One of the biggest drains on company resources is outdated software. And unfortunately, using outdated technology in business comes with much more significant issues than just employee frustration. Aging legacy systems are more vulnerable to cybersecurity risks and downtime, which can eat into productivity and your bottom line. When dealing with an aging system, it's like handling a ticking time bomb, and you need all the support you can get.

The Risks of Outdated Software

Crashes and Downtime

Systems crashes in today's fast-paced world aren't acceptable, and having a legacy system isn't an excuse. Options like cloud services and SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) applications reduce the risk of data loss by storing data in remote systems that can't be impacted by a computer crash.

Increased Costs

Here's where the rubber meets the road, so to speak. Because legacy systems require more maintenance, and higher support can be cost-heavy. So, where is your money best spent — maintaining out-of-date systems or integrating new custom software to help meet your business goals?

Decreased Productivity

Legacy software runs slower, takes longer to execute tasks, and requires much more time-consuming maintenance, patches, updates, and help desk calls than its newer counterparts.

As a result of these deficiencies, the decreased productivity can cost your business in terms of revenue and ROI — you get a lot more out of productive employees than those who spend portions of their day just trying to get their tools to work properly. 

Security Risks 

Businesses that use outdated legacy technology increase their cybersecurity vulnerabilities. Research shows that over 560,000 new pieces of malware threats are detected each day. If your technology is not current, your risk constantly increases exponentially. Cyber-attacks and potential data breaches can have catastrophic reputational and financial consequences. 

Legal and Regulatory Compliance Risks

Using outdated business software can expose you to compliance risks you may not know about. 

There are laws around data storage to ensure data is kept in a secure and legal way, and if your business is using unsupported, outdated software you could be breaking these regulations. Auditors can fine companies that don't transition from unsupported software or systems.

Wasted Resources

While it's true that moving to an up-to-date custom solution requires an upfront investment, repairing an outdated system requires costly ongoing maintenance and repair. The older a system gets, the more expensive it will be to maintain. 

Incompatibility

One of the biggest complaints about legacy systems relates to compatibility. When your software was created, it was based on the technologies and hardware that were in operation at that time. There are no guarantees that the software will be compatible with other systems and apps. 

Replace vs. Repair

Organizations that invest in replacing outdated legacy systems can avoid these ticking time bomb risks and significantly improve their overall productivity and security. 

Whether you need support for your existing systems or are ready to take advantage of cutting-edge technology, schedule a consultation with ETHANY today to ensure your tech is working for you, not against you.