The year 2015 saw a fundamental shift in the way businesses engage with their customers, improve employee engagement, and use digital innovation to improve revenues, capital efficiency, and operating costs. In 2015, Millennials (generally described as 18-to-34-year-olds), have moved past Generation X to become the largest generation in the American workforce, resulting in an increased workplace demand for instance performance feedback via awards/badges, contribute / track / like / share thoughts and ideas as well as insist upon enterprise content access on BYOD “connected” devices. CIOs aspiring to be recognized, by CEOs and other board members, for their digital leadership are now looking to build a Digital workplace that can support the evolving collaboration and instant communication/feedback needs of the Millennial workforce.
As we say goodbye to the year 2015 and welcome year 2016, I wanted to take a moment to highlight some of KL Software Technologies’ (KLST) key products and service offerings that helped our Client’s C-suite leaders and CIOs lead a digital workforce transformation that spurred an enterprise-wide culture of innovation.
1) Digitizing the Employee Experience
Gartner Says Every Employee Is a Digital Employee. In 2015, Millennials have become the largest generation in the American workforce and expected to form more than 50% of the global workforce by 2020. To help implement a Millennial-ready workplace, KLST has launchedConnectORG 2.0an enterprise Social and Gamification platform built on SharePoint 2013 / Online and Yammer. Offering unique communication and collaboration features, ConnectORG allows employees to instantly connect with each other, share thoughts & ideas, conduct conversations, contribute content, receive instant feedback via virtual awards/badges/currency for redeeming in physical stores and build new value together across the enterprise.
Contact us to learn more about ConnectORG and how our global team of enterprise social strategy and technology experts can assist your organization with digitizing the employee experience and improve the workforce effectiveness, especially within Sales teams, Field workers, and customer service staff.
2) Hybrid Mobile Apps gains momentum
“Gartner Says by 2016, More Than 50 Percent of Mobile Apps Deployed Will be Hybrid”. The Web vs. native apps battle on mobile was deemed crucial due to the small touchscreens on smartphones initially. However, driven by “phablets”, today’s bigger, sharper mobile screens have mitigated the size issue. Modern Mobile Web browsers are also enabling Web apps to run as close to native as possible.
In 2015, the KLST Mobility practice helped a number of enterprise clients worldwide define a robust hybrid mobile app development strategy as well as build hybrid mobile apps (one source code – multiple platforms such as iOS, Android, Windows Phone) using technologies such as PhoneGap, Angular.js, JQuery Mobile, Ionic Framework, KendoUI, etc. KLST also released Annotate101 4.0, a native app designed for Windows 10 platform and optimized for Microsoft Surface Pro tablets.
3) Improve Workforce Productivity with SharePoint apps
In 2015, the KLST SharePoint practice helped a number of enterprise clients worldwide define a robust SharePoint “hosted” and “Provider Hosted” app development strategy as well as build SharePoint apps using technologies such as SharePoint Client Side Object Model (CSOM), REST API, JQuery, Angular.js, KendoUI, React.js, bootstrap.js, Windows Azure, etc.
KLST also released new versions of its popular SharePoint 2013 Apps that helped our Client’s C-suite leaders and CIOs lead the digital workforce transformation focused on integrating enterprise social into the way people already work so that the power of human networks (from inside and outside a company) is available to help people get their jobs done – anywhere and on any device:
- Project101 – Centralized Project Management
- Board101 – Read & Annotate Board Papers
- Asset101 – Organized Asset and Support Ticket Management
- Case101 – Streamlined Case Management (incl. Claims Mgmt.)
- Vendor101 – Simplified Vendor Management
- ConnectORG – Enterprise Social & Gamification
- Employee (Firm) Directory app
Contact us to learn more about KLST SharePoint practice and how we can help your organization develop SharePoint-hosted or Provider-hosted apps.
4) Project Management amidst “Digital Avalanche”
In 2015, the KLST SharePoint practice released an innovative Project Management Solution called Project101 designed to make the job of a Product / Project / Administration Manager easier via securely and centrally managing all project-related content as well as providing project, program, and portfolio level dashboards, including Status Report, Tasks, Issues and Risks Rollup Views. Project101 provides a “cost-effective” way to meet your Project Management and Portfolio Reporting needs for a low price of USD $19 per user per month.
Contact us to learn more about Project101 and how this cost-effective solution can be used for your organization’s Project Management needs.
5) Ubiquitous User Experience for Digital Workforce
Gartner Says By 2018, More Than 50 Percent of Users Will Use a Tablet or Smartphone First for All Online Activities. KLST has developed its own SharePoint 2013 / Office 365 SharePoint Online ready Responsive Web Design Framework called “Responsive101” that allows rapid implementation of Responsive Intranet/Extranet Portals and Internet websites that renders beautifully across phones, tablets, PCs, and MACs.
Go ahead and browse KLST corporate website (built on SharePoint 2013/Online) on your smartphone and seamlessly transition your digital experience to your tablet or PC/MAC. Also visit Asset101 Microsite to experience the power of Rich UX driven responsive design with “parallax scrolling” enabled.
Contact us to learn more about Responsive101 and how KLST can help your organization build a mobile-ready portal/website.
6) SharePoint 2016 caters to Digital Workforce needs
Microsoft SharePoint 2016 is slated for release in Q2 2016, but key team members of
KLST SharePoint practice has been busy over the last several months evaluating key “productivity” improvements – our TOP 5 features include:
- Mobile Ready UI for easy mobile/tablet navigation and use
- Durable File Links always works even if you moved the file
- Image and Video previews in Document Libraries
- Easily Share/Deny Access to Content
- Large Files > 2 GB can be easily uploaded.
Contact us to learn more about SharePoint 2016 and how we can help your organization plan for SharePoint 2016 Upgrade Readiness.
7) Follow our “Digital Workforce” thought leadership via Social Media
KLST created a fair bit of buzz related to Digital Workforce Transformation in the Social Media space this year. We have an impressive 9,700+ Facebook Fans on the official KLST Facebook Page and an ever-growing list of Followers on Twitter (@klstinc) and the KLST LinkedIn Company Page. Our official Annotate101 app Facebook Page also continues to attract close to 9,500+ Facebook Fans. Please feel free to follow us on Twitter, Like our Facebook Page, Follow our Company on LinkedIn, or Join our LinkedIn Group.
