I don’t want you to get the wrong idea. I genuinely do like working within an ecosystem. Nine times out of ten, a good enough ecosystem will give you everything you could ever need in order to do anything you want in a work or organizational environment.

That being said….

I have come across a number of different times where what I wanted to do didn’t jive well with how a program or ecosystem was laid out. There are times where I simply wanted to zig when the ecosystem was programmed to zag, so to speak. Sometimes, in order to accommodate what is needed for a broader group, app developers may miss certain things that someone would want their programs to do. I’m not saying drastic things like using PowerPoint to write a novel, but it’s more the smaller things.

It can be limiting

Using an ecosystem can be great, but it can also be less than what you’re looking for. I have, on a number of occasions, downloaded a program that had its own whole setup, and I found after using it a few times that I was thinking of ways I wanted to use it that it couldn’t do. Not that what the program was doing was wrong, but the vibe for me was off.

Similarly, I have worked with other programs that offered way too much, and I didn’t end up utilizing them the way that I should. What is important is that what you’re using the program for is working for you. If you can’t get the fullest out of the ecosystem, then it’s not worth your time, and you may want to consider jumping ship and going somewhere else.

It may not have the format or tools you want

There is something in the tech sphere called the “Graphical User Interface,” or GUI. While you may not be familiar with the term, I can guarantee that you are familiar with the concept. Basically, it’s how everything is laid out, what the buttons look like, their location, and how everything interacts with each other.

For those of us who are quite particular about how things should be laid out, having the GUI look right is critical. I get this. Having a layout that makes sense is critical to my whole working environment. While I’m a little grumpy every time an app developer moves things, I fully believe there was a reason for it. Unlike my wife, who tends to get a little violent with her technology when they move the buttons, I can see why they do that.

THAT BEING SAID, if you are working in an ecosystem and you find that the layout, format, or whatever doesn’t work for you, it can be frustrating.

Don’t keep your eggs in one basket

I think that the biggest argument against using an ecosystem is that it could, in theory, make your data less secure. Think about it like this: if you keep everything in one particular spot (for example, you completely put yourself in the Google ecosystem) and it gets hacked, that could mean that all of your data is at risk in the same spot. It makes some level of sense to be able to manage your data in different ways, and putting everything in one place could make it so that it is an easier target.

In reality, tech ecosystems are intended to offer “everything you could ever need.” The problem is that sometimes when the developers are building the program, they get so tunnel-visioned that they don’t explore other options of what they could offer, and this eventually translates to a limiting system that makes it harder for you, the consumer.

I remember when I was younger, if you had a Mac, you could use Mac programs. If you had a PC, you could use PC programs. There was NO overlap. I do actually like (from a hardware standpoint) that consumers have the ability now to use whichever programs they like.

Again, I like a decent ecosystem, but it took me a few tries to really get one that I liked and had all the functionalities that I needed. Once I found that, I found using my digital systems was much easier.

Do you like working within an ecosystem?

Let me know in the comments section below. If you like this blog post and want to see more, you can follow me on Social Media (LinkedIn, Instagram, Blue Sky and Facebook @jasonlovefiles) or Subscribe to my blog to get new content delivered directly to your mailbox.