Working with antiquated systems is never a good idea.
Your business may be happy with its technology knowing that it is working and able to move you along day to day without issue. Like the people in the canoe above it is smooth sailing. The problem is that the people in the canoe are not looking downstream to see what is coming. If they did, they would see that there is a waterfall, which, unless they are adequately equipped, could lead to catastrophe.
If you are running Windows 2003 Server within your environment and everything is working, you are like the folks in the canoe in the first picture. You think you have all the time in the world to make the transition and after all, if it isn’t broken, why fix it?? If you have a Windows 2003 Server system, your IT support group would have raised this potential problem and exposure risk with you some time ago. If not, ask them if you are using Windows Server 2003.
While the canoe example is something we can all relate to and understand the dangers of, technology is not like that. Business owners in general do not understand the consequences of running older technology and the exposure that it provides to your firm or company. Exposures such as:
- Incompatibility with newer software
- Vulnerabilities that expose confidential data without your knowledge
- A lack of support from Microsoft if something goes really wrong
- Inability to recovery your system from backup if the hardware fails since the hardware is so old that restoring the backup to new hardware would not be possible due to incompatibilities
The key lesson? Make plans to shore up your systems and ensure that you have technology that is maintained and up to date. If you have a problem, you will be able to get support. Like Volkswagen’s recent emissions cheating scandal, you may get away with the exposure for some time, but eventually it will catch up with you. And, it will cost you a lot more money to fix when your business is out of commission, your clients are not being served, and your staff is idle.
Triella can get you to a supported platform be it with a replacement on premise system or a more modern Private Cloud based system. We can conduct a free mini assessment of your system to see if you are vulnerable. Just give us a call. We can help you to navigate the technology waters by explaining the technology and options in business terms. Once you are informed, you will make the right decision for your company or firm.
Call us at 647.246.1004 and ask us about Triella’s Private Cloud Services, our On-Premise Technology Solutions, and On-Site Assessments.
Charles Bennett is the Principal Consultant at Triella, a technology consulting company specializing in providing technology assessments, consulting, maintenance services and CIO-related services to small and medium sized firms. Charles can be reached at 647.426.1004. For additional articles, please visit https://triella.com/publications.html. Triella is a Citrix Partner, VMware Partner, Microsoft Small Business Specialist, Microsoft Silver Partner, Dell Preferred Partner, BlackBerry Alliance Partner and Authorized Worldox Reseller.
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