8 Signs Your Legacy Applications Are Hurting Your Bottom Line

According to ComputerWeekly, legacy software is holding back about 90% of companies.

If you think that you’re one of those companies, it might be time to look at your legacy applications.

But what are some of the signs that your old software is causing issues? Keep reading to find out!

1. It’s Too Slow

One of the main signs is that your business applications are running too slowly. They might glitch out a lot or just take forever to load or do standard tasks. This could be because the software needs modernization or because it wasn’t a good quality program in the first place. 

You should be able to fix this by just replacing the outdated system. If it’s because of a faulty program, you should be able to install a new one to maximize efficiency and performance. 

While you might not be bothered by waiting for it to load, your employees will eventually get frustrated. And it will hurt your business by costing more time in the long run to do a simple task.

2. Time to Market Takes Longer

When you run a business, you should look at the Time to Market (TTM). This shows how long it takes to complete something from the very beginning to the very end when the product is delivered.

If you start noticing that your TTM gets longer and longer, you might want to ask why. It could be because you have new employees and they’re learning the software. 

Or it could be because the programs are making everything take longer. 

3. Vendor Doesn’t Support It

Your old software may end up being an end of life product, which means that the vendor doesn’t offer support for it anymore. This means that you won’t get maintenance on it or have any software updates. You might still be able to use it, but if something breaks, no one will be able to help you fix it. 

You always want to make sure that your software is up-to-date and able to run, so make sure that you stay on top of the vendor support for your software. 

In some cases, it could affect other programs as well. For example, if your operating system isn’t supported, you won’t be able to run other apps on it either.

If something does happen on your applications, they likely are out of warranty as well. This means that there’s no way to retrieve the lost data or time.

4. High Power Bill

Some old legacy servers take a lot more power to run, so keep an eye on your electricity bill. They often overheat as well, which could mean that you have to pay more to keep the server room cool. 

If you have the money, you should really invest in a new one. Not only will it cut your energy costs, but it will run faster and all-around improve your workflow.

5. Not Mobile Friendly

Many people visit sites on their phones now, so making sure you have a website that runs on mobile is very important. 

You may also want to use software that can be accessed via phone, in case any of your employees are remote and need immediate access to it. If your old software isn’t available on mobile, it’s probably time for an upgrade. 

If you want to upgrade but don’t’ have the money for it yet, you can add different tools to your legacy software to make sure that at least some features have mobile support. 

6. Security Concerns

With hackers getting creative more and more each day, it’s important to have constant security updates to the software. However, older servers generally don’t get updated, so you may have some security mishaps waiting to happen. 

To make sure your data is secure, get the latest technology, and make sure you always update whenever it prompts you to.

7. Obsolete Tech

You might have just gotten the latest software applications installed, but that won’t do you much good if you’re running it on old technology.

Having the latest Windows version won’t run very well (if at all) on a computer that is over ten years old. So make sure all your technology is somewhat current as well.

One example of tools going obsolete is Adobe Flash. Adobe abandoned it because most browsers come with a version that works in support of Flash. However, Microsoft Silverlight is rarely used, so they don’t have updates for it anymore. 

8. Not Flexible

Lastly, you should make sure that your software is flexible. It should never be stagnant, but instead, it should evolve and grow to fit your business needs.

As your business grows, you’ll need different requirements, and having good software will make sure that it can keep up. For example, if you started a small, local business, you might grow into a larger, nation-wide company one day. 

The software that you had for your small business most likely won’t work, so it’s important to upgrade it to keep up with the times.

Discover More Signs Your Legacy Applications Need Updates

These are only a few signs that your legacy applications need updates, but there are many more you should keep an eye out for.

We know that running your businesses and making sure everything is up to date can be exhausting, but we’re here to help you out!

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