OK. Time for all you small business owners and non-profits to fess up: How many of you have an application that is old? I mean really old, say 1999 or older. I know there are more of you out there than the few I visited this year. One client was upgrading 1999 QuickBooks to 2009. We had to send the database to the vendor for help.
All right, I’ll start. I have a desktop that still runs Windows ME with Quicken 2004, Office 2000 and a few other older applications. Norton is out of date, so I don’t connect it to the internet. This computer serves one purpose only…it balances my check book. It also has a couple of other programs that are no longer available. My travelling laptop does not contain financial or sensitive data.
As you can see, I’m not necessarily an advocate of upgrading just because an upgrade is available, but I understand the consequences of my choice. I know that if something really ugly happens to Windows ME or the hard drive I could continue to conduct business.
Every business owner needs to be aware of the ramifications of their choices. I generally don’t recommend ten years between upgrades for anyone. Here are three questions to consider:
1) Is the application stable? If yes, you may choose not to upgrade. It is not impacting your ability to conduct business. However, understand that most vendors only support the two most current versions of an application. If it breaks, they will not feel obligated to provide a fix. You will be forced to upgrade and it may not be as easy as buying the new version and installing it.
2) Is there a special feature in the application that simplifies the tasks performed by my employees or provides us with a competitive advantage? If yes, then upgrade and enjoy.
3) Is the application part of a “mission critical” business process (a process without which your business cannot function)? If yes, then staying current is important for disaster planning purposes. You want critical processes back up and running as quickly as possible.
Often the reason for delaying an upgrade is financial. That’s OK. Just be aware of how your choices impact your ability to do business.
If you have questions, contact your favorite IT service provider or feel free to DM me @ITMinefield on Twitter.
Wishing you safe passage through the IT Minefield!
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This topic is discussed in greater detail in Navigating the I.T. Minefield: Straight Talk for the Small Enterprise. To purchase your copy, please visit http://bit.ly/SNL4W.
Leslie Knight is a small business consultant with over 20 years of experience in Information Technology management in Fortune 500 companies. She applies her experience in Corporate America (saving them millions) to smaller entrepreneurial enterprises. She is also the author of Navigating the I.T. Minefield- Straight Talk for the Small Enterprise.
