An IT infrastructure that appears to be working fine can actually be on the verge of breaking down. All IT systems age, and continued reliance on them dampens business productivity.
Major warning signs that your IT infrastructure is too old
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Frequent downtime
Degrading or aging systems tend to be slower, get overworked, and need frequent repairs. This leads to downtime or lost productivity.
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Vampire servers
Running out of power allotment can be a warning sign that there are hidden or forgotten aging servers draining electricity by running unnecessary workloads or sitting on standby, doing nothing at all.
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Static IP addresses
You have better things to do than manually set the IP addresses of your servers, switches, and other data center hardware. Today’s servers automatically assign IP addresses and network configuration to every device on the network, based on policies you’ve set.
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Hardware and software end of life
Are the latest updates and patches for the hardware and software installed? Keeping track of this will reveal which systems of your infrastructure have reached the end of their usefulness (machines are normally built to last for five to six years) or are no longer supported by their manufacturer.
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Overheating
A server that is running very hot is always a bad sign, possibly of an obsolete power supply, overtaxed memory or CPU, broken fans, clogged intakes, or other hardware problems.
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Incompatibility
Can you integrate new software and applications with your existing infrastructure? If not, then your system is too old.
Dangers of letting your IT infrastructure age too far
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Data loss
On average, a hard drive lasts six years. Failing hard drives can destroy data needed by the business. Attempts to retrieve this data may also cause further damage to the disks. Bit rot in aging disks also eventually cause the deterioration of the data stored.
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Security risks
Today’s infrastructure should be able to efficiently support mobility and wireless connections. Aging routers present a serious security risk by not being updated with the latest software patches and by transmitting over insecure channels. For instance, older devices don’t support WPA3 encryption standards.
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Missed opportunities
Aging IT infrastructure will not be able to carry new applications, which means that your business will not be able to leverage the advantages of the latest technology, such as cloud-based solutions. Furthermore, old machines are not able to keep up with increasing processing demands, severely limiting operational capability and ultimately stifling business growth.
Furthermore after three years, network components will begin to deteriorate and require more maintenance than new hardware. Instead of working on business growth initiatives, IT staff will be busy keeping struggling hardware and software alive.
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Hidden costs
Using aging IT infrastructure has greater costs than you realize. It decreases staff productivity and results due to increased downtime. One can calculate the cost of downtime as average employee hourly rate x number of employees = employee salary lost per hour of downtime. This does not factor in the resulting customer dissatisfaction when services are down.
Lastly, expect higher operation costs. Since aging technology is less energy-efficient, you can expect that consumption rates will be higher than with current or more efficient tech.
Fortunately, our experts at Spectrumwise are adept in upgrading and scaling your technology to meet current and future business goals. We can modernize your IT infrastructure with various IT solutions that include security, data backup and recovery, and virtualization. Contact us today.
