed decisions on new investments and identify computing costs that could be reduced.

Additionally, DEX reduces security risks by defending against threats at the desktop and application point where ransomware can enter. DEX implements patching updates and vulnerability remediation and monitors security controls – adding another defence layer.

Business Class DEX

Employees are feeling more productivity pressures. IT is juggling AI and the need for top-performing applications. At ControlUp, we’re delivering DEX that is doing its part to help employees by providing business class comfort and taking friction out of the work day.