Technology: Different softwares used in different companies

I'm someone who's worked in many different places. I've stayed in one large company for a long time but I've earned my keep in a bunch of other smaller companies as well. While there are clearly objective differences between my longest stint and my shorter stints, there are some things that I've noticed that people tend to not bring up when they move around different jobs. Here are some of the few things I've noticed when it comes to the tools.

1. Outlook vs Gmail

The large company I stayed at lived and breathed Microsoft's Outlook. Smaller companies on the other hand used Gmail to work. Outlook is arguably more outdated but it's more systematized. Gmail is more at the forefront but that doesn't mean the company itself is ahead of the game, especially if everyone is just using their personal gmail accounts instead of the business package that Google offers.

2. Internet Explorer vs Google Chrome

My old large company made us work on Internet Explorer, despite all the comments and jokes about it being so slow online. It's the default browser we use to access web applications even though Google Chrome does a better job at it. I reckon it's because IE is less hassle on the digital infrastructure of the company.

3. Emails vs Workhub Apps

My old huge company didn't have any Workhub Apps. All the work was discussed through email. Younger and smaller companies opt to use workhub sort of apps like Podio to communicate and get work done. Podio wasn't the only workhub I used mind you. Transcription companies have their very own specialized WorkHub apps that deal with audio files.


That's about all that I can mention right now. Why did I bring this up? Because I worked at my old job for nearly 2 years now. I can't help but notice how much I miss using those "outdated" tools like IE and Outlook. Maybe they weren't so bad regardless of all the complaints online. Sure I'd agree with those memes if I tried to work on my laptop, but the IT team at my old company found a way to optimize the performance of all computers in the office so that they all work well in unison.

I guess I'm writing this short blog post just to say I took them for granted. Moral of the story is never take things for granted. Thank you for reading.