At HappySignals, we’ve just published the Global IT Experience Benchmark Report 2025, based on 2.28 million employee feedback responses from over 130 countries. It’s our most comprehensive snapshot to date of how employees experience IT services and how organizations are using that data to create better, more people-centric support.
This year’s findings don’t just highlight trends: they reveal business opportunities for IT. Whether it’s ticket resolution, communication practices, or personalization by user profiles, the message is clear: real improvements happen when experience data is used in decision-making.
Here’s what one of the most comprehensive datasets of its kind taught us about IT in 2025.
Key findings from the Global IT Experience Benchmark Report 2025
XLAs are just the beginning. Action moves the needle
XLAs remain a major topic in 2025, but what truly matters is the systematic use of experience data in IT decision-making.
Human-centric IT is taking a stronger foothold in organizations, and the numbers prove it: Organizations using experience data consistently are seeing +24% higher end-user happiness and +26% more productivity compared to those that still treat experience as an afterthought.
These Global IT Experience Benchmark Report findings highlight the importance of making experience data part of everyday IT work. When teams use that data as part of daily processes, they not only support happier employees but also improve productivity.
Just 13% of tickets lead to 80% of lost work time
This year’s Global IT Experience Benchmark Report insights expose just how uneven the impact of productivity loss really is. 13% of tickets account for 80% of total productivity loss. That’s a huge signal: focusing on identifying and resolving these critical cases can deliver a large return relative to their number.
When we calculate the average time lost per incident (3 hours and 12 minutes) against a typical hourly cost (€50), we arrive at an estimated €160 in productivity loss per ticket. Multiply that across thousands of incidents, and the business case for smarter IT decision-making becomes hard to ignore.
Experience varies widely by region, not by company size
A common assumption is that large companies must deliver worse IT experiences. But our data tells a different story.
- Happiness levels are consistent across company sizes, ranging from +79 to +82
- Interestingly, the largest organizations (>50,000 employees) report the least time lost per incident (2h 19m on average)
However, the Global IT Experience Benchmark Report shows that regional differences are significant. For example:
- South America, Asia, and Eastern Europe scored the highest in overall experience
- Western Europe gave the lowest ratings
- Cultural context matters, especially when interpreting satisfaction or perceived productivity loss
This makes it clear why IT support should be localized to reflect cultural and regional differences.
IT support profiles explain why one-size-fits-all doesn’t work
Our analysis of end-user personas offers a valuable lens on IT service effectiveness. We group end-users into four profiles:
- Doers (52%): technically capable, prefer self-resolution
- Prioritizers (24%): tech-savvy but prefer IT to solve issues
- Supported (16%): need direct assistance
- Triers (8%): less skilled, hesitant to ask for help
Each group experiences IT differently. For example, in the Global IT Experience Benchmark Report data:
- Doers are the least happy (+77), despite being the most independent
- Supported users report the highest happiness (+87), even if they lose more time
- Prioritizers are the most efficient: high happiness (+84) with the lowest average time lost (3 hours)
Understanding and designing for these profiles allows IT to customize communication, support channels, and expectations, and avoid trying to please everyone with the same solution.
Devices, apps, and portals: the quiet productivity killers
While IT support often receives the most emotionally charged feedback, the everyday tools employees rely on, like devices, applications, and portals, can quietly undermine productivity if they don’t work well.
The Global IT Experience Benchmark Report shows that laptops and desktops continue to be a common source of frustration, particularly when older hardware slows down daily tasks. End-users also report negative experiences with enterprise applications, especially when usability or workflows slow them down.
Service portals show similar issues, often receiving neutral ratings due to poor usability. These frustrations may not always generate tickets, but they slowly erode trust and satisfaction with IT over time.
Communication still makes or breaks the IT experience
If there’s one area in IT where meaningful improvement comes at a relatively low cost, it’s communication. When IT teams communicate in a timely, transparent, and empathetic way, experience scores improve significantly, even in cases where the technical issue itself takes longer to resolve.
On the other hand, vague updates or a complete lack of communication remain some of the most common sources of negative feedback. For teams looking to make a noticeable difference without a major investment, improving how they communicate with end-users is a smart and effective place to begin.
Internal vs. outsourced desks: what really matters is data
The Global IT Experience Benchmark Report shows there’s no significant difference in happiness between internal and outsourced service desks, as long as experience data is being used.
That said, end-users report slightly less time lost when working with internal teams. They are often perceived as colleagues, especially in smaller enterprises, which may positively influence how the service is experienced.
Regardless of model, the message is clear: improvement starts with measurement.
How should your organization respond to this?
The 2025 Global IT Experience Benchmark Report makes one thing evident: experience is measurable, manageable, and strategic.
Whether you’re struggling with ticket volumes, trying to localize global support, or enhancing your digital tools, experience data gives you a roadmap. And with over two million voices behind it, this year’s benchmark provides the proof.
From reducing frustration to increasing productivity, when you put people at the center of IT, everyone wins.
Download the full Global IT Experience Benchmark Report 2025 report here.
Further Reading
Sakari Kyrö
Sakari Kyrö sees himself as an analytical and curious optimist. He holds a M. Sc. in economics, but has since his teenage years been more interested in psychology and technology.
When he got his first radio cassette player for Christmas as a little boy, his first task was to take it apart to see what was inside. The same curiosity for the inner workings of things has now led him to work at HappySignals, trying to understand how enterprise IT could become more human-centric all the while being a win-win for the people of the business, as the business itself.
