5 Questions enterprises should ask before investing in frontline technology

Why do frontline technology decisions often fail?

Frontline teams are critical to operational performance and happy customers, yet enterprise technology strategies are often most focused on empowering desk-based workers. This disconnect is a major reason frontline technology investments struggle to scale or deliver long-term value.

We believe the latest Gartner® Hype Cycle™ for Frontline Worker Technologies report confirms the gap: “Frontline workers far outnumber desk-based workers… Yet, employee experience technology initiatives largely focus on desk-based workers.”

Point-of-work data capture and process transformation is a massive opportunity for enterprises looking to improve safety, productivity, and overall operational resilience. Yet when frontline realities are overlooked, organisations face fragmented systems, poor adoption, and low return on investment (ROI) or long delays in value realisation.

Question 1: Does this technology actually help (or hinder) frontline workers?

Frontline technology investments often fail not because of lack of capability, but because they unintentionally add friction to already demanding roles. Tools designed without a deep understanding of field work realities can increase cognitive load, distract from safety-critical tasks, and ultimately be bypassed by the workforce they are intended to support.

Some common examples FYLD sees out on site with teams:

• Field workers operating in low-connectivity environments - their existing tools can’t function properly and deliver on-job value while they’re actually on site.

• User interfaces (UIs) that have not been designed with end users in mind - think cold, gloved hands, or an aging workforce that’s not tech-savvy.

• No real-time visibility and resolution of job blockers - especially for managers overseeing multiple teams at once.

Gartner discusses that organisations should “Evaluate solutions based on their ability to work uninterruptedly for hours in the background and provide significant value in little interaction time.”

For executives, the critical test is whether a technology genuinely makes frontline work easier, safer, and more effective - or whether it introduces new burdens to already stretched teams.

Question 2: How quickly will we see measurable value from this investment?

For executives, frontline technology must deliver demonstrable value quickly. In high-pressure operational environments, solutions that take months or years to prove impact often lose momentum and executive sponsorship.

Gartner says “The frontline worker experience initiative often lacks ownership at executive levels. Some initial projects are maturing from the early adoption stage, but most are stand-alone deployments by department heads.”

We see success in our critical infrastructure customers when there’s a partnership between the enterprise and vendor to ensure:

• Clear ownership

• Defined value-based use cases

• Early engagement with and change management support for frontline teams 

Executives should expect credible signals of value within weeks, particularly when technology is implemented with on-site validation and structured reporting against agreed outcomes.

Question 3: Does it help us identify risk proactively?

Fatigue and burnout are not abstract wellbeing issues. They directly contribute to operational risk with real consequences.

Without the adequate tools, FYLD have discovered that field organisations spend 20% of their time on manual risk assessments, suffer injury rates that exceed industry benchmarks by 15%, and see first-time fix rates below 70%. This inefficiency costs millions in labour, incident investigations and customer rebates annually.

Improving everyday application experiences can have a meaningful impact on workforce stability.

“Improving daily business application experiences could reduce stress and improve retention.” says Gartner.

More importantly, frontline technology should enable proactive risk intervention, not reactive analysis. 

Question 4: How does it integrate with our existing tech stack?

Frontline and safety-critical environments depend on specialist systems that cannot simply be replaced. New technology must integrate with and augment existing tools and platforms.

“Explore how frontline worker EXTech can coexist with applications that meet more stringent needs, such as clinical collaboration or purpose-built tools for certain operational work.” says Gartner.

Longevity also matters.

“Many industry-specific applications are crucial for the frontline worker in the short term, but usage decreases over time due to lack of improvements.”

Enterprises should assess interoperability, adaptability, and long-term relevance. In 2026, long term relevance must include whether the platform is data centric and will enhance an organisation’s AI strategy.

Question 5: Will this technology support long-term workforce retention and career progression?

Many frontline tools focus heavily on immediate tasks and alerts, but fail to address long-term engagement and development.

The Gartner report discusses how “Many frontline worker applications highlight notifications for open shifts or immediate tasks that require attention. However, they often fail to identify avenues for long-term career growth, which are proactively offered to desk-based employees.”

FYLD finds that specifically facilitating knowledge transfer (both explicit and tacit) and effective collaboration between frontline and back-office is key to overcoming this and directly impacts retention.

Buyers should evaluate whether frontline technology investments help workers build skills, see progression opportunities, and remain engaged over time.

Conclusion: Frontline technology is a long-term operational decision

Frontline technology decisions influence far more than engagement. The right solutions shape safety outcomes, workforce stability, and operational performance.

Enterprises that ask the right questions upfront are far more likely to invest in solutions that scale, integrate, and deliver sustained value. Additionally, those right questions should lead enterprises to invest in solutions with longevity as AI becomes a transformational technology for the frontline.

FYLD is proud to be named a Sample Vendor in Gartner’s Frontline Worker ExTech research in the Hype Cycle. Book a demo today to see how our frontline intelligence platform helps global infrastructure enterprises achieve 10X ROI, drive down serious worksite injuries and incidents by as much as 48% and deliver 8%+ productivity increases within the first six months of deployment.