No business wants to spend money unnecessarily. If your current IT is working and not causing you any serious problems, why update it? The problem is that legacy systems could be holding you back. Upgrading your IT could give your operations, and your profits, a significant boost.
Substantial technology upgrades are sometimes complex and can be daunting if you’re not confident in your IT proficiency. That’s another reason why it’s tempting to put it off until it seems absolutely necessary. The good news is that you don’t have to do it on your own. We’re here to help you!
What is a Legacy System?
You may think ‘legacy system’ is a synonym for ‘old’. In fact, it’s a bit more complicated and not all older technology is necessarily outdated. You can think of legacy systems as technology that’s preventing you from moving forward and being able to take advantage of the many valuable business tools that are now available.
It’s typically more difficult to get support for older systems, which can also be a lot more difficult to maintain so that they function well. It also often means that adding new elements to your IT infrastructure is difficult, and the user experience for your staff may be sub-optimal.
Strategies for Modernizing Your Legacy System
There are a number of things to think about when modernizing your legacy system:
- Plan carefully: To get the most out of a technology upgrade, make sure you know what it can do for you, and how it will address the specific issues that your organization has to deal with. There are tech solutions now for a huge variety of issues that businesses wrestle with. Pinpoint those issues upfront and choose your new technology to match.
- Think of the bigger picture: Your staff will be the ones who are impacted by changes to systems and processes. It’s vital that they’re properly informed and given the information and help that they need to adapt to an IT upgrade. Also remember that their feedback on how well the upgrade is working is crucial.
- Don’t rush it: It would be great if you could get it all done quickly, modernize everything and get on with business. That’s not necessarily the way to go. It may be a better strategy to focus on particular parts of your infrastructure, and proceed gradually. That way you’re less likely to experience disruptions and downtime. Think simplicity and agility. The more flexible the implementation, the smoother the whole process should be.
No technology lasts forever. Even if it’s technically still functional, you may not be doing your business any favors by hanging on to it till it expires. If you have legacy technology and are thinking of moving on, Quikteks is here to help. We can help you make decisions about the path ahead and advise on upgrades and implementation of new business tech solutions. For more information, reach out to us at (973) 882-4644.