WTF is app sprawl (and how does HR get organized)?

Sifting the hundreds of thousands of tech products available to create the best tech stack that makes sense for your workplace and ensuring it’s future-proofed, is time-consuming. And with AI products in particular evolving so quickly – at times, overwhelming.

In the race to make workforces productive in remote settings in the last few years, companies hit the gas on what was already a growing issue: “app sprawl.”

In using tech to make teams more efficient, many organizations have opened the door to a flurry of new workplace apps – all touting their utility as productivity and efficiency enhancers. While that may be the case for them individually, the effect of them combined has created a somewhat Frankenstein tech stack issue for many companies.

And it’s starting to keep not only HR execs awake at night, but also IT and security chiefs.

App sprawl is only likely to rise as more and more apps enter the market, which is making chief information officers prioritize consolidation and reducing complexity in workplace tech stacks, according to Canva’s 2024 CIO report. A total 72% of CIOs are concerned about app sprawl and 64% say they don’t have enough staff to train employees on new technologies, the same report found.

Meanwhile, the average knowledge worker uses approximately 30 apps per day and will context-switch close to 3,000 in a single day, according to the Harvard Business Review.

We spoke to experts to better understand what exactly app sprawl is, how to avoid it, and what it takes to stay organized.

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