Why Wait?

When is the right time for technological change?

Over time, the pace of change as well as the appetite for it, has increased exponentially. 30 years ago, the strategy of taking on and sticking with the good old “tried and true” for as long as possible was a valid one – remember the IBM slogan “No one ever got fired for buying IBM”? A large part of what validated this strategy was the huge cost in implementing IT, Hardware and Software alongside the maintenance/support costs and, of course, reducing risk.

Using IBM as an example, let’s take a look at Laptop price over time:

• 1995: IBM ThinkPad 755 was $7,599.00 USD (Adjusted for inflation the equivalent of $12,900.00 USD today).

• 2020: Even if we go for the top range Lenovo’s these days,we are still only starting at around $1,500.00 USD.

Nostalgic throwback aside, companies need to change their thinking from “How long before we have to modernise?” to “Let’s get this done as soon as we can!”. The above-mentioned costs and risks have now been dramatically reduced, so ask yourself – can your business truly compete without investment in better technology?

Change is hard!

Well, yes, it can be, but in this modern age the workforce has the skills and mindset to adapt. This generation understand change as a fundamental part of their career. And for those that are a little longer in the tooth, or just don’t like change – there are plenty of talented change management advisors out there who will reassure you of why the move is important and be able to help manage the adoption and smooth transition of new technology.

The too hard basket.

Regardless of industry, most companies will have dated, on-premise legacy software that is fundamental to their business. We too often use these as an excuse because there isn’t a cloud alternative. My advice is – sandbox that and move on with everything else. Hybrid is actually the common scenario, not fully cloud. It doesn’t have to be an all or nothing option. Take the plunge and adopt cloud in all the areas available now, and there is a plethora of them. The main outcome of doing this (for me at least) is the natural progression that ensues. After colleagues have used the better digital tools, they change their attitude towards the legacy applications.  I find that those who were initially very protective of the on-premise line of business apps are now asking how soon we can get the legacy products replaced with an online solution. Instead of battling to change people’s minds we show them the alternative and over time they understand, some even become natural champions of the new way.

Surely all companies are in the cloud now?

The stats certainly point that way, with 93% of enterprises reporting the use of some form of cloud service. However, when you look a little deeper, it is more than often a single service. The telling statistic to look out for is that out of these businesses, less than 30% of the annual IT software budget is actually related to cloud.  So, it would seem that those who have dipped but a single toe into the pool, are being counted as “cloud users”. This is further backed up by the prediction that public cloud spend will double to $623.3 billion by 2023 worldwide.

So, go ahead, choose your approach, highlight the efficiencies gained, manage the risk and pick your champions for the project.

And don’t forget to evaluate the progress and success!