Is your IT platform holding you back?

Did you know that…

1. Over 500 million tweets are sent every day.
2. The Internet influenced retail sales to the tune of $2.3 trillion in 2017 and is estimated to increase to $2.84 trillion in 2018.
3. Over 3.5 billion Google searches are made every day.
4. 90% of the data on the internet has been created since 2016, according to an IBM Marketing Cloud study.
5. Nearly two-thirds of IT departments reported that they are increasing IT operational spending, according to Computer Economics Staffing & Spending Report.

Technology continues to change the way we work and interact with colleagues, friends and customers.
The amount of data we store, and back-up increases every year, and the software packages to manipulate it are multiplying and continuously improving.

Companies at the forefront of this are reaping the rewards, by utilising it to create happy customers and happy employees. In the words of Charles Darwin “It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the ones most adaptable to change.”

Many companies choose to ‘sweat’ their assets, by continually bandaging their old IT platform rather than exploring new options. However, this approach usually ends up costing a business more in the long run, not just financially but through the lack of efficiencies, innovation, the inability to automate, the time needed for maintenance and repair, and through frustrated employees.

Here’s a list of symptoms that suggest your IT platform is holding you back:

1. Performance: Is your system unbearably slow and does it keep crashing? If the software you use daily is struggling, this is a good sign that your IT platform can no longer keep up with the demands placed upon it. It can sometimes also be a sign of a pending cyber-security problem too.
2. Security: This issue deserves its own bullet point! Whilst anti-virus software updates itself, the older your IT platform gets the more vulnerable to cyber threats it becomes. Additionally, disaster recovery plans and regular back-ups are harder to streamline and perfect on rickety platform.
3. End-of-life: Often, software and hardware have end-dates to their product life-cycle. This often means that older platforms become unsupported. The supplier will no longer provide support, patching, updates or bug fixes, which leaves companies vulnerable from a security & compliance perspective.
4. Electricity costs: It’s an obvious one, but a proven one nonetheless. Old IT platforms can cost businesses a small fortune in electricity bills and moving to Cloud based solutions can save companies a small fortune.
5. Competition: New technology often brings game changing advantages to companies, such as improvements in productivity, efficiencies, customer communications and services…It’s worth keeping a close watch on your competitors to make sure you’re IT platform isn’t affecting your position in the market.
6. Miserable millennials: The BBC recently reported that now only 9% of the UKs work force follow the strict 9-5 working day. A growing number of employees are given the opportunity to work flexibly and remotely. Having a modern, working IT platform that provides flexibility is now crucial to retaining employees.
7. Your yes/no ratio: Can you say yes to the needs of your business more than you say no! And when you say yes, are your fingers crossed? Is your IT platform innovation ready, for most things the business throws at you?

If you think your IT platform is holding you back, get in touch. We’re happy to help.