Cloud vs On-Premise: How to Choose the Right IT Infrastructure

25 June 2026

Digital Workplace Strategy 101: How to Plan a Connected Workforce

Workplace connectivity in 2026 is a muddled landscape. Many challenges, from poor strategy to lack of training, mean that oftentimes even the most innovative workplace technology is ineffective, and can actually inhibit communication between employees.

As of 2025, 82% of global CIOs say hybrid working accelerated cloud adoption roadmaps as businesses lift workloads into the cloud to support distributed teams (Gartner). But simultaneously, while 96% of UK organisations say they need to train workers on digital skills, only 29% have implemented formal training plans. For your digital transformation ambitions to succeed, careful planning is necessary.

This blog will break down what you need to do to craft a digital infrastructure that your employees will thrive within. Discover the steps you need to take to craft an iron-clad digital workplace.

Components of a Digital Workplace Model

A comprehensive digital workplace strategy will consider the following five components:

Technology.
1. Communication. Applications like Slack and Microsoft Teams ensure seamless communication no matter where employees are, as long as they have Wi-Fi. Technology designed to promote quick and effective communication is crucial.
2. Information Management. Cloud or hybrid software for hosting and managing sensitive data makes information management simple. Consider what kind of application you need to ensure the right people will always have the right information at the right time.
3. Collaboration and breaking down silos. Applications like Miro and Notebook LLM improve collaboration in key meetings, workshops, and complex projects. You can learn more about Digital Workplace Tools & Solutions with our blog.
Compliance. Your strategy must encompass robust security measures and adhere to industry regulations. Discuss the pros and cons of cloud vs on-premise hosting, research cybersecurity solutions, and consider drafting a business continuity plan.
Functions and roles. Digital transformation is a constant process, so identifying key individuals who will be responsible for managing and improving your digital workplace strategy is something you ought to do upfront.
Metrics. Start considering how you’ll define success, so you can measure the response to any new technology.
Experience. The most important component of all is employee experience. Ensure that any digital workplace solutions you’re considering will improve productivity and make day-to-day tasks easier for the people using them. We’ll discuss this in more depth below.

Considerations & Limitations

The biggest obstacle to a successful digital workplace strategy is, believe it or not, the employees. Without employee buy-in, new ways of working are unlikely to improve efficiency because they won’t be properly adopted.

There are several possible areas of friction you may need to address to prevent this:

Cultural issues. Employees need to recognise the value of the solution and be prepared to commit to it and adapt their workflows.
Change fatigue. Thought needs to go into how you can excite employees about the changes afoot.
Digital dexterity. Can employees manage the new technology? How much training will be required?
Accessibility. Do the new technologies and applications cater to the reasonable adjustments employees may have?
Employee satisfaction. Ensuring the digital workplace strategy is aligned with what the employees want is crucial, so feedback should be gathered at every stage.

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Implementing Your Workplace Design, Step-by-step

Assess business value. Ensure that, before investing in anything new, there’s a clear business case for it. Look for weaknesses in your digital infrastructure and collect evidence to show that considering new ways of working will be more profitable.
Audit everything. Create an inventory of applications and produce a gap analysis to identify the main focuses. You may find that the key areas for improvement are different to what you initially expected.
Set goals. SMART goals involving awareness of stakeholders, attitude of employees will ensure the strategy is focused. This ensures you stay grounded throughout the rest of the process, only investing time and energy into targeted solutions.
Map the employee journey. Ensure you’re aware of employee touchpoints in depth so any changes you make to your digital infrastructure reduce friction instead of adding it.
Develop an efficient onboarding plan. Assign roles and responsibilities, allow for tests, and aim to switch over quickly to avoid preventable interruptions to regular working.
Employee training and feedback. Ensure all employees are confident using the new systems. Use surveys as one of your performance indicators and liberally encourage feedback!

You can find more relevant guidance in our Cloud Migration Checklist.

Developing a Modern Workplace Strategy with Apogee

A great digital workplace strategy aligns technology, processes and culture to keep employees engaged and connected.

At Apogee Corporation, we partner with organisations ready for innovative new ventures. With tailored digital solutions like Process Automation and Document Management, we help to boost connectivity in modern workplaces.

Explore our Digital Workplace Services now.

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