I really enjoyed this post yesterday from Sam Diaz at ZDNet.
There are times when standardization is more important than quality. It is this world of "standardization" in which Microsoft built its empire. Office wasn't the best option but it was the most available option and became the de facto standard for individuals and enterprises, but nothing lasts forever.
How many individuals rely on Outlook for their personal email? Not many. That's important. One young company I work with has about 20 developers under 30 - not a single one of them has ever even used Outlook. Every day more and more individuals move to web based email applications like Gmail. This trend is also moving into businesses via Google Apps.
Google Apps is a classic disruptive technology and is being adopted first in markets that traditional vendors like Microsoft would find less profitable and less interesting. For example, free web mail for consumers and small businesses vs Windows and Exchange Server customers. Disruptive technology is eventually adopted by more lucrative verticals. 2,000,000+ businesses now run Google Apps including large enterprises like Motorola and Jaguar Land Rover.
I enjoyed Sam's article because it reminds me I'm not alone. I think I have a somewhat interesting perspective on the subject because I was the "PC/Windows/Office expert" for my business unit at a large enterprise for several years. I also spent several years helping businesses understand and implement new Microsoft client and server products including Office 2007 and 2010, Windows, Exchange, OCS, SharePoint, InfoPath, SQL Server, PerformancePoint, BPOS, etc. I moved to a Mac in 2006 for personal use and for professional use in 2008. I transitioned from the Microsoft partner community to the Google Apps partner community in 2009. Once I started using a Mac, I knew I was never going back to a PC. When I familiarized myself with everything that was available in Google Apps and at what cost, I no longer felt comfortable recommending the more expensive and less functional Microsoft platform and I knew I was never going back.
There's nothing inherently wrong with a PC or Microsoft client/server products just as there's nothing inherently wrong with riding a horse. However, when compared without prejudice against other options within the context of specific business objectives, better alternatives become evident. Horses are beautiful creatures but when our specific objective is to get from point A to B as efficiently as possible a car becomes a more efficient alternative. If I'm charged with caring for the horses, selling horses, shoeing, or selling saddles - I am going to be extremely reluctant to agree the car is the better option. My reluctancy is driven by human nature - to challenge the status quo is to challenge how I define myself, both personally and professionally.
There's nothing inherently wrong with a PC or Microsoft client/server products just as there's nothing inherently wrong with riding a horse. However, when compared without prejudice against other options within the context of specific business objectives, better alternatives become evident. Horses are beautiful creatures but when our specific objective is to get from point A to B as efficiently as possible a car becomes a more efficient alternative. If I'm charged with caring for the horses, selling horses, shoeing, or selling saddles - I am going to be extremely reluctant to agree the car is the better option. My reluctancy is driven by human nature - to challenge the status quo is to challenge how I define myself, both personally and professionally.
Applications like word processors, spreadsheets, email, instant messaging, intranets, etc. were implemented so the business could communicate more efficiently. They WERE NOT implemented to meet requirements of an IT team. Mr. Diaz discusses "sorting" as one of California's requirements for email. "Sorting" is an IT requirement, "finding what you're looking for" is a business requirement and enables the business to communicate more efficiently. Arguing that finding an email message is easier in Outlook than Gmail is a tough sale - now take a look at a modern knowledge worker's environment when we need to account for finding a specific email message on a work computer, a home computer, a mobile phone, etc - essentially any internet connected device - and it becomes exponentially easier for a user to find a message utilizing the Google Apps infrastructure vs. Exchange or BPOS. Try searching through all of your Outlook/Exchange messages on your phone or via a web interface - it's awful at best and not possible at worst.
"Bureaucracy defends the status quo long past the time when the quo has lost its status" - many IT teams in large enterprises have become impenetrable bureaucracies. The status quo protects itself, it feels safe but it keeps us and our organizations from realizing our full potential. The status quo is Windows XP, Office, Exchange/Outlook; moving to Windows 7 and the next version of Office is not innovation, it is hiding behind the safety of the status quo. It's time for users that "do get it" to take back their computing experience and stand up for real innovation in their organizations.
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