The Unseen Ramifications of Old Equipment
As a small business owner, you are most likely mindful of your time and money. These are the most vital resources you have, and nearly every business owner wishes that they had more of both.
Everyday equipment your team relies on can help productivity, efficiency, safety, and even cut expenses. But that same part of your business could also end up costing you a lot of time and money.
As equipment gets older, it begins to hurt your business. This is no different when it comes to IT equipment. If you have been reluctant to upgrade the IT equipment in your office or business, it could be costing you more than you realize.
Old, outdated equipment can start as a minor annoyance that you simply put up with, but over time, it can turn into something risky to keep around. Updated equipment and systems may seem like a long and drawn-out task that comes with a financial commitment, but it is still something that every business owner should consider doing.
While there are many reasons why you should update or upgrade old equipment, here are the top five we want to share with you.
1. Maintaining Safety and Security
Cyberattacks impact more and more businesses every year, and every business owner should take cyber security seriously. Check out our Cyber Security Checklist For Business Owners here.
The severity of a cyberattack can vary. You might only experience a short downtime as the situation is assessed and vulnerabilities are resolved. On the other end of the spectrum, you could suffer through multiple days or weeks without resolution or lose sensitive information about your clients.
If your business uses outdated equipment, you risk increasing your susceptibility to a cyberattack. Older equipment may have security holes that you are not aware of because of limitations with hardware or software.
2. Maintaining Regulatory and Legal Compliance
Compliance goes hand in hand with safety and security. Legacy equipment that is not updated or upgraded can result in compliance risks that you may not even know about. Non-compliance could lead to fines or, in extreme cases, even open you up to litigation.
In the past, these issues mostly affected larger businesses. In today’s world, however, even small and medium businesses need to be knowledgeable about regulatory and legal compliance.
3. System Downtime and Crashes
In many cases, when a business experiences system downtime, it is the result of a crash.
Old equipment is very much like an old car. While an old car may still be functional, it won’t perform as well as it used to and eventually may stop working altogether. The same can be said about your IT equipment. These crashes can cause you to lose precious data and information, prevent you from serving your clients, and lead to system downtime.
In today’s modern world, we are used to having everything instantaneously with little to no interruptions. Downtimes are a pain for not only you but for your customers as well.
4. Loss In Productivity
As we touched on in the previous point, older equipment will not function the same as it did when it was new. Tasks may take longer to complete, small issues will take longer to fix, and lack of updates may cause you to miss out on new features that may help you and your staff.
This will have a direct influence on how productive your business can be. Initially, you may only notice a slight loss in productivity, and it may stay that way for a long time. But over the course of weeks, months, and years, all of those updates add up.
5. Lost Profits And Increased Costs
If your business is still using old equipment, it will influence how much money you make and the cost of doing business.
As mentioned above, there will be a loss in productivity. In order to provide the same products and services to your customers and clients, you may have to spend more money to compensate for the loss in productivity. This will cut into your bottom line, which could have been avoided.
There is also the possibility that older IT equipment will have a hidden cost. As equipment gets older, companies will inevitably shift their focus toward supporting newer equipment. The cost of support for older equipment rises as supply and demand for that support dwindles. There is also the chance that they will stop supporting older hardware and software entirely.
Compass Network Group can help by assessing your business and determining whether or not you need to update your equipment. We have a large and experienced team of professionals dedicated to every client we serve. We offer a host of services, including installation, IT support, security and compliance, and more. Contact us to schedule a discovery session today!
