When the Covid-19 pandemic began, businesses had to quickly adapt to remain operational despite people not being able to converge physically. Businesses that had taken proactive steps towards digitization of operations had an easier time transitioning to remote work. Companies that hadn’t been ready found themselves scrambling to put together the right technology. Sticking too long to legacy technology often leads to inefficiencies that can cost millions of dollars in lost productivity. The benefits of modern software supersede the capital investment required. It’s, therefore, best to begin software upgrade projects when signs of inefficiency in the current software begin to crop up. Here are 7signs that your company software is due for an upgrade.
1. Staff Is Spending Too Much Unproductively
You always want your staff members to spend time on things that directly impact revenue positively. However, your old software may be getting in their way due to frequent downtime and slow processing. When too much time goes to troubleshooting and doing repetitive things manually, it’s certainly time to upgrade company software. Automation of tedious tasks will allow staff members to handle more meaningful work including innovation and strategy building.
2. Fragmented Company Data
Having data stored in multiple locations creates several problems. First, the organization might face problems trying to secure it properly. This represents a major risk because a breach may have legal and financial implications on the business. Secondly, it’s impossible to fully take advantage of analytics with data stored in multiple locations. A software upgrade can be useful for collecting data more accurately and securing it in a central location. From one central point, its’ easier to clean, transform, and analyze the data for business insights. Data, when properly leveraged, can be a key asset for a business and a competitive advantage by being able to make superior production, marketing, pricing, and hiring decisions.
3. When there are too many missed Opportunities
The business environment is constantly evolving, and companies need to respond to remain relevant. Customer expectations change, new production methods emerge, and new competitors enter the market. A company might find itself unable to take advantage of new opportunities because of outdated software. The old software may be too slow or may lack features to function in the current market. For instance, customer service centers have evolved a lot in the last decade with chatbots becoming almost ubiquitous. This has forced companies to adopt them because customers expect faster and round-the-clock service today.
4. When Staff and Customers Complain about Inefficiency
Outdated software fatigues employees because they are unable to be as productive as they should be. They are likely to express this frustration during performance review interviews or through their representatives. When such complaints come to the fore, the company should move quickly to build a solution. Employees confer with peers who work at other companies, and they can always sense whether their company is in step or behind the rest of the industry in technology adoption.
Customers too are likely to complain when they feel that your current systems aren’t serving them well. They may be feeling that your current systems aren’t fast or robust enough. Software upgrades are also a chance to revamp the brand and make customers feel good about using products. This is why app upgrades are often followed up by an awareness campaign. It’s a chance to connect with customers.
5. Key Metrics Indicate a Slump
If your business relies heavily on software to drive revenue, it’s important to track metrics that explain user behavior. For instance, the business should track active user numbers from month to month to get an understanding of how they are progressing. A steady decline should be investigated. Another useful metric would be the average amount of time spent on the app. If this too is declining, there should be an audit to find out why. It may be that the app or website is due for a major upgrade to deliver more functionality or a better user experience.
6. When It’s Been Too Long Since the Last Upgrade
In some cases, the reason for a company software upgrade is that enough time has passed since the last upgrade. Your development team may have been working on new features and is now ready to deliver them to your users. Your team must ensure that the changes are good enough to warrant a heavy capital investment and perhaps a slight disruption in the user experience as they transition to the new software.
It’s also important to monitor developments by competitors and the industry as well. If competitors are moving away from legacy software and embracing cloud-based technology, this will affect their service delivery to customers. You should consider the impact of such moves on service quality and possibly, market share.
7. When Security Breaches or Threats Escalate
It’s important that company software remains robust and capable of withstanding security threats. When threats evolve, security patches may be used as a safeguard. However, it may reach a point when a whole new security architecture is necessary. Security is thus a fundamental reason why a company may upgrade its software especially when it wants to add more features such as payments processing.
Preparing for a Company Software Upgrade
When there are tell-tale signs that your company software is due for an upgrade, your company must plan carefully because it’s a major project that can take more than a year to fruition. First, the company must establish clearly what the new software should deliver. The upgrade should also be future-proof so that another upgrade is not necessary for a couple of years.
The company should consider other changes that will need to complement the software upgrade. Such costs include the cost of training employees before the rollout. Sometimes, the company might need to invest in new hardware. All this has to be properly budgeted and financed.
If your company is planning a major software upgrade, get in touch with Transcendent Software. We are an IT services company and will help you plan and execute a software upgrade with a smooth transition process.