If it Ain’t Broke, Don’t Fix it?
When I was a kid, my Dad drilled into me the value of taking care of my stuff. He told me if I wanted to have nice things that I need to work hard and maintain them. I used to work with him around the house and on the vehicles. He was big on maintaining things.
Sometimes I think we forget that maintenance is an important part of life. It applies to homes and cars of course, but it also applies to our bodies, our emotional health, our relationships, pretty much everything. If we want things to run properly and go right, we must maintain them.
This also applies in the world of technology. New and more capable software and services come out which older hardware can’t run efficiently necessitating hardware updates. Software companies only support software for so many years before it is no longer cost effective requiring updates to software. This cycle goes on and on. With many services and software moving to the Cloud this definitely helps on the hardware refresh front but the process of staying up to date is important, particularly in the area of security.
The length of this cycle can vary depending on the business and their objectives. Some companies are very conservative, some are middle of the road and others are bleeding edge. Unfortunately, some also fall into the trap of “if ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
This situation can be detrimental to business for a variety of reasons; loss of competitive edge, lack of agility to account for market changes, increased labor costs due to inefficient software and hardware causing more time to do tasks, lack of business intelligence to make meaningful business and financial decisions, risk of security breach and intrusion leading to theft and/or loss of revenue and reputation.
How companies get into this situation are varied. Often a lack of understanding of technology and its impact leads to lack of budgeting. This stagnates the ability to upgrade and maintain things. Systems and software age and then when the need to upgrade is realized, it becomes a major project and a considerable cost of time and money. This can be daunting and delay upgrading and maintaining systems even further. If it Ain’t Broke, Don’t fix it can quickly become a liability.
All of us rely on our vehicles to get us where we need to go. At one point in time, the Model T was cutting edge vehicle technology, yet we don’t drive them anymore. While the Model T can still get us from point A to point B it can not do so as quickly or efficiently as even a modern minivan. It is slower and on modern highways would be a hazard to the speed of modern vehicles. The Model T would also be incredibly expensive to maintain today. How many parts are available for the Model T at the local NAPA or Autozone let alone at a scrapyard? We could still drive it and not worry about it but at some point, in time, it will break down on us and leave us stranded. Once that happens, we are forced to upgrade to a vehicle that meets modern re-equipments of transportation. How much will that costs us? How do we get to where we need to go until we can get a new vehicle? Often it becomes a scramble to get reliable transportation again, so things can get back to normal.
It’s no different in the realm of technology. Legacy systems may run for a time, but are they really meeting needs? How much time and money are wasted in labor on old, slow systems? What risk is involved with these legacy systems when they fail? How much downtime and loss of revenue can your business suffer before the hemorrhage of revenue becomes fatal? Do you have a business continuity plan to keep the doors open and continue business when it happens? What market share and revenue is being missed out on from driving a Model T on the information super highway?
Staying up to date with your business technology is a critical piece of a healthy, profitable business. If you are stuck in “if it ain’t broke. Don’t fix it”, I encourage you to reach out to a Managed Service Provider who can help you with the process. Here at CTTS, we can help you review your technology to see if it is help or a hindrance and help you trade-in that Model T for something that gets you where you need to go when you need to be there.
If you would like more information on how your business can have unmatched network visibility and security, Contact CTTS today: (512) 388-5559. Just mention this post and we'll give you a FREE Technology Assessment to see where you stand.
By Kurt Rinear
Director of Technical Services
Central Texas Technology Solutions