Surely you’ve heard of customer experience (CX). If you’re a larger organization, chances are you even have an entire department dedicated to it.
But DEX? Probably not. And that’s a problem.
Because while digital employee experience (DEX) might not be a household term (yet), its impact on CX — and your bottom line — is huge. Let me explain why.
From Bank Teller VDI to SaaS Marketing in CX
I’ll quickly rewind to my very first “adult” job when, at 18 years old, I was working as a vault teller at a bank to get myself through college. On paper, it sounds like a great opportunity, and by many means, it was. In reality, however, any given shift often became me versus a glitchy virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI).
I didn’t know it by that name then, but I did know it froze constantly, lagged when I needed it most, and sometimes rebooted itself for no apparent reason. That meant I spent a lot of time saying, “Sorry for your wait” or “Just a moment, please,” while silently begging my computer to cooperate and sweating every time another person got in line. Customers were frustrated. I was frustrated.
At the time, I thought of it as “just bad technology” running on an old computer. What I didn’t realize was that it was a bad DEX, which always bleeds into CX.
The “Aha” Moment of DEX and CX
Fast forward a few years, and I was working in B2B SaaS marketing for a unified contact center and communications platform. Suddenly, customer experience was my world. Every time I interacted with a brand, I noticed the little details of the customer experience.
And I started to connect the dots: the long holds, the awkward silences, the “sorry, my system is slow today” apologies. None of that was because employees didn’t care or weren’t trained. It was because the technology wasn’t keeping up. It was also because leaders weren’t paying enough attention to employee experience (EX) and the impact of bad tools on the front line.
That’s when it really clicked for me: DEX and CX are inseparable. If employees don’t have seamless digital experiences at work with their technology, customers will never have a seamless brand experience.
Why Leaders Get CX but Overlook DEX
CX is not a mystery for most leaders. You know it matters. You measure it, you invest in it, and you tie it directly to outcomes like revenue, retention, and loyalty.
But employee experience, especially the digital side of it? That’s often an afterthought. And, as I’ve come to realize, that’s a blind spot with serious consequences.
When employees are constantly battling slow, unreliable systems, their engagement drops, and frustration (eventually turnover) builds. The ripple effects hit customers almost immediately. Every lag, delay, or disruption chips away at both employee patience and customer trust.
On the flip side, when employees have the tools and tech they need to do their jobs without friction, the impact is equally clear. They’re more engaged, more productive, more likely to stay, and more focused on delivering the kind of experience that keeps customers coming back.
Just like CX, DEX flows straight to the bottom line.
How Digital Employee Experience Software Connects the Dots
Take contact centers, for example. Many agents work through virtual desktops like Citrix or VMware for security and manageability, among many other reasons. (The same goes for millions of employees in loads of other industries.)
It makes sense… until the experience breaks down.
Whether it be a Wi-Fi issue for a WFH agent or a backend infra issue at the office, CX takes the hit immediately.
- Calls drop
- Screens freeze
- Customers get impatient & CSAT drops
- Agents get frustrated and scramble to recover
This is where a strong DEX platform changes everything, preventing these scenarios from ever happening. Digital employee experience software provides full visibility into the digital environment — from the hypervisor to the endpoint — so IT teams can proactively spot issues, resolve them remotely, and, in many cases, fix them automatically before employees even notice there’s a problem.
You get one window for end user experience monitoring, employee sentiment scores, remote control desktop capabilities, and so much more.
That’s not just support. That’s prevention. And that level of digital employee experience management is what keeps workdays flowing, employees online, and customers satisfied.
Create a Workplace That Runs Itself
At ControlUp, we like to say: “Create a workplace that runs itself — so you can run the show.”
I think this captures the promise of DEX perfectly. It conveys what happens when technology just works:
- Employees aren’t battling their tools, frustrated, and leaving work late.
- IT isn’t stuck in reactive mode, solving tickets and putting out fires all day.
- Customers get the kind of fast, frictionless service experiences they expect and will remember for the right reasons.
CX may get the spotlight, but DEX sets the stage. Focus on the employee tech experience. Your customers and your business will thank you.
Here’s my takeaway for anyone reading: the best customer experiences don’t happen by accident. They start with the best employee experiences. Every time. So if you’re serious about CX, you have to be serious about DEX.
See the Story & Start Your Journey
My colleague and EUC expert, Douglas Brown, recently discussed this topic with me for the ControlUp Community “5 Minutes With…” series. Watch and listen below or on LinkedIn.
Curious what a DEX platform actually looks like? Take an interactive tour.
