Let's face it - the industry has a "Digital Workspace" problem. The term has been co-opted by thousands of technology providers at this point, all of which try to define the Digital Workspace in a way that skews the definition towards the particular technology they deliver. This has created mass confusion for IT buyers and delays their ability to create and deploy a cohesive Digital Workspace strategy.

Many vendors present their products as "Digital Workspaces", but there is no one singular Digital Workspace solution today. Instead, there is an ecosystem of solutions. But without standard definitions of the various technologies involved in this Digital Workspace ecosystem, it's not easy for organizations to determine which solutions they actually need based on their specific use cases.

Enter the Digital Workspace Ecosystem Alliance, a new consortium of technology leaders dedicated to helping organizations enable secure productivity for all of their people - including remote, in-office, and hybrid workers. Together we are committed to providing the vendor-neutral education and resources needed to empower organizations of all sizes to develop the Digital Workspace strategy that makes sense for their business.

Here at the Digital Workspace Ecosystem Alliance, we aim to simplify the navigation of the ecosystem of solutions so that organizations can easily identify and select only the technologies that address their particular requirements, rather than being saddled with the cost and complexity of products & capabilities they don't need.

The Alliance's first goal is to help standardize the definitions for the various technologies involved in the Digital Workspace to make it easier for organizations to understand their options. To do so, the Alliance today released its first industry white paper - Evaluating the Digital Workspace Ecosystem - which outlines the different segments of the Digital Workspace technology ecosystem. The report provides a definition of each technology, a list of key vendors to evaluate for each technology, and the information needed to help organizations assess which technologies fit their specific needs.

To eliminate vendor bias, all members of the Digital Workspace Ecosystem Alliance agreed to forego editorial rights to this white paper. The Alliance instead selected Brandon Lee, an independent IT professional with more than two decades of experience with virtualization technologies and author of the well-respected VirtualizationHowTo.com blog to draft this vendor-neutral taxonomy of the Digital Workspace. Alliance members were allowed only one piece of feedback - to confirm or deny the accuracy of their classification in the various segments of the Digital Workspace technology ecosystem. Not all vendors discussed in this white paper are members of the Digital Workspace Ecosystem Alliance, to ensure that key industry players from each segment of the ecosystem - regardless of affiliation with the Alliance - are represented.

How does the Alliance define the "Digital Workspace"?

The Digital Workspace is a collection of technologies that can integrate to help organizations enable their entire workforce - whether remote, in-office, or hybrid - to securely and productively work from anywhere (WFx), on any device.

Who is involved in the Alliance?

The founding members of the Digital Workspace Ecosystem Alliance include Cameyo, appCURE, deviceTRUST, directprint.io, Fortinium, IGEL, Login VSI, PolicyPak, Tehama, and Tricerat.  

Can other organizations join the Alliance?

Yes, we will continue to grow the Alliance over time, and we will announce the expansion of the Alliance every time five new members are approved. Membership is open to any technology vendor that offers products/solutions across the various segments of the Digital Workspace as defined in the initial report. All prospective members must be committed to contributing to the creation and distribution of unbiased, vendor-neutral materials focused on market education. Interested parties should visit digitalworkspacealliance.com, scroll down to the "Join the Alliance" section, and complete the form.

What's next for the Alliance?

In the future, the Alliance will continue to issue surveys, research reports, and other vendor-neutral data and materials as a trusted, unbiased source of information for IT buyers. To keep up to date with Digital Workspace Ecosystem Alliance research and data, visit digitalworkspacealliance.com and download the report, and you'll receive early access to upcoming research in the future.  

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About the Author

Robb Henshaw is Co-Founder & CMO of Cameyo where he oversees all global marketing initiatives. His team is responsible for all branding, demand gen, communications, channel marketing, customer advocacy, and enablement at Cameyo. Robb brings 18 years of marketing and communications experience across the SaaS, IoT, and wireless industries with a track record of developing emerging brands from challengers, to thought leaders, to market leaders. 

Prior to Cameyo, Robb was the Head of Global Communications for the IoT Business unit at Cisco, where he led messaging strategy, PR, AR, corporate communications, and social marketing efforts. Robb joined Cisco when they acquired his previous company, IoT platform leader Jasper, for $1.4B in 2016. Before joining Jasper, Robb was VP of Marketing at GetGoing (acquired by BCD Travel), Director of Global Communications at SugarSync (acquired by J2 Global), and Sr. Director of Global Marketing at publicly-traded Proxim Wireless.