According to Digium, about 91% of people said they wouldn’t do business with a company because of their outdated technology. To determine if your company’s technology has seen better days, there are a few things to look for.
Is your computer taking forever to startup or load? Does it take an obscene amount of time for your internet to switch from page to page? Slow speed is a major red flag that your computer needs to be updated. Things like lack of RAM, lack of hard disk space, or just a simple overload of too much software can slow down your computer. But if you have that much stuff on your hard drive, getting a computer with more space (and a newer model) is a good call.
If you find that your computer’s, phone systems, point of sales, and other systems crash on a regular basis, it’s another red flag signifying that your technology is out-of-date. Not only is the consistent downtime a pain, but it can seriously harm your business’ productivity level.
“Newer OSs are robust against application crashes, but in older systems application bugs can affect the OS and cause a system-wide crash,” Scientific American reported.
Along with an older system, spam and viruses can also cause your computer to regularly crash. Opening an email that seems completely innocent can completely put your information, as well as your customer’s information, at risk. As of September 2017, spam messages accounted for 59.56% of email traffic worldwide.
Sustainable Business Toolkit says it’s important to be aware of customer complaints. If you are your employees are hearing more and more complaints from customers regarding technology issues, you definitely need to upgrade your system. These complaints can include anything from slow response times and poor online security. Even if you and your team are used to the slower systems, your customers aren’t going to be too happy.
Aside from your customers, 5i Business says you should pay attention to what your employees are saying. Listening to your employees can help you get the best idea of what you might need to replace. For example, if you hear your IT team complaining about the overwhelming amount of support tickets, there’s a chance that some part of your existing infrastructure isn’t properly working. If your IT team is busy trying to fix all of the problems, they’re not going to help you think of new ways to help the department grow. They might even get so frustrated they leave the company altogether. Did you know that 2.7 million workers voluntarily left their jobs at the end of June 2015? That’s something you want to avoid within your company.
If your technology is slow, regularly crashes, and you’re constantly hearing customer complaints, it might be time to think about updating your system. You live in the 21st century, so don’t forget to allow your company’s technology to do so, too.
