Have you been holding on to your legacy systems despite the relentless march of tech progress around you? High maintenance costs, regular breakdowns, costly repairs, security vulnerabilities, and compatibility issues are just some of the problems you’ll face.
If you’ve been experiencing these issues, it’s time to face the truth. They are signs that it’s time to upgrade.
Why Businesses Stick with the Old
There are several reasons why companies sometimes stick with outdated business systems. We understand, change can sometimes be a little scary. What if upgrading your tech costs more than your budget will allow, or requires lengthy training?
It’s comforting and familiar to stick with the old. And it’ll save you money, too. Right? Actually, no. Those familiar systems cost your business more than you think. Old computers, outdated software, inadequate CRMs, and manual workflows stop your business and employees from meeting their full potential.
Signs It’s Time to Modernize
Get to know the common signs you need to modernize.
Here are the top signs your business needs an update:
- Frequent breakdowns or downtime
- Lack of integration between tools
- Poor customer or employee experience
- Security or compliance issues
If you are regularly experiencing these problems, it may be time for a technology refresh. This can mean investing in new hardware, updating software, plus automating and customizing your workflows.
Risks of Sticking with Legacy Systems
By ignoring legacy software issues, you risk inefficiency and poor customer service. That, in turn, leads to missed revenue. Worse still, you risk cybersecurity breaches, which will cause downtime and loss and sully your company’s reputation.
Low Productivity and General Inefficiency
Older hardware is typically slow and eventually just keeps breaking down. Outdated software can cause continuous glitches and might not integrate with any new software you introduce. All of this results in downtime while you do maintenance and repairs.
Employees are thus not as productive or efficient as they could be, and your whole business suffers. You won’t be able to compete with other businesses in your sector. And expansion plans will go on the back burner while you deal with mounting tech issues.
Poor Customer Service
Inefficiency inevitably leads to poor customer service. Your team relies on modern tech to attend to queries and complaints and resolve issues quickly. If your systems are slow and always crashing, teams can’t provide prompt service.
Fortunately, implementing modern CRM software customized to your specific needs can quickly improve your customer service. Check out our article on the features to include in your CRM for maximum efficiency.
Missed Revenue
If you’ve lost precious work hours due to tech breakdowns, delayed expansion plans, and let your customers down, you have almost certainly lost potential revenue.
While you stick to legacy systems, there’s no way to make up that missed revenue. This will mean further delays to plans to develop and grow the business. You simply won’t be able to afford them. This is why resistance to tech upgrades has long-term effects.
Cybersecurity Breaches
Familiar systems hold you back on the security front, too. Research by Gartner found that only 14% of security and risk management (SRM) leaders can secure their data while supporting business goals.
This led Nathan Parks, Sr Specialist, Research at Gartner, to say “organizations can face increased vulnerability to cyber threats, regulatory penalties, and operational inefficiencies”. He also said this would place their “competitive edge and stakeholder trust” at risk.
While many factors play a role in statistics like these, one thing’s for sure — outdated software is often one of them. Cybercriminals love legacy systems becasue they lack the security measures modern software has.
Damage to Reputation
Strategic PR can elevate your brand’s reputation and support growth. But it won’t help you if your outdated systems are causing inefficiencies and errors, leading to bad customer service and security breaches. Indeed, nothing spells doom for a company’s reputation like those last two.
No amount of positive PR spin can save your reputation if you’re unable to resolve customer queries properly or keep sensitive data safe. Customers need to know that you employ the latest customer service, data privacy, and security innovations.
This will restore trust in your brand and foster loyalty and customer retention. If you fail to hold their trust, they will easily be swayed by your competitors.
Conclusion
It’s tempting to stick with what you know. But familiar systems can negatively impact productivity, efficiency, customer service, and security. They can cause potential revenue loss and increase cyber threat risk.
Has your business been experiencing these sorts of issues? It may be time to upgrade your business tools. We encourage you to perform a proactive tech review today and make the necessary tech changes. The future of your company depends on it.
