I do realize that a lot of companies never get to this point. My mother’s law practice was literally just her. She didn’t work well with partners if we’re being honest, and I don’t think she’d mind me saying that. My dad’s business probably wouldn’t survive long without him either. However, if the founder is thinking about the future of their company after they’ve left, it can be changed. It can become independent and able to operate without the founder.

This change requires putting the organization above the person (at least when it comes to business matters). For instance, one big thing in small businesses like ours is the “cash discount.” The idea is that if you want to pay cash, I’ll keep it off my books and the IRS will never know, thus I’m saving a lot of money in taxes and can share that savings with the client. This isn’t like a 3% discount if you’re paying cash versus credit card. More like a 20% or even 30% discount that I’ve seen offered. This directly benefits the founder or owner of the company by making more profits that go into their pocket at the end of the year. But it devalues the organization, and on paper makes it less valuable. If the owner then tries to sell their business, it’s worth less because that money never made it onto the P&L or balance sheet.

When it comes to an organization’s data, I use a similar thought process. If I were to leave, or really any member of the organization were to leave, what would happen to their data? Emails, documents, spreadsheets, presentations, these are all part of the organization. In both the Google and Apple world, they have focused on the experience of the individual. Things are tied to a person, like the Drive or iCloud. When someone leaves, that data often leaves with them. We have heard time and time again about documents disappearing from other people’s Google Drives when a coworker’s account is deleted. We’ve also heard about being unable to unlock a Mac or iPad that was tied to a worker’s personal Apple ID. This is by design in their ecosystems, and it works well for that solo founder or very small, stable team.

Microsoft, on the other hand, has always had a dedication to the organization first. Since the start of Windows Server and Active Directory in the 90’s, Microsoft empowered the organization to have its own shared spaces that were independent of any individual person. Sure, there are ways to privatize that data, but there was always a way for an administrator to take it over if needed. Exchange mailboxes are private, but an admin can add delegated control of them to another person. All data can be exported to archive it easily, and it can be moved from the Windows or Microsoft platform to another. Google and Apple both, in their individual-first designs, make this more difficult.

There are lots of other reasons that we partnered with Microsoft exclusively, including total cost of ownership and return on investment, but this core design putting the organization first is the one that I keep coming back to. And I feel it’s the most important difference.

-Nate