Source:
Gartner (April 2015)
Goal: The inherent
goal of digital workplace bimodal Mode 2 is to boost employee agility and
efficiency, and to boost employee engagement levels by empowering them and
giving them a sense of ownership over technology strategies.
Value: The value
shifts from investment protection (in Mode 1) to workforce optimization and
empowerment in the digital workplace (Mode 2).
Approach: The Mode 2
approach is to deliver a more consumerized work environment that emphasizes
mobility, integration of social networking services and self-service access to
analytics. Allowances for personal choice and departmental choice of services
(where such choices make sense) are important. A more iterative style of
development is adopted.
Governance: Governance
is more flexible in Mode 2, with greater allowance for exceptions and a
willingness to rethink Mode 1 practices that may have been in place for decades.
Sourcing: By nature,
the digital workplace will be more expansive in its sourcing strategies since
it allows for employee- and business-unit-led procurement, which may result in
consumer-oriented applications and an emphasis on cloud services.
Talent: IT employees
that are close to digital workplace initiatives are typically more
business-focused and in tune with employee technology requirements. They
typically favor an iterative approach to problem resolution and are comfortable
with a fail-fast project strategy, and therefore are more accepting of
uncertainty.
Culture: This is
perhaps the greatest change from bimodal Mode 1. Mode 2 culture focuses on
employee needs, and stresses the role that technology can play in boosting
employee engagement levels. This emphasis on employees requires the IT
organization to foster a continuous dialogue with the employee community to
ensure that it has a loud voice in technology investments.
Cycle Times: Mode 2
emphasizes the ability to rapidly exploit business opportunities and react
quickly to changing business requirements. This results in an agile and
iterative approach to development, faster procurement, a preference for cloud
services, and fast and effective support.
Mode 1, of course, still plays a huge role in the
digital workplace. Many digital workplace services sit on top of Mode 1
infrastructure, and many projects started under Mode 2 — such as enterprise
file sync and share services, enterprise social networks and app stores — will
become part of the Mode 1 operating responsibility as they mature.
(Gartner, April 2015)
