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When Content Decays, Productivity SuffersStrengthen Collaboration and Simplify IT Management by Standardizing on One Platform

What’s the next challenge that’s about to hit your IT infrastructure? You can find it inside your employees’ desk drawers, briefcases, and pockets. You’ll see a wide variety of devices and computing platforms—laptops running different editions of Windows®, Apple® Mac® systems, Google™ Android™ smartphones, and the latest Apple® iPad® and iPhone® devices. And all your users want to connect their devices to your network without a second thought about platform support or security.

There is a name for this state of affairs: like it or not, you are

experiencing the consumerization of IT.

This chaotic environment complicates your job. The

consumerization of IT can make it very difficult and costly to

meet users’ expectations while also hitting your service-level

agreements (SLAs), protecting sensitive data, and following

compliance requirements. Furthermore, multiplatform

environments are beginning to show another crack that directly

touches on the user experience and impedes successful

collaboration: content decay.

Applications that run on platforms based on Windows, iOS®,

and Android operating systems are not identical. When you

create content in an application on one platform, then display

it using an application—even the same application on another

platform—the content often displays incorrectly. Worse yet,

if you then make changes and insert comments based on

content that is displayed incorrectly, the content deteriorates

further, and you have content decay.

The Pitfalls of Content DecayIn a multiplatform environment, vital collaboration can suffer

because of content decay, leading to misunderstandings that

can hamper productivity, communication, and collaboration.

Users want to be sure that they can see one another’s work

accurately, and they don’t want productivity to suffer because

the document they’ve shared displays incorrectly on a co-

worker’s device.

Content decay in day-to-day business is troublesome enough; in

highly regulated professions and industries it can be downright

disruptive. Consider creating and storing a legal document on

one platform, then accessing it from another, only to find that

important comments, images, and formatting are corrupted or

altogether missing. Content decay has the potential to affect

compliance with regulations like the Health Insurance Portability

and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act,

which expect accuracy and reliability in documents.


Thus, content decay goes far beyond cosmetic concerns into the realm of content integrity. Because knowledge depends on

information that people can trust, companies can’t conduct business with data that changes from one device to another.

For most businesses, Microsoft® Office is still the gold standard in word processing, spreadsheets, and presentations. However,

native versions of Microsoft Office for devices running the iOS and Android operating systems are still gaining acceptance. That

prompts businesses and workers to seek alternate apps for reading and modifying Office files, even though these apps may be limited

in functionality and may even misrepresent the data in the original files. As companies deploy more devices to accomplish more-

complex tasks, they cannot afford to have productivity suffer merely because their employees’ devices display information incorrectly.

Platform Incompatibility Leads to Content DecayIncompatibilities among different platforms can cause content to display incorrectly, which leads to content decay. Some platforms

are unable to open documents from other platforms at all. Here are some examples of content decay in different types of files.

DocumentsWith the incompatibilities in word processing programs on different platforms, issues include:

• Inability to track changes

• Inability to view comments

• Missing content

• Vertical text not supported

• Inability to import a document

• Faulty text wrap

SpreadsheetsIncompatibilities among spreadsheet programs can lead to calculation errors, graphical misrepresentations, and loss of

valuable data analysis capabilities including:

• Unsupported formulas removed or changed

• Conversion of pivot tables to regular tables

• Macros that do not run

• Unsupported chart formats


PresentationsSlide presentations can become compromised when they are moved among platforms, which can cause loss of valuable

content and functionality such as:

• Inaccessible or unchangeable slide masters

• Loss of chart data

• Loss of animations

• Unplayable audio

PDF FilesEven files created with the well-established PDF standard are subject to:

• Corrupted characters • Loss of images

BrowsersWeb pages have become a vehicle for multimedia, relying on compatibility between the browser and the media player, but

hindered by:

• Inability to play Adobe® Flash® videos

Microsoft® Outlook® Web AppMicrosoft® Outlook® Web App (OWA) runs in different modes on different platforms, with potentially important ramifications:

• Authentication issues • Security concerns


Documents: Microsoft® Word (Sample 1)Here are some examples of content decay that show how text can be misrepresented and how co-workers’ changes and

comments can be lost. Examples are based on a Microsoft® Word document created on an Intel® Core™ processor-based device

running Windows 8 with Office 2013, then displayed on devices with operating systems other than Windows. Content decay

includes comments not displayed, substantial formatting errors, misplaced images, missing images, text wrap not working correctly,

missing page numbers, image padding incorrectly displayed, missing footnotes, and missing titles and other information.

Intel Device Running Windows® 8 with Microsoft WordIn the original Word document created on an Intel device running Windows 8:

• Formatting changes (such as spacing and spelling) are indicated in left margin

(red pipes)

• Footer content appears, including page number

• Comments appear in right margin

• Footnote with hanging indent shows at page bottom

Apple® iPad® with Apple® iWork® Pages®

Upon opening the same document on an iPad® with Apple® iWork® Pages®, several

problems arise:

• Comments are missing

• Text does not wrap around images

• Images are not right-aligned

• Fonts are replaced by Apple iWork Pages fonts (different from source fonts)

• Page numbers are not displayed


Google™ Android™ Device with MobiSystems® OfficeSuite ProWhen viewing the document on a Google™ Android™ device with MobiSystems®

OfficeSuite Pro:

• Comments using tracked changes are not displayed; the commented area is

highlighted in pink with no explanation

• Tracked formatting changes are not displayed (updated spelling and spacing

noted in the left margin of the source file)

• Footer formatting is incorrectly displayed

• Image padding (left and bottom) is incorrectly displayed

• Text wrap of images is incorrect (line showing above)

Android Device with Kingsoft® OfficeWhen viewing the document on an Android device with Kingsoft® Office:

• Comments using tracked changes are not displayed

• Tracked formatting changes are not displayed (updated spelling and spacing

noted in the left margin of the source file)

• Footer formatting is incorrectly displayed

• Image padding (left and bottom) is incorrectly displayed

Android Device with Google Docs™

On an Android device with Google Docs™, it is possible to open the file in the

Google™ Chrome™ browser for viewing but not for editing.


In addition to the problems illustrated, tracked changes made in a Word document on an Intel device running Windows 8 might not

appear when viewed on other devices. This could create misunderstanding among teams or cause severe consequences for staff

working on legal contracts, instructional materials, and corporate communications.

Documents: Microsoft Word (Sample 2)Here’s a second sample of content decay for a Microsoft Word document created on an Intel device running Windows 8 when

displayed on devices with operating systems other than Windows.

Intel Device Running Windows 8 with Microsoft WordIn the original Word document created on an Intel device running Windows 8:

• Comments appear in right margin (including comment threads)

• Text is displayed in various fonts, colors, and styles

• Text boxes wrap around various image elements

• Text content is displayed in columns that line up horizontally and vertically

iPad with Apple iWork PagesIn the same document opened on an iPad with Apple iWork Pages:

• Title, name, and graphic are not displayed at all

• Comments and other tracked changes elements are not displayed

• Content has been split across two pages

• Many of the images are not displayed

• Majority of the text is not displayed (including all of column 1)

• Font styles, sizes, and colors are incorrectly displayed

• Red line between columns 3 and 4 is not displayed

• Many of the text elements have been converted to abridged text boxes (as

indicated by the blue box with a plus sign), which indicate that there is some

additional content that can be displayed


Android Device with OfficeSuite ProUpon opening the document on an Android device with OfficeSuite Pro:

• Title of the newsletter is completely obscured by the header

• Comments and tracked changes are not displayed

• Title of article 1 is not displayed

• Image text wrap is not working: some images are behind text and others have

been re-positioned

• Text boxes are aligned incorrectly

• Some text is obscured by repositioned elements

• Image display order is not correct (some are in front, some are behind text)

• Columns are not aligned correctly

Android Device with Kingsoft OfficeIn the same document on an Android device with Kingsoft Office:

• Title is unreadable because name obscures the newsletter title

• Font sizes and styles are incorrectly displayed

• Callout box in center overlaps the text above it (blue hyperlink)

• Text in column 1 above “FDA Approves” is incorrectly displayed

• Additional spacing around the bottom headline (that covers text above)

• Extra padding/spacing in content at bottom of the page

Android Device with Google DocsOn an Android device with Google Docs, it is possible to open the file in the Google

Chrome browser for viewing but not for editing.


Spreadsheets: Microsoft® Excel® (Sample 1)Microsoft® Excel® spreadsheets created on an Intel device running Windows 8 with Office 2013 can also suffer from content

decay when viewed on other devices with operating systems other than Windows. Examples of this include charts incorrectly

displayed or missing altogether, slider elements missing, and formulas not working correctly. This can result in incorrect figures

being displayed, comments not displaying, and in some cases even the inability to open the file.

Intel Device Running Windows 8 with Microsoft ExcelIn the original graphs created with Excel on an Intel device running Windows 8:

• Data table on the left displays three columns

• Chart on the right displays the table data in a simple-to-understand bar chart

iPad with Apple® iWork® Numbers®

In the same graphs displayed on an iPad with Apple® iWork® Numbers®:

• Chart is completely missing—the user will have to recreate it based on the data

table in the spreadsheet

• Cell formatting and spacing are not preserved in the data table

Android Device with OfficeSuite ProWhen the same graphs are displayed on an Android device with OfficeSuite Pro:

• Chart overlaps and obscures the third column

• Chart background color is black

• Chart title is missing or unreadable

• X-axis labels are hard to read, and in the incorrect color and font

Android Device with Kingsoft OfficeWhen the same graphs are displayed on an Android device with Kingsoft Office:

• The x-axis labels and the legend are formatted incorrectly

• Chart title is not displayed in a text-wrapped cell

• Cell spacing is not consistent with source

• Chart overlaps some of the data table cells


Android Device with Google™ SheetsOn an Android device with Google™ Sheets, it is possible to open the file in the

Google Chrome browser for viewing but not for editing.

Spreadsheets: Microsoft Excel (Sample 2)Here’s a second sample of content decay for Microsoft Excel spreadsheets.

Intel Device Running Windows 8 with Microsoft ExcelIn the original graphs created with Excel on an Intel device running Windows 8:

• Data table on left includes slider elements that the user can adjust

• Chart on right auto-refreshes based on adjustment of slider

• Chart is displayed in 3-D, with colors corresponding to the data table

• Table includes comments added to cells

iPad with Apple iWork NumbersIn the same graphs displayed on an iPad with Apple iWork Numbers:

• Slider elements in the table on left are not displayed, so the primary means of

interacting with this spreadsheet is broken

• Chart no longer displays colors associated with the data elements in the table

correctly because it is too difficult to determine the difference between light

yellow and gray

• Accident rate is incorrectly displayed (5.8 percent instead of 15.8 percent) so the

summary/answer is wrong (see description of of content integrity in The Pitfalls of

Content Decay, above)

• Cell comments are not displayed or available

Android Device with OfficeSuite ProWhen the same graphs are displayed on an Android device with OfficeSuite Pro:



• Chart no longer displays colors associated with the data elements in the table on the

left (it has been assigned random colors), so it doesn’t have the same visual impact

• Display of accident rate is not working correctly



Android Device with Kingsoft OfficeWhen the same graphs are displayed on an Android device with Kingsoft Office:



• Chart is displayed in 2-D


Android Device with Google SheetsOn an Android device with Google Sheets, it is possible to open the file in the Google


Presentations: Microsoft® PowerPoint® (Sample 1)Microsoft® PowerPoint® presentations created on an Intel device running Windows 8 with Office 2013 can also suffer from

content decay when viewed on devices with operating systems other than Windows. Examples of this include inaccurate colors,

loss of embedded videos, obscured text, missing image effects, missing text and graphics, comments not displayed, and in

some cases even the inability to open the file.

Intel Device Running Windows 8 with Microsoft PowerPointIn this graph created in PowerPoint on an Intel device running Windows 8:

• Title, gradient background, text, and images are displayed

• Embedded video plays when the user clicks the controls

• Comments appear on the right

iPad with Apple® iWork® Keynote®

When the same graph is displayed on an iPad with Apple® iWork® Keynote®:

• Video player controls and embedded video are missing, so the user can’t play

the video embedded in the slide

• Comments are missing

• Background colors have been changed to a radial blue-to-green background

• Font styles have been replaced with a default


Android Device with OfficeSuite ProWhen displayed on an Android device with OfficeSuite Pro:

• All the text has been removed and is inaccessible, rendering the slide unusable

without significant work


the video embedded in this slide

• The background color gradient has been replaced with a dark blue, making it

more difficult to read

• Comments have been removed and are not accessible

Android Device with Kingsoft OfficeWhen displayed on an Android device with Kingsoft Office:


the video embedded in this slide

• The background color gradient has been replaced with a strange blue to green

gradient and a light blue bar shows up on the right

• Comments do not display and appear to be lost

• Font styles have been replaced and don’t match the source

Android Device with Google™ SlidesOn an Android device with Google™ Slides, it is possible to open the file in the Google



Presentations: Microsoft PowerPoint (Sample 2)Here’s a second sample of content decay for Microsoft PowerPoint presentations.

Intel Device Running Windows 8 with Microsoft PowerPointOn the original slide created with PowerPoint on an Intel device running Windows 8:

• File uses varied font styles and size

• Comments appear on right

• Images are displayed with drop shadow and transformation

• Bullets are images (arrows)

iPad with Apple iWork KeynoteWhen the same slide is displayed on an iPad with Apple iWork Keynote:

• Background displays an unusual “herringbone” effect, making the slide look

broken and much harder to read

• Font style is not displayed like the source

• Bullet shape is replaced with a nearly illegible bullet

• Image drop shadow and transform is not displayed at all

• Sun graphic is not displayed in the table on right

• Comments are not displayed or accessible

Android Device with OfficeSuite ProWhen displayed on an Android device with OfficeSuite Pro*:

• Font style and color are not displayed like source

• Bullet shape is replaced with a simple triangle

• Image drop shadow and transform arenot displayed at all

• Comments are not displayed or accessible

Android Device with Kingsoft OfficeWhen displayed on an Android device with Kingsoft Office:

• Background displays an unusual “cubing” effect

• Text is obscured by errors with background

• Font style and size are changed

• Bullets display as default instead of arrows

• Comments are not displayed

• Image drop shadow and transform are not displayed


Android Device with Google SlidesOn an Android device with Google Slides, it is possible to open the file in the Google


PDFPortable Document Format (PDF) stands out as a cross-platform standard. The format allows the author to include the text,

images, fonts, hyperlinks, and structure of the original file. PDF facilitates document sharing, viewing, commenting, and even

workflow among disparate platforms; however, it is not a source document format, it is not designed for creating or editing, and it

does not completely eliminate the potential for incompatibility and content decay across platforms.

Intel Device Running Windows 8 with Internet Explorer®

• Characters are displayed normally

• Image is displayed normally

iPad with Apple® Safari®

• Characters are corrupted (font not embedded in PDF file)


Android Device with Quickoffice®

• Image is not displayed (embedded with JPEG 2000 compression)

PDF files are also subject to content decay when they contain Flash multimedia. The

player needed to view and interact with Flash embedded in a PDF file is unevenly

supported on mobile devices (see Browser below).

BrowserThe Web is worldwide, but it is not standard. New design elements and new browser capabilities feed on each other,

supporting an entire industry of testing to ensure that content does not decay from one platform to another. Yet there are still

incompatibilities, particularly with multimedia files.

As noted above, Adobe Flash Player is not supported on devices based on iOS. Also, since Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean), Adobe has

stopped delivering the Android version of Flash Player. This means that users must either apply an unsupported workaround

to install the player, find an alternative player, find a version of the content in an encoding (such as H.264) supported by their

platform, or do without the content.

Intel Device Running Windows 8 with Internet Explorer• Native Adobe Flash Player is supported

iPad with Safari• Adobe Flash Player is not supported

Android Device with Default Browser• Adobe Flash Player updates are no longer available


Outlook Web App (OWA)OWA extends the Microsoft Outlook desktop application to remote computers and has become a staple of remote computing

in business. Most tablets and smartphones include a simple app for creating, receiving, and sending e-mail, but OWA running

in the browser preserves much more of the enterprise functionality (e-mail, directory, calendar, and scheduling) of Microsoft

Exchange Server on which workers rely.

To ensure compatibility with a variety of browsers, OWA defaults to a “mini” or basic version—whether the user requests it or

not—on devices based on iOS or Android. This does not necessarily introduce content decay; however, it might introduce

authentication and security concerns, including:

• Basic authentication only (credentials exchanged within the header of the HTTP request)

• Dependency on browser for passing credentials (every new session or only when info has changed)

Intel Device Running Windows 8 with Internet Explorer

iPad with Safari

Android Device with Default Browser


Why Does Content Decay Happen?There are few standards for cross-platform compatibility

in displaying content. Most systems are proprietary, and

applications do their best to create the document in a

compatible format on the source platform or interpret the

format on the destination platform.

Avoid Content Decay by StandardizingThe consumerization of IT has led to a rich variety of devices

on several popular platforms, each of which offers an attractive

choice of devices. Because of the lack of standards, content

decay is likely to continue to confound effective collaboration

across different platforms.

Is there an alternative combination of software application,

operating system, and hardware device that will avoid

content decay and preserve the integrity of an organization’s

documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and PDF files? By

standardizing your IT environment on platforms based on a

single operating system, you can minimize content decay,

strengthen collaboration, and simplify IT management. An

environment with devices running on a standard platform is

easier to manage and can reduce service requests to address

incorrectly displayed content.

You want your users to be able to choose devices that fit their

work style because when they do, they can be more productive

and satisfied. But to avoid the harm that content decay can

wreak on collaboration, you need to steer your users to devices

that run on a common platform. Platform standardization is an

important strategy for successfully embracing and harnessing

the consumerization of IT to your organization’s advantage.

Conclusion: Strengthen Collaboration and Simplify IT ManagementAs the examples in this paper have shown, cross-platform content

decay is a daunting problem, but businesses can avoid it by

standardizing on a single platform that offers the rich features they

want, then leading users to choose devices based on that platform.

For IT managers and staff who have spent years perfecting

infrastructure around the platform of Microsoft Office, Windows,

and Intel® architecture, that platform choice is clear. The current

crop of Intel Core processor-based mobile devices running

Windows 8 meets not only the functional needs of consumers,

but also the security, collaboration, and management needs of the

enterprise. Workers can use these devices in a familiar network

environment, connect them to familiar peripheral devices, and run

familiar productivity apps on them without fear of content decay.


The analysis in this document was done by Prowess Consulting and commissioned by Intel.

Results have been simulated and are provided for informational purposes only. Any difference in system hardware or software design or configuration may affect

actual performance.

Prowess, the Prowess logo, and SmartDeploy are trademarks of Prowess Consulting, LLC.

Intel, the Intel logo, and Intel Core are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other countries.

Copyright © 2013 Prowess Consulting, LLC. All rights reserved.

Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.

Screen CapturesDevices used: Microsoft® Surface™ Pro, ASUS® Q200, Apple iPad, Samsung® Galaxy Tab® 2 10.1, Google™ Nexus™ 7

Microsoft Surface Pro:

• Intel Core i5 processor

• Windows 8 Pro

• Microsoft Office 2013

ASUS Q200:

• Intel Core i3 processor

• Windows 8 Pro

• Microsoft Office 2013

Apple iPad:

• Apple iOS 6.1.3

• Apple iWork Pages 1.7.2

• Apple iWork Keynote 1.7.2

• Apple iWork Numbers 1.7.2

Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1:

• Android 4.1.1

• MobiSystems OfficeSuite Pro 7.0.1186

• Kingsoft Office 5.3.4.137444

• Google Drive™ (Google Docs, Google Slides, Google Sheets)

Google Nexus 7:

• Android 4.3

• Google Quickoffice 5.7

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