Why Application Overload Is Dragging Down Employee Productivity

In recent years, the number of productivity apps competing for corporate customers has grown considerably. Companies have deployed new applications seeking to boost employee productivity and efficiency. But a new RingCentral survey of 200 IT business leaders suggests the pendulum has swung and companies are now overloaded with apps. The problem is so bad that employees estimate they’re wasting as much as a month a year just trying to navigate apps and interact with data between them all. The survey suggests companies would be better off integrating applications using only the ones that work best. Read on to learn more about the growing app overload affecting corporate users around the world. 

The amount of time app overload wastes in the enterprise might surprise some companies. According to RingCentral’s survey of 200 IT leaders, 69 percent of them reported end users wasting as much as 32 days a year just trying to navigate between the maze of apps and services they have at their disposal. 

Three-quarters of IT professionals told RingCentral in the survey that they’ve found managing all the communications and productivity apps in the office “challenging.” Some professionals went so far as to say that the management is “overwhelmed” suggesting app overload is taking them away from other important job functions.

The biggest problem IT managers face is working with so many vendors, 36 percent of survey respondents told RingCentral. Another 23 percent of IT leaders reported that app overload can reduce employee productivity and 17 percent said that too many apps ultimately reduce user adoption of the solutions at their disposal.

When asked what end users might benefit from most to handle app overload, 31 percent of IT providers said that they’d prefer a single communications platform rather than the varied apps they have now.

Another 41 percent of IT professionals said that they’d like to integrate the business communications apps their comapanies use now into the popular work apps they need to use on a daily basis. Integration, those IT leaders report, would reduce complexity and confusion. 

In a separate RingCentral study of 2,000 end users, the company found that 66 percent of so-called “knowledge workers” would prefer a single communications platform. They said that the move would eliminate the “hassle” of dealing with so many apps each day. 

Reducing app overload could have profound effects on the daily office operation, according to knowledge workers. The survey found that 54 percent of responding knowledge workers say an integrated approach to app communications would save time and 52 percent believed it would improve organization. More than half of respondents also said that they’d do a better job of communicating with colleagues and be more productive by choosing a single solution.

One of the biggest problems for employees, however, is feeling in control of their work. Although integrating apps and reducing overload would be helpful in many ways, just 31 percent of end users said that the move would give them “a feeling of control” over all the work they need to get done each day.

According to IT leaders, the impact of reducing app overload could be sizable. More than three in 10 respondents told RingCentral that the decision to streamline apps would eventually boost productivity. One in five IT leaders thought the move would improve user adoption of all the solutions at their disposal.

Deploying productivity apps is about two things: getting more from employees to boost revenue and reducing costs. But app overload is putting a damper on those effects. However, 21 percent of IT leaders believe that by reducing app overload, costs will decrease and companies will become more profitable.