How Adobe Creative Cloud Makes Life Better for IT Staff and Users
Delivering sophisticated apps as a service ensures users have the latest and greatest features at their disposal.
When Phillips Manufacturing began using Adobe Creative Suite, it purchased different licenses for users at various times, acquiring multiple versions of the software. The resulting software environment required a lot of maintenance and created management challenges for the small business, based in Omaha, Neb.
Moving to Adobe Creative Cloud, which delivers the applications in the suite (including software such as Acrobat, Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign) as a service, helped Phillips Manufacturing get a better handle on its environment and provide a more consistent experience for users, said Christian Lind, the former systems administrator for the company.
“Putting them all on a universal platform just made sense,” said Lind, who participated in a webinar hosted by CDW that was released earlier this year. “It was easy to budget. One consistent payment seems more manageable, like internet service or hosted email. It’s one flat fee that will continue to shrink or grow with your company.”
But an even more important benefit — at least from the perspective of the users who employed the applications — was that the software never got old.
Keep Up with Users’ Needs
Under the old model, organizations purchased a license and received an application that had to be updated and patched for users to get access to new features — provided that the software vendor updated the app at all. With cloud software, those updates are made automatically as soon as they become available.
“You’re always getting access to the latest and greatest features that our engineers are working on,” said Suzanne Wagner, senior manager for product management and product marketing with Adobe, who also participated in the webinar. Even mobile users get the newest features — without having to bring their devices in so IT staff can update their applications.
The automatic updating of the software also delivers a significant security benefit. When a vulnerability is discovered, IT administrators no longer have a race against time to receive a patch from the vendor to address the weakness and deploy it before cybercriminals can exploit the vulnerability.
The Magic of Cloud Storage
In addition to new features and other updates, Adobe Creative Cloud delivers powerful storage capabilities. For licenses with all of the apps in the suite, users receive 100 gigabytes of storage. Users who purchase the apps a la carte receive 20 GB. Organizations that procure Creative Cloud for Enterprise can pool this storage for greater flexibility.
Cloud storage also creates a simple environment for users to share their work. If multiple users are working on a project together, they can quickly share files in the Creative Cloud. For example, a user can make a change and hand off a project to a colleague to make further revisions. The first user will see these changes being made in real time, enabling them to discuss options and collaborate, regardless of their physical location.
The cloud makes management of the software simpler and straightforward IT staff, but users get plenty of benefits they can enjoy as well.