New tech vs Old tech – Cloud Computing

by Beth Kolar

So why is it you get something new?  Isn’t it usually because the NEW thing will work better than the old thing?

I mean, it’s different if it’s a pair of jeans you are just replacing – you aren’t looking for a more innovative zipper – you just want to cover your lower half while looking as ‘hip’ as possible.

But in the tech world, we replace the old for entirely other reasons.  We want new technology because it answers an unmet need. Otherwise, we would just ‘upgrade’ what we have, right?

We come across this with clients switching from spreadsheets to CRM or from locally hosted systems / programs to Cloud Computing.  They sign up for ‘new technology’ but then, momentarily, their minds slip back into the old way of doing things and they ask “Why doesn’t my new system do _____, like the old one?”  And we always have to ask, “Didn’t you come to us because you wanted something better than your old system?”

Better always equals different.

Cloud computing ushers in the world of hyper-collaboration, that even being in the same room can’t provide.  Working on a doc simultaneously is nearly impossible outside of cloud computing – or at least it would be VERY irritating, fighting to highlight the same word for different reasons at the same time as your collaborator.  Wouldn’t you agree?  BUT, formatting that same doc kinda stinks (if we are talking Google Docs, for example.) It’s not MS Word, Publisher, or InDesign.  It’s different and it’s better, because you wanted to get more done, faster and as a team.

Different, even of the better sort, is always a trade off.  Granted, you can still use InDesign, MS Word or Publisher… – but why not hammer out the wording and details in a shared environment first?  Why not give all the decision makers a chance to weigh in according to their schedules with a way to keep track of revisions and input? Then spiffy it up… and upload THAT doc for storage and reference later!

CRM is probably the most complex cloud computing system we deal with. Clients have their own processes, built around their old tools and honestly, it can be scary to slow down for a bit in order to learn the new, better way. And then, once things are in place you wonder, “Now HOW does this work again?  I used to just click on the header column and it would resort my list to find what I needed!”  But with more power, more capabilities (read: better) comes different.

So better is different.  Do not throw away better for the same thing you already don’t like, just because you are beholden to a particular system.  Be sure to get training with your new system. And be sure to get something configurable, so that systems can be built around the best practices you have only been able to dream about …until now.