Disadvantages of Living in the I.T. Past
Are you starting the year off behind your competition? Little to no automation, mostly manual processes? Security awareness training for your staff that was just one-time training and one-time only? Outdated technology (4 years and older)?
Then I’m talking to you. If your I.T. isn’t living in the year 2022, you are not just falling behind, you are already behind your competitors.
And before you brush this off as just another article telling you to upgrade your computers, I urge you to scroll down a little farther to see why this is more than just “you need to upgrade” and focus more on the disadvantages you are putting your business through from living in the I.T. past.
A major disadvantage to outdated I.T. is the security issues you are opening up your network and anything connected to. This is because outdated technology is no longer receiving I.T. support. Meaning, that after a while companies stop fixing security issues, patching flaws, and protecting the application or software (like the software that your device operates on) they developed from cyber threats. Leaving the door wide open for hackers to walk in and do damage to whoever is still using that outdated application or software after it’s no longer receiving support.
Take it from Meridian, “if you are running Windows XP on your computer, you are 6x more likely to be infected with malware threats than if you are running Windows 10. For those still using Windows Server 2003, which reached its end-of-support on July 14, 2015, means you will be at greater risk of cyberattacks and exploitation by third parties.” This counts for any applications and software you use throughout your business, like Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, QuickBooks, your operating system, and so on. Any and every application can stop receiving patches and updates so it’s important to stay on top of when one that your business uses reaches the end of support.
Not just due to outdated computers or laptops, but outdated I.T. as a whole creates many manual processes that could be automated and simpler if your tech was living in the year 2022. Take a moment and think about the ease technology has brought to our daily lives. We can ask Google any question we need to know and get an answer within seconds, we can instant message people on the other side of the world, purchase items online without ever having to go to the store, and so much more. If technology can do all of that for us personally, what can it do for your business?
Instead of wondering, let’s talk about the disadvantages of living in the I.T past when it comes to your processes and operations.
Integration - Outdated technology does not integrate well with newer tech. This creates a problem for you and your employees when you start to upgrade some devices and not others. If the new doesn't integrate with the old your options are to upgrade the old to work with the new, don’t use the new and let it go to waste, or find a workaround that is often time-consuming and confusing to implement.
Time - Inefficient processes due to your outdated technology are time-consuming. When a process could be done automatically without a staff member having to input data, push some buttons, or whatever the case may be, that is time they could spend on other tasks.
Cost - Inefficient processes cost more money. If you end up not using your new tech because it doesn’t integrate with your old tech, that is money lost. The more time your employees spend on one task is money lost. You could be losing money due to a lack of real-time insights. Money lost to downtime since your computer keeps crashing or your network has been hacked due to insecurities.
Satisfaction - Satisfaction or lack thereof. Manual and inefficient processes are, simply put, annoying for your staff and clients. Why would an employee want to do A, B, C, D, E, F, and G when they could just do A to get the task completed?
Another disadvantage to outdated I.T. is thinking that security awareness training for your staff only needs to happen one time and that’s it. This is not a great way of thinking when cyber threats are continuously evolving every day. As new cyber threats emerge day in and day out, your staff’s knowledge to defend and protect against these threats needs to evolve at the same pace to keep up.
On-going security awareness training is very advantageous for your business because it:
Prevents cyberattacks.
Keeps your business in compliance.
Provides your employees and customers with confidence that their data is safe with you.
Makes your defenses against cybercriminals stronger.
Saves you money and time (see #1).
An MSP is more than capable of bringing your I.T. back up to speed and living in the year 2022 and beyond. Take it from our mission, “To provide complete hardware, software, and support solutions, enabling clients to operate their businesses more successfully.” The key part here is enabling clients to operate their business more successfully.
You can’t operate your business more successfully without the right technology allowing you to do so. With an MSP, like Omega Computer Services, you receive hardware upgrades every three years included in your monthly cost of service. This way you’ll never struggle to keep your tech up to date and business operations won’t slow or come to a halt due to outdated I.T.