Like it or not, Gen Z, now 40%Opens a new window of the working and consumer population wants an on-demand experience in and outside of the workplace. Garrett Schwartz, Product Marketing Manager at Adobe details why companies looking to update their technology should embrace the cloud to meet the growing demands of Gen Z workers.
Recently, I met with an enterprise CIO who announced his company was ditching their desktop applications and becoming a full-on Google Shop—all cloud, all the time. His IT department was working quickly to wade through their inherited cloud-based solutions, and they wanted to understand how their current applications would work in this new web-only world.
This isn’t the first company to want to make this change, and, given the amount of remote working being done now, it won’t be the last . More and more, enterprises are moving from desktop applications to accessible, collaborative web- and cloud-based applications. In a lot of ways, it’s a move from me — desktop-based software dedicated to what I’m personally doing right now — to we, programs that live online-only, encouraging sharing, collaboration, and consistency.
This actually isn’t a new model. K-12 schools have been central to driving this shift. Chromebooks might as well be on kids’ back-to-school supply lists. The now-ubiquitous machines are popping up everywhere, with an emphasis on cloud-based storage versus being tethered to a single desktop. Students, then, are searching on Google, sending emails via Gmail, creating documents in G-Suite, and storing it all in G-Drive. They’re a modern-day Google Shop—the same basic setup this enterprise CIO was trying to replicate.
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Moving Beyond the Desktop
Even before the coronavirus, an increasing number of enterprises were shifting to become Google Shops and web-based Microsoft Shops, relying solely on web- and cloud-based productivity tools and applications to drive their day-to-day. The applications that can then play in that sandbox are able to succeed in the new process of business as it makes the transition to new environments easier.
For example, many people work every day in Google Suite, managing their calendars, emails, and documents like JPEGs, PSDs, and PDFs. They, of course, want to stick with what works and what they’re familiar with. Today, a new Adobe Acrobat integration for Google Drive allows users to stay in G Suite, but still use PDF tools like create, view, and annotate without having to switch apps.
Granted, some people are much more comfortable using desktop applications and no doubt will continue as they’ve always done. This is why Dropbox, which started as a cloud workspace recently focused efforts to promote its Opens a new window own desktop application. But Gen Z—now 40%Opens a new window of the working and consumer population—expects an on-demand experience no matter what they’re doing or where they’re doing it.
That’s exactly what web and cloud-based experiences deliver. Enterprises, now, need to play the game for this next-generation worker. We need to follow the learning curve tomorrow’s leaders are establishing today. Enterprises need to think less like a traditional business when it comes to technology solutions, and more like a K-12 environment. That’s, literally, where the future of work lies.
Meeting Gen Z where they work isn’t the only perk either. There are boundless benefits to shifting to a desktop-free approach. For starters, your IT department won’t have to deal with updates or driving downloads for new versions of tools and software—a major headacheOpens a new window for any enterprise.
Beyond that, you and your teams can collaborate whenever and wherever you want. Instantly, every file, program, and tool is available on every device, so no matter where your team is or isn’t, they can keep up-to-date and continue moving things forward. You aren’t bound to your device—or even device type.
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Shake the Cloud Phobia and Go
Again, it’s about thinking more we and less me—Microsoft 365, for example, is a team suite first and foremost. You can collaborate on documents online, without leaving the experience to download, email, and organize. It has also tapped into integrations via third-party platforms to unite with the data, content, and workflows people work with every day.
That’s where the industry is going—toward web- and cloud-based productivity tools. And it’s time your business made the leap into the collaborative, desktop-free zone—to the web realm of things. Yes, it can be anxiety-inducing if you’re feeling a little behind the curve or, simply, if you’re a ride-or-die desktop type. Cloud phobia is real and it’s rampant.
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Implementing Now
The shift is happening now. As businesses have gone remote, the need to adopt and adapt, starting with a move from desktop-based applications to web- and cloud-based solutions, was one of the first necessary updates. Ultimately, it’s for the good of the individual and the company. Gone are the days of hard drive backups on terabytes of separate hard storage, thinking this will preserve your work. Web- and cloud-based solutions mean consistency and real-time collaboration where and when you need it.
While I love a good desktop application, the trend toward web- and cloud-based solutions isn’t going away, and the longer you wait, the bigger that learning curve is going to feel. As businesses are moving to support its remote workforce now, the next step is to keep it going into the future. Take a page from the K-12 playbook, and set up “Shop†where it belongs: online and in the cloud.
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