At Connect Atlanta 2016 this week, we had the opportunity to watch Yahoo Tech founder David Pogue sit down with VMware’s Sanjay Poonen. Great news for us all: we caught this powerful moment on camera.
In this must-watch video for all end-user computing enthusiasts, David and Sanjay talk about how our work and personal lives have been utterly transformed by the lightning-fast evolution of technology.
Here are three of my personal favorite questions and answers with David Pogue and Sanjay Poonen:
1. The Impact of Consumer Experiences on Enterprise Software
David: I’m more of a consumer tech expert, less of a B2B behind-the-scenes stuff. … Twenty years ago, enterprise software was horrible. The interface was bad. People hated to use it. And then they’d go home and use much more elegant hardware and software. Has one started to effect the other?
Sanjay: Us in the enterprise, we tend to get security right. What we can learn from consumer companies is simplicity, and what we’ve been really trying to do is bring consumer simple and enterprise security together. And it’s been transformational for us. … We need to think empathetically about what the consumer wants to use any productivity tool.
2. Consumer Simple, Enterprise Secure
David: Why is that it’s now considered desirable to have corporate software easy to use and pleasant to use, whereas it didn’t used to be. Is it because it’ll increase sales? Is it for general world happiness? What is the driver?
Sanjay: Younger generations, especially the millennials, come in and, as you said, say, “you’re making me use this during the day, when this is what I use in the evening?” … The younger generations, those in their 20s, 30s, 40s, just have a different experience using consumer software, especially on their phones. … That really changes the way one has to manage software today. That has to go deep into the design experience for your product managers, your design thinkers and your engineers.
3. What Is the Digital Workspace?
David: Another phrase you’ve used is the digital workspace. What is meant by that?
Sanjay: To us, it’s sort of like the same way you thought about a digital camera in the past or a digital CD player—anytime you moved from analog to digital. Today, any place where there’s a paper process or manual process that you can digitize … it has tremendous value. Our dream is that you can start working at the speed of life. … We’d love you to just bring up your phone or your tablet, and the apps that the enterprise has – whether it’s a Windows app, whether it’s a web application or a native mobile app – just come to you across the cloud.
Watch the full video here to see all the questions and insights shared between David and Sanjay. Want to learn more about the digital workspace? Visit us here.
