It can be difficult to know when you should embrace new technology or risk your business being left behind. Add to that, not all tech has been successful (mini-discs anyone?), and therefore it can be a gamble knowing which technology to get behind. But, running your business on old, out of date technology can be detrimental to your growth.
Tech which was fit for purpose when it was installed or purchased some years ago, can be problematic if the business has grown or the way you run the organisation has changed. Upgrading hardware for your business can seem like a massive financial outlay, and it can be expensive, but the benefits to your business will far outstrip this investment.
Benefits of new tech
1. Efficiency – If your current IT systems are slow, regularly crash and aren’t really fit for purpose anymore then by investing in new tech you will immediately see an improvement in task efficiency. Additionally, new tech could also introduce automation for manual admin tasks which will free upskilled staff for more valuable jobs.
2. Productivity – According to a TechTalk study staff can waste up to 46 minutes a day (24 days a year) waiting on slow technology, 20 minutes (10.4 days) of which is simply opening software [1]. All of this has a financial cost, with lost time of 24 days per year costing approximately £2,752 per staff member. It soon mounts up. Therefore, upgrading the systems will reduce the time spent waiting on software and hardware, meaning staff can spend more time doing what they are actually paid to do.
3. Flexibility – Adopting new tech into your business can make your business practices more flexible enabling your team to work remotely should they want to. And this is more than just providing secure laptops and mobile devices. For example, by introducing VOIP or cloud technology into your infrastructure will allow staff to be as connected with the team and customers as if they were in a traditional office.
4. Motivation – According to the TechTalk study 10% of staff say that outdated tech makes them want to change jobs [2]. It can be demoralising working with outdated systems which crash and don’t function efficiently. Therefore, ensuring your staff are able to do their jobs with ease, will give them motivation to stay with the company, improving staff loyalty, as well as improving the service they are able to provide your customers.
5. Financial – With staff spending less time waiting on outdated software, and therefore being more productive, the business will save money. Additionally, new technology means following the initial set up there will be less requirement for IT specialists to fix ailing legacy systems which is another cost saving in the long run.
6. Competitive Edge – By up-grading your IT systems you are able to race ahead of your competitors in regard to offering the best customer service, task efficiencies and automation of time consuming but essential tasks.
7. Growth – Running a business on outdated technology will prevent your business from being able to grow, as a system running to capacity cannot service more users, or cope with an increase in customer demand. New systems can be tailored to grow with you at a speed that works for you.
Knowing how to update
Embracing new tech doesn’t mean rushing out and buying the latest thing, it means analysing your systems as they are today, and looking at where you would like the business to go and what will be expected from the system. Then you will be in a better position to choose the most appropriate upgrade or new technology to suit your needs.
If you would like to have a chat to see what we can do to help you improve your IT systems give SupportWise a call today.
[1] https://techtalk.currys.co.uk/computing/workplace-productivity/
[2] https://techtalk.currys.co.uk/computing/workplace-productivity/