Resources & insights

7 tell-tale signs it’s time to upgrade your IT system (and how to do it)

You may think the IT system in your organisation is good enough. Perhaps it was the latest cutting-edge technology when you first set it up. However, if you haven’t upgraded it for many years, it’s probably showing signs of wear and tear.

Productivity tech has advanced massively in recent years. If you’re not taking advantage of developments such as cloud applications, your people will spend more time on tasks than they need to. They’re undoubtedly getting frustrated and even thinking of leaving your organisation. And if your competitors have upgraded their tech recently, they’ll be reaping the rewards.

In this article, we’ll share seven tell-tale signs that your IT system needs an overhaul. Then, we’ll give you some ideas on how to do it.

1 – You rely too much on email

While almost every organisation uses email as its primary communication tool, there are many scenarios where it’s a drag on productivity. For example, when people in your organisation collaborate together on a document, does someone have to email it to everyone and then stitch their separate edits back together? Or perhaps you are able to send links to files, but when you open the link, you get a sharing violation because the file is already in use.

Another sign you’re relying too much on email is if you use it for quick chats with your team members or to send urgent requests. Email is asynchronous communication, meaning you have to wait for a reply (that may or may not come). In those situations, a synchronous communication tool like instant messaging is much more flexible.

2 – Work is laborious and disorganised

Which of these situations ring true in your organisation?

• When working on spreadsheets, people spend a lot of time copying and pasting data from one place to another
• You need a different password for every app on your system (and they’re weak because you never change them) 
• You can’t transfer data from one app to another, so you have to enter it twice
• When you need a file, it’s never on the device you’re using
• Your office uses a lot of paper
• If you’re not in the office, you can’t work at all
• If you can work remotely, you have to use a dial-up VPN

These issues can severely impact your productivity, as you’re effectively doing some jobs twice. They can also affect your staff morale, as people just want to get on with their work without dealing with sluggish IT. They could even lead to people wanting to leave your organisation when they want to work somewhere that enables them to work smarter.

Another sign that you have a problem is when someone new starts in your organisation and they say, ‘We did this much better at my previous company.’ If you hear that, it’s time to explore upgrading.

3 – Increased IT problems

Do old apps on your system crash for seemingly no reason at all? Do files fail to load correctly? Do your staff complain that they have lost a piece of work because of an IT glitch, which they must do again?

If so, your IT system is most definitely in need of an upgrade. Ageing applications are more likely to crash, produce errors, or generally just behave strangely, particularly if they’re no longer supported by the manufacturer. (Unsupported applications are also a security risk.)

As well as being annoying and an anchor on productivity, these glitches are also a burden on your IT support team, who have to field more calls, fix issues and design workarounds. Surely they would rather be doing something else?

4 – Cyber security keeps you up at night

It’s natural for leaders to worry about cyber security in their organisation. In fact, if you’re not concerned about preventing malware, data breaches and other cyber attacks, there’s probably something wrong. However, if you’re running an outdated IT system, you’re more vulnerable to attacks. By upgrading, you can be more confident that you’re doing everything you can to avoid breaches that are costly to your finances and your reputation. 

As well as sleepless nights about cyber security, other signs that you need to secure your IT system better include:

• You can’t get cyber insurance
• You struggle to meet due diligence questionnaires regarding risk management or compliance
• Your people use weak passwords and don’t change them regularly enough

Raising productivity is essential for any successful organisation, but cyber security is even more critical. Cyber attacks and data breaches can spell the end of organisations if they don’t respond well enough. If you’re seeing any of these signs, an IT upgrade could be a matter of urgency, not just a nice-to-have.

5 – Your results are suffering

Running an outdated IT system in your organisation can have a detrimental impact on your performance. It can lead to downturns in your essential metrics and see you fall behind your competitors.

The best organisations are agile. They can react quickly to external changes in the marketplace and turn difficult situations to their advantage. It’s very hard to be agile when your IT system is old, slow, and lacking in capabilities. For example, it’s hard to predict how a potential new investment will perform when your people can’t collaborate on files, need to enter data into spreadsheets multiple times and can’t work remotely.

To be the best organisation, you need the best people. When you’re hiring, the state of your IT system is a significant factor for candidates. Talented people want to work for modern organisations where they can use the latest tools to produce great work. If you can’t provide that, they’ll go to an organisation that will.

If you’re seeing a downturn in your performance metrics and good candidates are not joining you, it could be time to take a look at your IT.

6 – Shadow IT is everywhere

Shadow IT is when your people, fed up with using your outdated IT system, use their own devices and apps to get their work done. While Shadow IT might make them more productive in the short run, it’s uneconomical and a massive cyber security risk.

If you discover that your people would rather use WhatsApp than your organisation’s chosen instant messaging platform, for example, it’s a sign that the platform you bought isn’t doing its job. It could be time to upgrade.

You could also find that your people are using different applications to do the same task. For example, one employee uses MS Project to run projects, but another uses Slack and another uses Tasks, it’s a sign that you’re not providing the right solutions to your people. Streamlining your IT system could solve that problem.

7 – Hardware issues

Finally, if the IT hardware in your organisation is outdated, you might see signs such as:

• Machines taking ages to start up, with slow performance
• No more automatic security updates
• People using physical handsets to make phone calls
• Rooms and rooms of servers
• Wear and tear on your PCs, monitors, printers and other devices

So much of the physical side of IT is obsolete now, and upgrading your system could lead to significant productivity gains.

But where do you start?

How to start upgrading your IT system

When updating your IT system so it’s fit for the demands of today’s world, the first thing you should do is consider migrating your data and applications to the cloud. This one thing can make a massive difference to your organisation, opening up a world of possibilities for new ways of working, powerful software apps and the safest cyber security measures.

The range of cloud-native SaaS apps that can revolutionise the way your work is almost endless, but begin by addressing the most urgent problems:

• Move your currently unstructured data files into an online sharing platform (e.g. Microsoft SharePoint), where your people can collaborate without emailing files and no version control issues
• Utilise cloud-hosted email, enabling integrations so your SaaS apps can talk to each other

• Investigate whether the business applications you currently use (such as your accounting tools and project management systems) have cloud versions. If so, it should be simple to transfer your data across

• Migrating to cloud services allows you to stop making costly CapEx investments for new hardware – not just replacing servers but the seemingly endless requirement for additional storage space or performance capacity.

• Make it easy for your team to log in to various cloud services securely, using Single Sign On (SSO).  This avoids the re-use of passwords, and centralises authentication and audit logs

• On the journey towards cloud service adoption, harness the power of integration between cloud services.  This can reduce re-work, improve visibility and and provide better insights across company information

In addition, when you’re in the cloud, your staff will find it much simpler to work remotely, accessing the same applications and data that they can in the office, no matter what device they’re on. Most importantly, they’ll be able to do it securely, without compromising your cyber security posture. For example, you’ll be able to manage users and devices from cloud platforms such as InTune or EntraID, as well as streamline logins and password management with Single Sign On (SSO) and multi-factor authentication (MFA). Even better, you’ll be able to retire those dusty old servers.

Of course, there will be challenges as you drag your organisation’s IT system into 2024, not least from your people. As frustrating as your current IT system may be for your people, there will always be some who won’t understand why you want to change ‘the way we’ve always done it’. In this situation, you need to bring them along on the journey, educating them on not just how to use the new IT system but the many benefits it will bring. An effective way to do this is to consult with your staff members who bring in their own tools and work out how you can offer a new tool that works for everybody.

Get an expert in your corner

If you’ve noticed any of our seven tell-tale signs in your organisation, it’s time to start investigating an IT system upgrade.

With an expert technology partner in your corner, particularly one who understands the vertical where you operate, you can ensure your upgrade delivers the biggest benefits. They’ll be able to show you the business applications and SaaS platforms that have made a positive impact elsewhere in your industry, with first-hand insights.

At Doherty Associates, we’re experts at helping our clients make the most of the latest business technology, including supporting more than 50,000 users to migrate to the cloud successfully. We’re here to help you overcome your IT challenges, raise productivity and keep your organisation secure.

To find out more, visit our Optimising Your Business page.

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