{"id":8263,"date":"2014-08-26T10:00:11","date_gmt":"2014-08-26T15:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mrc-productivity.com\/blog\/?p=8263"},"modified":"2022-11-22T10:52:33","modified_gmt":"2022-11-22T16:52:33","slug":"9-signs-that-your-business-applications-need-replacing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mrc-productivity.com\/blog\/2014\/08\/9-signs-that-your-business-applications-need-replacing\/","title":{"rendered":"9 signs that your business applications need replacing"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Education\"Summary: Many businesses still run on outdated applications. Is your business one of them? If so, how do you know when it’s time to replace your legacy apps? At what point do your legacy applications do more harm than good? Here are 9 sure-fire signs to watch for.<\/em><\/span>
\n<\/a>
\nLet me ask you a question: At what point are business applications \u201ctoo old?\u201d At what point should you replace or overhaul your legacy business applications?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a question that organizations struggle with every day. You see, many businesses run their operations on outdated systems and applications. <\/p>\n

The problems vary. Sometimes, these applications cause minor inconveniences. Sometimes they hurt productivity. Other times, they keep a business from modern technology.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the million dollar question: At what point should these applications get overhauled? Today, let\u2019s highlight a few signals. Here are 9 signs that your business applications need an overhaul.<\/span><\/p>\n

1. The software is no longer supported<\/h3>\n

The first, most obvious sign: The vendor has stopped supporting your software. They\u2019ve either gone out of business, or deemed the software \u201ctoo old.\u201d Either way, you\u2019re stuck with software you can\u2019t fix or maintain.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cIf there is no support available for your software, then you need to consider moving away from it,\u201d says Jonathan Hurdman, IT specialist at J&J Automation<\/span><\/a>. \u201cYou don’t want to be in the position of needing support and being unable to get it because you are the only company still using that software.\u201d\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

2. Your software is incompatible with the latest release<\/h3>\n

Of course, you never want to get stuck with unsupported software. What\u2019s the first sign that your vendor will stop supporting your software? They release a new version that\u2019s incompatible with older versions. <\/p>\n

\n\u201cAs companies upgrade software, they often change its hardware requirements and the way the data is stored,\u201d says Tim Singleton, President of Strive Technology Consulting<\/span><\/a>. \u201cNew versions of a program often cannot read data from old versions. For example, you can’t use Quickbooks 2014 to open a data file created with Quickbooks 1999, they have changed the way the data is stored. You may as well try to open an Excel document in Adobe Reader; it just won’t work. Similarly, when older programs will not install or run on currently available hardware, you are dangerously out of date.\u201d\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

3. The software (or hardware) required to run your software is no longer supported<\/h3>\n

It\u2019s something I say often: Don\u2019t buy software that ties you to a single platform. What happens if that platforms disappears? What happens if that platform becomes obsolete? You\u2019re stuck.<\/p>\n

As mentioned below, Internet Explorer is a great example. In the past, many companies built applications specifically for IE6. It made sense at the time. IE6 was the dominant browser, by a large margin. That\u2019s not the case anymore. Now, those companies must scramble to overhaul those applications.<\/p>\n

\n

\"photo
photo credit: evil nickname<\/a> via photopin<\/a> cc<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\u201cIf the software that is required to run your software is out of date and\/or no longer being supported it\u2019s time to upgrade,\u201d says Jacques Vincilione, CEO of Lucien Consulting, Inc<\/span><\/a>. \u201cThe cost of having someone come in and fix an archaic system will be quite expensive. There is another large issue with having outdated systems – your IT department is not advancing their knowledge working for you. If they\u2019ve been stuck troubleshooting and bug fixing your web app that was built for IE 5 or 6 for the past 10 years, they\u2019re going to have a steep learning curve when it\u2019s time to upgrade.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile that example may seemed far fetched, I know of a company that had a web application built and finished in 2011 that was built for IE 5.5 and 6. Now $4 million dollars later, they\u2019re upgrading 3 years later.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

4. The software can\u2019t take security updates<\/h3>\n

As threats evolve, security updates are constantly applied to any piece of software. But, what happens when the security threats evolve to a point where your software can no longer keep up? That happens all too often, and is a sure sign you need to replace your applications.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cThere is a point with an application when the security risks are too high to continue using the application,\u201d says Vincilione. \u201cThe worst part is, some companies will install and\/or build insecure applications from the start. I used to work for a Electric Utility Company, and they could not update Java or it would break their application. A lot of updates for Java ( a couple a year) are for security fixes. \u201c\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

5. You regularly use workarounds<\/h3>\n

Here\u2019s a great tip: Take the time to regularly talk with your users. Understand how they use your applications. This is especially important as applications age. Do your applications enable your business processes, or slow them down? Are users forced to work around the applications to meet their needs? The number of users relying on workarounds may surprise you.<\/p>\n

\n

\"photo
photo credit: Phillie Casablanca<\/a> via photopin<\/a> cc<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\u201cOccasionally using a workaround is common to commercial software as opposed to software that is custom built, but if you are constantly working around the program instead of it doing what you need it to do, then you need a different software that works with your business model,\u201d says Hurdman. \u201cIt may have been fine initially, but business models and procedures change.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

6. Business processes accommodate the software rather than the other way around<\/h3>\n

On a similar note, examine your business processes. How many of these processes must accommodate your outdated applications? How much does this contribute to inefficiency? Your applications should always accommodate your business processes. Not the other way around.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cThis one is more subtle because it happens over time, but if a company observes that they have changed their business process just to allow that old quirky application to keep being used, it’s a good idea to think about replacing it,\u201d says Glenn Mores, President of MicroData<\/span><\/a>. \u201cThe inefficiencies of having an entire business accommodate an application or system can be enormous.\u201d\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

7. Users report waiting ‘X’ minutes for something to load\/run\/finish<\/h3>\n

\"photo
photo credit: mao_lini<\/a> via photopin<\/a> cc<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>Another benefit of talking to your users: You\u2019ll understand if your applications harm productivity. Applications grow slower over time, yet users often accept this as \u201cnormal.\u201d For them, waiting around 5 minutes for an application may be normal. For your business, it\u2019s a giant waste of time. How much time do your old applications waste? What does that equate to in dollars? <\/span><\/p>\n

\n\u201cWe just replaced an entire network at a 30-user company where some of the engineers reported a ‘normal’ application load time of 10 minutes,\u201d says Mores. \u201cBells should go off when you hear that.\u201d\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

8. The application doesn’t work with modern hardware\/software<\/h3>\n

Can your company take advantage of new hardware and software options? Maybe not…if you\u2019re stuck with outdated applications. <\/p>\n

What does that mean for your business? The problems vary. Maybe it means you\u2019re stuck with old hardware. Maybe it means you can\u2019t adapt to new trends (like mobile). While they don\u2019t show up on your balance sheet, these missed opportunities translate to real lost revenue.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cIf an app doesn’t really work that well with the current generation of peripheral devices, that’s a good tip-off that it may be time to retire\/refresh rather than fight with compatibility issues,\u201d explains Mores.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

9. The cost of maintenance exceeds the benefits<\/h3>\n

Finally, speak with your IT team. Understand how much time and energy they dedicate to supporting these outdated applications. Do the benefits of these applications outweigh the burden of keeping them around? How much time could your IT department save in the long-term if they replaced the applications?<\/p>\n

\n\u201cWhen the cost\/effort of keeping the apps working, or working around their inadequacies, exceeds the benefits remaining, it’s time for an overhaul,\u201d says Steven Lowe, Founder\/CEO at Innovator, LLC<\/span>. \u201cThis is also an opportunity to overhaul the processes that use the app.\u201d\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So, what do you think? Is there anything you would add to this list? If so, please share your thoughts in the comments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Summary: Many businesses still run on outdated applications. Is your business one of them? If so, how do you know when it’s time to replace your legacy apps? At what point do your legacy applications do more harm than good? Here are 9 sure-fire signs to watch for.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","slim_seo":{"title":"9 signs that your business applications need replacing - mrc's Cup of Joe Blog","description":"Summary: Many businesses still run on outdated applications. Is your business one of them? If so, how do you know when it's time to replace your legacy apps? At"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[9],"class_list":["post-8263","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-education","tag-modernization"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mrc-productivity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8263","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mrc-productivity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mrc-productivity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mrc-productivity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mrc-productivity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8263"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.mrc-productivity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8263\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13787,"href":"https:\/\/www.mrc-productivity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8263\/revisions\/13787"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mrc-productivity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8263"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mrc-productivity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8263"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mrc-productivity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}