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My current employer is using Win 7 and Office 2007 and only updated from Win XP and Office 2003 as of last December. The problem is that Office 2007...well, SUCKS! I mean there are so many issues with that version of Office. The E-mail is ridiculously slow (e-mails get missed even when doing send and receives every minute). Excel is plain broken, since DDE opens everything in the same instance/window and makes it impossible to use the dual monitor setup I have. I cannot move the window without it being "un-full" sized. This is just a small portion of all of the problems with Office 2007.

I mentioned to one of the IT managers that it sucks and if we could get Office 2013 or Office 365. He replied "most likely not considering it is not a pressing issue at the moment." So, my next step I thought is to ask my manager to see if I can use my own laptop and tablet to do my work on (I have a legit version of 2016) since their version of Office is just so darn frustrating and disrupts my workflow immensely. Should I ask to use my personal devices without being at the company for a relatively lengthy time or without a more managerial title? Or is there a way for me to get Office 2013/2016 via my work? Do any of you use personal devices for work?

G.T.D.
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    Have you considered installing OpenOffice or LibreOffice and freeing yourself from your dependency upon Microsoft's tools? – keshlam Feb 08 '16 at 01:39
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    ... you could just open two excel instances? I did that all the time in Excel 2007. This feels like a complete rant. If I was a manager (or IT) worried about long-term stability of a company, this list of "complaints" is not even close to something that would convince me. – enderland Feb 08 '16 at 02:07
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    I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it is a duplicate of "How do I request new equipment for the office?" but reads more like a rant than a practical question and is not useful as a redirect to the parent question. – Lilienthal Feb 08 '16 at 09:44
  • Note that unless the licensing model has changed, you aren't allowed to use a personally licensed version of Office for professional purposes, so that's a non-starter. – Lilienthal Feb 08 '16 at 09:45
  • If you approach this with your boss in the same tone as the question ("this software sucks"), it will not be very inspiring. Start by maknig a case for the value added, or how it will help you complete your assigned tasks. – Brandin Feb 08 '16 at 16:38

2 Answers2

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I wouldn't suggest pushing for improved software OR using your personal computers - as frustrating as it may be, it's best to just deal with what you're given.

I say this for a few reasons:

  1. You've already asked the IT manager if an upgrade was in order with a negative, and it doesn't sound like it IS a pressing issue. While it may disrupt your workflow, you'd have to think of the company as a whole - how many employees are there? Each one of them would need an upgrade for simplicity's sake, as compatibility issues will be much more disruptive than managing windows. Even if your company only has 20 people, for the office suite with all the required business apps is $8.25 per user per month, billed annually - $1980 upfront costs because of one employee complaint isn't justifiable.

  2. Using your personal computer in a work setting is something I'd really advise against. Even if they do allow it, you're getting into a grey area where they'll likely want to install some sort of program to connect you to the system, and then they may have some legal issues regarding security or file ownership.

What you're experiencing is kind of the norm for companies - there are always ways to improve and always new software, but unless you're at a startup with a huge software budget, you're probably stuck with what you have... I know a lot of clients still on XP with Office 2003. If it works, don't fix it.

Danny Santoro
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It's unrealistic to expect the whole company to upgrade when they have recently done so just to suit one new employee.

As for using your personal equipment. You can ask. But if you're on a domain working off server data the chances are it's not an option. There would be too many security considerations and other network issues involved, IT would not be impressed. On top of that you would then be responsible for company data and backing up your work, and if something happened to your machine at work it could get messy.

This is normal, it's usually the IT people's responsibility to make sure staff have the tools they need. You have already asked and (quite rightly in my opinion) been turned down. Pushing the issue is not going to go down well unless you have more status in the company and other valid reasons that you can convince IT with.

Kilisi
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    I will also point out that if they let you use your personal equipment, then they might just want to wipe it clean when you leave. IT security people are often funny that way. – HLGEM Feb 08 '16 at 15:18