It was truly amazing to see all the feedback and discussion after my latest blog post. So first of all, I would like to thank you for that.
In case you missed it, you can read all about it here.

Actually, the idea of a follow-up story was already born within hours after publication.

So, without further ado, here we go.
Let’s start with one of the replies on Twitter, by Shaun Ritchie (@ShaunRitchie_UK):

“With Office 365 + most other apps are going SaaS I think a lot of SMBs evaluating if they need Citrix at all, regardless of licensing”

That’s an interesting statement. I think it’s safe to say that we, IT Pros in the EUC space that is, have been hearing for decades now that “Windows Apps are dead, it will all move to the Web/Cloud”.
The reality is however, Windows Apps are still very much alive and relevant today, and even new ones keep being developed and released.

Sure, for true greenfield applications, a web/cloud app is the way to go, but how many of those are out there? The majority of apps in any business have some form of legacy embedded in them. This can be legacy apps AND/OR legacy data. And to successfully transform a Windows/legacy app to a Cloud/Web App, that’s a completely different ballgame.

So with all those (Windows/legacy) apps out there, it all comes down to application delivery. It’s not about a VDI, it’s not about DaaS, it’s about Apps. And we live in a world where nothing really ever dies. There are still a considerable amount of companies using and developing COBOL applications today. They are even hiring! Let that sink in for a moment.

I do believe Cloud/web is part of the solution for the future, but I don’t believe it IS the solution.

Let’s throw an answer to this statement on Twitter in the mix by James Priest (@TheSmilingSE):

“That’s definitely true too, the SMB “SurfacePro” enabled user with O365 actually meets a lot of the old road warrior requirements now”

Again, Office 365 is mentioned. Again, very interesting indeed. Sure, O365 is/was a game changer for many companies. But why? Because it is “better” than their old local Exchange server?
I don’t think so. It’s not about being “better” it’s about being “more convenient”. For any company nowadays it has become extremely hard to run a local Exchange server. Just look at the price of Office 365, who can run a local Exchange for that money? I think you can answer that question for yourself.

While on the topic of money and therefore budgets… we really need to stop saying “cloud is cheap(er)”. It isn’t.

So in the end, for Cloud (Apps) to succeed, we need to make it more convenient for companies to make the switch. Users need their apps and data in those apps. We “just” need to deliver those apps the most convenient way, not the best way.

Thanks

Bart Jacobs