Technology

Atlassian has overhauled its Jira Software Cloud issue-tracking application, adding a simplified user experience, new third-party integrations and a product roadmap tool.

The Australian company has been laying the foundation to update Jira for a while, breaking down the application, created in 2002, into smaller microservices and moving it to the Amazon Web Services cloud. The latest stage in Jiraredevelopment is to modernize the user experience and interface.

If you're reading this column, there's a decent chance you're among Google's most enthusiastic users — y'know, the type of person who's super-tuned in to the company's latest launches and is always eager to try out the exciting new app or service of the moment.

And if you are such an individual, there's also a decent chance you're feeling a bit dispirited and let down right about now. The truth is, I can't blame you. I feel that way myself.

I'm not talking about the usual "Holy moly, Google's watching my every move!" kind of concern. No — if you're a Google superuser, you're well aware of the company's business model and the options available to youin that regard. What I'm talking about is the pattern Google has established of drawing its most dedicated users into new services with lofty visions and grand promises — and then, once said users have thoroughly invested in adopting those services and integrating them into their lives, changing its tune and abandoning the efforts entirely.

I was at a huge monitor launch event put on by Dell (disclosure: Dell is a client of the author) in New York last week. One of the things they, and other OEMs spoke about was how millennials are avoiding companies that equip their employees with old out-of-date hardware. The report they showcased was at a firm that I&m not allowed to mention (it dominates its industry and should be easy to guess). At this firm they brought in a bunch of high-quality interns (top of their class kind of thing) and put them on a very visible project with deep implications for the firm. At the end of the project the firm was so impressed it generated offers for all the interns who promptly turned them all down. The reason was the firm had supplied the interns with old laptops and they didn&t want to work for a company that didn&t equip their employees with the best tools.