Legacy software is costing you more than you think

One of the biggest drawbacks of legacy software is its rigidity. Legacy systems are based on aging code and operating systems, making the software often unstable as well as unable to integrate easily and seamlessly with modern third-party applications. If your legacy system prohibits you from using new and advanced capabilities, that chances are your competitors are using then this means you will likely lose customers and revenue, putting your business at risk.

This lack of integration also means departments working in silos, incapable of organisation-wide collaboration, sharing insights and informed decision-making. This disconnect leads to a lack of organisational agility and an inability to flex with change hampering your ability to pursue new opportunities and ultimately becomes a barrier to growth.

Your workforce is arguably your most valuable asset. They’re responsible for serving customers, managing projects, meeting deadlines, and so much more, but if they don’t have the right tools to allow them to accomplish their work effectively, limited user features or a lack of system knowledge within the business they – and your business – suffer. Costly downtime and waning productivity directly affects your bottom line. Provide your employees with reliable and innovative tools and systems to do their work effectively, reduce admin, remove inefficient processes and increase employee engagement.

Downtime and reduced productivity are expensive consequences of relying on legacy software. One IBM survey found that 91% of the surveyed organisations lost an average of £250,000 worth of business when their critical server hardware and applications went offline for just one hour.¹

Not many businesses can survive this type of loss. Nor can they afford additional IT staff to maintain and repair the past-its-prime business management solution, the expensive replacement parts, or the time spent away from more important tasks.

For businesses in today’s marketplace, the idea that ‘cash is king’ is quickly being replaced with the belief that ‘information is power.’ Data provides actionable insights into the health of a business and into trends that could improve business outcomes.

Tapping into this valuable data requires a modern system that supports data integrity and modern real-time analytics. Legacy software cannot unite and synchronise data from every department as well as from third-party applications into a centralised location. Disparate data reduces a business’s ability to make timely and informed decisions.

Every business today is faced with a landscape of accelerating technology, your ability to compete will be stifled by the inherent limitations of legacy software. These limitations, including reduced productivity, rising maintenance costs, and siloed data, restrict your ability to be an agile business in the digital business era. Legacy systems can no longer enable you to remain competitive as customers and stakeholders demand faster responses, products, and solutions.

If your employees can’t access your software from any mobile device you’ll, once again, fall behind your competition in terms of performance and revenue. Cloud-based ERP solutions outperform on-premise systems and if your teams work in the field, such as with warehouse control, production or logistics, their performance will be improved, and your business even more efficient and robust.

Decreased security is a huge concern when it comes to using legacy systems with developer security updates drying up or worse still your system becomes unsupported. Cybersecurity, backups and disaster recovery become insurmountable challenges and the safeguarding of your organisations data a huge worry.

If your organisation works within a sector governed by regulatory compliance, the cost of outdated technology can have serious repercussions to bottom line and reputation. From GDPR to HR – fees and penalties will be incurred if you experience a data breach which is more likely with a less secure legacy system.