Why Outdated Systems and Processes is a Risk:

I have seen organizations hold onto old, really outdated technology systems way past their prime over the years.  There are a number of reasons why they do so.  It is too difficult to replace.  It will be very expensive to replace. A replacement project is on the roadmap and will be done someday in the future.  They have not found the right system to replace it with.  People in the organization are familiar with the current system and replacing it will really disrupt the organization.  They are having trouble getting business stakeholders to buy into change being pushed by IT.  The list goes on an on.  However, business is littered with organizations that did not want to change and before they knew it, competitors had gone right past them and they quickly became obsolete.  Walmart is known as a great Supercenter but it is also an organization that has used technology to get a leg up on some much larger and established competitors.  Anyone remembers K-Mart or Montgomery Ward ?  These days, the winners are those that disrupt the status quo.  Adopting new technologies that enable organizations to scale and add more value to customers is paramount and therefore, replacing old, outdated systems is a must.  Don’t believe me, here are a few risks that should be considered for those that continue to rely on older, outdated systems: 

• Speed and System Failures: When systems age, they are more likely to fail.  This often results in unplanned downtime.  The older the system is, the more unstable and prone to failures they become. Often, the system runs on older operating systems and/or older hardware.  Many times, the software is not compatible with the latest hardware.  That means they miss out on hardware and operating system advances that could make the system run faster. 
• Loss of Company Intellectual Capital: Since the Pandemic, business as we once know it has changed.  For many companies, employees are no longer required to work full time from the office.  Many offer hybrid working arrangements or even fully remote.  While this really benefits and makes employees happier, there are some unintended consequences.  What is often lost is knowledge gained during water cooler conversations or doorway conversations in colleagues offices. A lot of knowledge in all areas of the company is shared during these unplanned meetups including systems ins and outs. In addition, many of the systems lack proper documentation.  Much of it is just knowhow gained by supporting the system over the years.  The loss of knowledge can prolong downtime because IT may not know how to fix or troubleshoot the issues as quickly as they once did. 
• Reduced productivity: Outdated systems over time gets slower and can be inefficient.  Maybe they don’t actually get slower but when compared to newer technology that is running much faster, they seem to be getting slower.  This often makes it difficult for organizations to keep up with the competition.  In addition, new systems normally come with open APIs making it easier for other systems to integrate with them and exchange information.  If you are familiar with products like Zapier, they use APIs to integrate different systems enabling them to seamlessly share information. Older systems might not contain such APIs making it more difficult to integrate.  This usually results in more manual work and a decrease in employee productivity as well as a reduction in employee morale.  Note: Employees generally do not like to do a bunch of manual, time-consuming tasks that could be automated.
• Competitive disadvantage: Isn’t the whole point of the digital  transformation wave is to adopt  newer, better technology and business processes to help organizations run faster, scale further and operate more efficiently.  Outdated systems make it difficult for organizations to innovate and adopt new technologies, putting them at a competitive disadvantage in their industry.  Forrester’s 2023 Global Technology Innovation Survey found that companies that invest in innovation are out growing their competitors by 10%.  They are also more profitable than their peers.  
• Difficulty attracting and retaining top talent: The best IT persons want to work for innovative companies.  They want to be exposed to the latest and greatest technologies. Organizations that use outdated systems and processes often have difficulty attracting and retaining top talent.  Employees often become frustrated and lose motivation when forced to work with outdated tools. 
• Security Vulnerabilities: System security is critical to organizations.  With all the ransomware attacks, companies must do all they can to remain secure.  Older systems can lack the security updates required to defend against the latest cyber threats. This makes the business more susceptible to cyberattacks, data breaches, and unauthorized access.