Bloatware, or as we affectionately call it, junkware, has always been a problem for businesses across the globe. These unused and hidden programs that never see the light of day on our smartphones and laptops and yet take up all the space and cripple the performance of the devices are costing businesses billions of dollars every year.

The short answer? Not so much! New global research from Freshworks shows that despite a pandemic-driven tech spend surge, nine in ten (91%) employees are still frustrated by workplace tech. It reveals that businesses globally face a potential workplace crisis due to inadequate technology, damaging employee productivity, mental health, and the ability to retain talent. The truth is, the concept of tech frustration is not entirely new.

Incident response is at the heart of great, or terrible, user experience. However, while tools have evolved, challenges – especially faced by L1 agents – still exist. The solution isn’t about getting more tools. It’s about establishing a unified platform across the IT service desk and the IT Operations teams that empowers L1 agents to collaborate across silos with L2 agents, subject matter experts, and DevOps personnel.

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: Improving employee experience is the bedrock of modern IT service management initiatives. Managing day-to-day technology operations and user needs has become more and more challenging, compelling technology to modernize its delivery of services.

As the pandemic pushed businesses online overnight, companies quickly scaled automation and self-service technology like chatbots and knowledge based FAQs to deflect and resolve employee support issues. However, IT teams have a big opportunity to go beyond resolving tech requests and make it a delightful exchange that deepens relationships across the business.