If you haven’t yet upgraded to the streamlined and sophisticated efficiency of Pronto ERP or another Enterprise Resource Planning system, you’re setting your business back in more ways than one. In addition to being slow and outdated, legacy software also presents security concerns and other risks that are worth understanding.
To ensure you don’t harm your business by holding onto the old way of doing things, consider the following costs and consequences of operating with legacy software:
1. It can end up costing you more money than upgrading
Many business owners shy away from major upgrades due to budgetary factors. However, the longer you hold onto a legacy system or software, the more costs you are likely to incur. Since legacy software no longer receives support from the provider, your IT team will have to find their own ways of dealing with any issues that arise. As you can imagine, this ends up costing business owners valuable time and money.
2. Your business will be more vulnerable to cyber threats
Legacy software and systems no longer receive updates, meaning any vulnerabilities that arise will not be patched. While you may be able to skate by on luck for a while, every minute that you hold onto your outdated system is a minute in which your business is exposed to unnecessary risk.
Not only will you be at a higher risk of hacks and data breaches, but your recovery from such events will be hindered. Back-up and disaster recovery measures are neither simple nor streamlined with legacy systems, meaning your data is never as secure as you need it to be.
3. You could be in violation of industry standards
Whether it’s HIPAA, PCI, or any other industry-specific security standards, legacy systems often don’t measure up to the minimum requirements. While you may be able to fly under the radar for a while, you’ll be hit with a ton of problems if a hack or data breach occurs.
Businesses that haven’t followed the relevant security standards often face fees and fines. In addition to the obvious financial hit, you’ll likely also lose the trust of your customers once they find out you weren’t adequately protecting their data. Once lost, customer faith is incredibly difficult to recover.
4. Incompatibility will be a growing issue
Any legacy software you use will be unlikely to pair smoothly with other apps and programs. It’ll also become increasingly incompatible with new devices. As the rest of the world moves ahead, your legacy software will become a digital anchor, holding you back and creating an increasing number of issues for you and your team.
Some staff members may be attached to the old way of doing things. However, most people will become frustrated with old and inefficient systems. Eventually, you may lose talented team members to competitors that have moved on from outdated systems.
5. Legacy systems are limiting
There’s only so much growth you can expect to enjoy if you’re operating with legacy software. Not only will it limit your capacity to grow and scale, but you’ll also limit your team’s ability to work remotely. With many of the world’s top companies offering flexible, remote, and hybrid options to their teams, your business will quickly fall behind if staff members can only work from your outdated office setup.
As frustrating as it can be to retrain yourself and your staff on an entirely new system, the consequences of failing to do so can be even more unpleasant. So, if you’ve been clinging to a legacy system or software, now may be the time to let go and embrace change.
