The Clouds Are Closing In

We started out with only a few cloud services from the major companies, but the industry has fragmented. Most of us have a bunch of passwords now, and are part of more cloud services than we can count. As times move forward, this issue will progress. Your passwords saved on your iCloud account can’t be used on a PC easily. Your Skype account can’t reach Facetime users. This fragmentation leads to poor communication. 

This article is about ways you can consolidate your data so it can work across all devices.

Consolidate Services

The first and often preferred method is to simply use services that everyone has access to. You can use it on any device you have, like your Android, iPhone, PC, Mac or Linux. These apps are often called “cross-platform”, meaning they work on anything. These kinds of apps simply mean you have fewer logins to worry about because it’s the same on each device. 

Some companies even combine multiple services, like Google. It has email, docs, contacts, calendar, and video chat. These services work from any device to any other device, meaning you have fewer roadblocks with who you want to communicate with, and also have one login instead of many. This is also known as “single sign on” or SSO for short.

One Stop Shop

So the basic principle we like to follow is “less is more”. If you can combine (consolidate) services into fewer companies, you can manage everything from one spot in an easier way. In addition, choosing companies that work on any device will ensure a lasting user experience without having to get different accounts for each device. This significantly simplifies the process of adding new devices and users to access shared data.

Less Is More

To recap, keep things simple. There is no need to use a bunch of different accounts and services when one will do. Avoid closed systems that require exclusive hardware (Facetime, VR, etc) or software that requires users to pay in order to use. Stick to the broadest compatibility.