What Price Old Tech?

by H. E. James, MBA, Guest Contributor
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How many times have your employees come to you saying, “I need a new PC,” or, “I need the newest software upgrade?”  You might fear that they’re just wanting the latest and greatest in technology for no other purpose than to have it.

Yet if you’ve ever sat in front of an ancient computer and become frustrated with how slowly it ran or how often it crashed, think of this on a grand scale.  

If your organization’s product is based on technology, and your employees function almost exclusively on computers, consider what outdated technology is truly costing your organization.

Productivity

When you were fighting with that old PC, how much did you accomplish?  Like the majority of your organization, you likely spent more time submitting tickets to your technical support than you did submitting content.  Your morale took a hit, then it took another, and your productivity took a dive.

Morale has a huge impact on employee productivity.  Consider the case of California state payroll employees who were tasked with processing a temporary pay cut in 2010 on IT systems that were 30 years old.  The state had to approve seven benefits withdrawal extensions in order to allow the system to keep up with customer demand.
When employees’ technology cannot keep up with customer demand, customers’ complaints and frustrations begin to hinder productivity as well.

Security

Outdated technology, especially software, could cost your organization precious information and data.  As pointed out in the presentation Data Security, “a major issue is how do you maintain the patches, the updates, to ensure that you are not vulnerable to things . . .” such as security breaches and data theft.

Data breaches may cost big companies very little in the way of money, but they will cost smaller businesses much more in the way of intellectual property lost, reputation, and morale.  Once all of these are lost, they are difficult and costly to regain.

Revenue

Both productivity and security losses lead to revenue losses.  Employees who are struggling to complete tasks through no faults of their own will simply stop trying to complete those tasks.  Work will not get done, and your organization’s bottom line will suffer.

If you are trying to do damage control from security breaches because of outdated software, consider that the revenue lost because of poor reputation is likely greater than updating.  If your organization is worried that software maintenance might cut into profits, consider that supporting a Windows Server 2003 costs a company nearly $200,000.  Windows 8 costs an estimated $168 per year to maintain.

In the end, the greatest cost of old technology is the accumulated loss in growth to your organization.  While the upfront costs of upgrading technology may make you wary, think of the long-term loss in growth if you don’t upgrade your outdated tech.
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Hattie is a writer and researcher living in Boise, Idaho.  She has a varied background, including education and sports journalism.  She is a former electronic content manager and analyst for a government agency.  She recently completed her MBA and enjoys local ciders.  Tweet at Hattie: @hejames1008.  Find her on Linkedin at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hejamesmba.
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HEADER IMAGE CREDIT: NICO KAISER

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