5 Reasons to Retire Your Legacy Technology
Many local governments and utilities are saying goodbye to costly, outdated technology and updating to industry-leading software solutions that are more cost effective. Here are 5 key reasons to move on from your legacy technology.
1. Your Staff is Retiring
The median age of employees across the public sector is over 50. The staff most accustomed to the old tech and the best at troubleshooting it are on the verge of retirement, and the transition to a new generation of staff is the perfect time to onboard new solutions.
2. Old Technology Is Compromising Your Security
Relying on legacy applications and infrastructure dramatically increases the likelihood of a security incident. As technology ages, it becomes increasingly more difficult to manage patches, updates, and general IT best practices. And advances in malware attacks make outdated tech even more susceptible to data security breaches.
3. It’s More Cost Effective to Use Newer Technology
Replacing old systems will lower your overall expenses to maintain and secure IT infrastructure, and makes it easier to establish a more accurate budget. Older technology is written in outdated coding languages, requiring specialized consultants to maintain or modify even basic functionality which can prove very costly. Newer, cloud-based technologies allow for software providers to deploy continuous updates without downtime to users — and without costly consulting hours.
4. Outdated Software Has No Upgrade Path
The technology of the past is often rooted in on-premise hardware with antiquated workflows and user interfaces. The current trend is driving agencies to migrate from multiple disparate back-end systems to a fully integrated, unified platform with open Application Programming Interfaces (Application Programming Interfaces (APIs)). This leads to a better overall customer experience (CX), and the costs of a single system can be shared across multiple agencies and departments.
5. Changing Customers Needs Demand More Versatile Tech
The way customers make payments has changed drastically in the private sector, and the public sector is experiencing its own transformation. Customers are seeing how the private sector has adapted to new needs and are expecting similar advancement in the public sector services. This means providing a better user experience (UX) for your customers and staff. In addition to providing a better UX, newer technologies can also streamline processes and accommodate off-site work to accommodate remote staff.
Maintaining Outdated Tech Poses More Challenges
Choosing to keep old tech can temporarily spare you the challenges of adopting and adapting to new technology. But, the significant direct and indirect costs to you and your customers far outweigh any benefits. Surprise expenses to address security blindspots, manual processes that take up valuable time, and software that inhibits the customer experience are only a few of the ways older tech can affect your modern user experience. Moving toward modern tech can not only spare you these unexpected costs but brings with it the benefits of streamlined processes for staff, a more secure payment process, more robust reporting capabilities, and a user experience that will make customers rave about the new payment experience.
