One of the biggest challenges you can face is ensuring that everything within your company is up-to-date and secure. Whether transitioning off Google to Microsoft 365, migrating from on-premise to the cloud or moving to a different tenant, procrastinating a migration can be much more expensive than the cost of the migration itself.
According to the latest Microsoft Digital Defense Report, legacy systems—those developed before modern connectivity tools such as smartphones, tablets, and cloud services became the norm-represent a risk to an organization still using them. This risk exposure is reinforced by the findings of the Microsoft Security Services for Incident Response team, a group of security professionals that helps customers respond to and recover from attacks.
98% of impacted customers had legacy authentication protocols, 76% lacked patch and vulnerability management, and 50% had unmanaged OT and legacy systems.
When building a business case for migration, consider the impact of ignoring the following five hidden costs.
1. Security Vulnerabilities
Every day your company runs on outdated software, you expose yourself to a greater risk of security breaches. As technology evolves and hackers get more sophisticated, the attack risk increases exponentially. The longer you wait, the more time cybercriminals have to identify and exploit weaknesses. Considering the potential damage a data breach can cause, including financial loss, lost business, and reputational damage, the cost of postponing a migration quickly becomes evident.
2. Increased Maintenance Costs
The older your software, the more difficult it becomes to maintain. Over time, vendors will stop providing updates and support, leaving you to manage everything yourself. This can lead to increased time and resources spent on maintenance and the risk of system downtime and data loss. Sometimes, you may even have to hire external experts to support your outdated software, leading to additional expenses. Once the software is no longer maintained, it becomes a liability to your security posture, lacking updates to fix patches from newly discovered exploits. It also becomes more difficult and expensive to leap ahead several generations in software.
3. Loss of Productivity
When employees are working with different versions of software, it can make collaboration and communication much more difficult. This can lead to a loss of productivity as team members struggle to share files, communicate effectively, and work on projects together. The longer you put off a migration, the more significant the impact on productivity can ultimately cost you in terms of missed deadlines, lost business, frustrated employees (indicated by high employee turnover) and dissatisfied customers.
4. Compatibility Issues
As technology advances, new software may not be compatible with old systems. This can lead to various issues, from slow performance to system crashes. Trying to force old software to work with new systems often leads to numerous headaches for IT teams and additional expenses related to troubleshooting and repairs.
5. Lost Opportunities
Finally, delaying migration can lead to lost opportunities for growth and innovation. The longer you wait to adopt new technology, the further behind you'll fall in terms of your competition. This can lead to missed opportunities for growth, new revenue streams, and business development. With technology evolving as quickly as it does, staying ahead of the curve is important to ensure you're not left behind.
The cost of postponing a migration can be much greater than investing in one. From increased security vulnerabilities to lost opportunities for growth, several factors make delaying a migration a risky proposition. If you're ready to take the next step and invest in a secure migration for your company, contact the experts at CrucialLogics. With years of experience and a commitment to excellence, they'll work with you to ensure the transition is as seamless and secure as possible.
