The State of the Marketplace
Since the last edition of this report in 2016, the GMS marketplace has undergone a period of transition—one driven by both a shift in how some foundations are approaching grantmaking and by the rapid pace of technological change. The biggest change in technology has been the widespread adoption of cloud computing and its effect on everything from how companies and organizations manage their IT to the explosive growth in remote work. According to data from FlexJobs and Global Workplace Analytics, from 2012-2017 the number of people in the U.S. working remotely grew 44 percent (http://foundationcenter.issuelab.org/resource/deciding-together-shifting-power-and-resources-through-participatory-grantmaking.html). Cloud-based systems facilitate remote work by allowing staff to log in and access the tools they need to do their jobs anywhere they have an internet connection. Cloud-based tools that facilitate collaboration within teams, across organizations, and with external constituents and partners have seen particularly rapid adoption. This includes document storage and management tools (e.g. OneDrive, Dropbox, Google Docs), online messaging apps (e.g. Slack, Teams), and project management/ collaboration tools (e.g. Asana, Trello, Teamwork PM). As organizations adopt more tools for collaboration and communication, choosing those that integrate easily with others in the toolbox has become more important in order to avoid redundant data systems.…