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7 Hidden Dangers of Using Outdated Tools in Business

July 6, 2017 No Comments

Featured article by Katie Johnson, Independent Technology Author

One of the most imperative aspects that define the success of a business is the state of its systems and the tools it utilises. The significance of using state-of-the-art tools in business is paramount as it can ultimately affect the performance and productivity of your team.

Tools can either make or break a company, depending on their state and contribution to the accomplishment of everyday goals. For example, some businesses are still running the latest programs on old operating systems as ‘they work just fine.’ Others are investing in state-of-the-art systems and technology that works ‘better’ and provides them with a clear edge.

That faithful ancient server that you are so happy with because it ‘doesn’t give you any trouble’ may be the death of you one day. There are numerous risks attached to using outdated tools in the business world, some of which can set your company back for years and make recovery difficult.

1. Poor performance and consistency

If your business is still operating on old versions of operating systems and is using outdated tools and servers to complete everyday tasks, then the chances of a breakdown and loss of crucial data are high. Outdated operating systems are more vulnerable to risks like viruses and data corruption, increasing their chances of breakdown.

This will waste time as employees would have to wait while their systems are rebooted or fixed, leaving them unable to work on their projects and meet deadlines. The teams will not be able to work at their full potential, resulting in a loss of revenue. There is decreased productivity as well, as employees spend their time fixing the faults instead of completing their business-oriented projects.

2. Increased incurrence of loss

The use of outdated tools leads to several issues like the loss of crucial data in case of a crash and the loss of time that could have been utilised efficiently if the systems were functioning smoothly. When companies fail to replace and update the tools and instead focus on repairing the damages to the existing ones, the overall cost shifts significantly to the negative side. The cost sustained is further elevated as revenue is used to repair internal damages instead of being proficiently utilised to grow the business.

3. Increased susceptibility to viruses and hackers

The information that is worked on by the employees is extremely sensitive and cannot get into the wrong hands, as it will lead to losing one’s competitive edge and campaign ideas. Using outdated tools to conduct everyday business will leave the sensitive information vulnerable to virus attacks and other security breaches.

Up-to-date tools come with a much more complicated set of security options, making them safer to use than the outdated ones. The longer your business continues to rely on old tools, the more liable it gets to attacks and loss of data amongst other dangers.

4. Lower productivity

Tools that are outdated become slow with time. They start to crash and hang, and make you irritated enough to want to trash your workplace. The downtime of teams and employees in general increases if there is more use of outdated tools. Tools like Excel are even considered redundant in most businesses as they slow down work instead of making things easy. While Microsoft Excel may work well for small companies, for larger corporations where changes are being made almost every hour, the basic becomes insufficient.

There is no option to drag and drop data, instead you have to manually copy all of it to the cells, which is time consuming and results in numerous errors. A smart and innovative online team planner is what a business needs to thrive and survive. It is accessible and available for all of the employees and members of different teams involved and they can make changes any time they want. The simple and efficient drag and drop feature that certain online team planners offer, such as https://www.timewax.co.uk/team-planner/ that I came across, can save several precious minutes on every single task. The above team planner is used by a range of industries, so all businesses can take advantage of its features.

5. Scheduling errors

Most events in a work environment are dependent on proper scheduling. The meetings that are set with clients, the internal meetings and performance updates are all set to happen at a specific time during the day. This takes some proper planning as every employee has different schedules to follow and finding one slot where all the team members are free is a difficult feat to accomplish. The old-fashioned planning boards become almost useless in such cases. There are errors in scheduling appointments, members are not given proper notice about an imminent meeting and leaders find themselves sitting across a team that is only half present.

The new and smarter planning board is a revolutionised version of its ancestor and is fully functional online. The planning board is available via the online team planner and allows employees to plan and schedule for days and weeks ahead. Its innovative visual appearance makes it easy to understand and read, and being available online allows easy access to the staff at any moment during the day.

6. Limited competitiveness

New and updated tools mean more productivity and much more capability. This holds true for both software and hardware. Outdated tools will make your company fall behind the competition. It will not be able to meet the demands and may eventually result in a significant loss of business when the tools reach their limits. Outdated tools take a lot of time to process and load. Your company will be able to save up on a lot of money and time by updating tools to the latest editions or having new ones installed for better results.

For maximum output, employees need to stay as much connected as possible to work. Team planners allow teams to stay connected and be aware of any changes occurring all the time, allowing them to stay on top of their competition.

7. Legal risks

When the technology powering a company is old fashioned, slow and unreliable, the chances of being slapped with lawsuits are tenfold. Imagine working on an extremely crucial piece of information for a client and then the next moment the software you are using shuts down without any warning and you lose all of your hard work.

Also, what if the piece you were working on got sent to the clients without being refined and it turns out to be worthless and results in loss of a client. The chances of being served are high in such cases, as clients are relying on your services to continue with their own.

The drawbacks of using tools and systems that are outdated are too significant to be ignored. If a business is looking to reform itself and succeed more than its competitors, then the first thing it should do is ensure the provision of the most avant-garde technology. These dangers may be hidden, but they will soon come out with their full force and wreak havoc on your enterprise.

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