Why Nonprofits Should Invest in Updating their Old Systems for Newer Ones
In the daily operations of your nonprofit, updating old technology probably ends up being the last thing on your list. With good reason, honestly. There are a lot of important things happening in your community and around the world. However, the risks of operating over old technology poses complications, thus affecting security, costs and productivity. By investing in updating your old technology, you allow your nonprofit to focus more on the work that matters rather than how long it’s going to take for a repairman to get to you.
Security Risks
One of the more obvious reasons to change out old technology is the high security risk it presents to your nonprofit. Technology is changing and fluctuating at a very fast pace. As your current systems continue to age, they stop receiving critical security updates and patches. This makes your organization easy prey for hackers. Low hanging fruit, if you will. These hackers specifically target organizations that continue to use old systems because of how much they can get from you without much effort.
Cost
You may think calling a service repairman every other week to repair the 10 year old computers in your office isn’t really costing you lot. However, the truth is that you’re quite possibly shelling out more money than it would cost you in the first place. Over time, this all adds up and you’ll realize that you’re simply taking one step forward and two steps back. On the contrary, this money could be used to replace your systems with something a bit more new. However, monetary cost is not the only price you’ll pay for using old tech.
Productivity
A recent study by Samanage found that one in four employees say their organization’s tech impedes their productivity. Every moment that you’re unable to correspond with colleagues or tend to time sensitive tasks due to technical failure, sets you back. This happening once or twice might not be detrimental but as tech ages, these outages become more frequent. The more frequent they are, the more costly they become to your credibility and stance in the industry. Another organization that may serve as your direct competitor could use this outage to their advantage and take opportunities that would have gone to you.
By taking these specific reasons into account, your nonprofit will thrive at a healthier and quicker pace. You’ll be able to focus more on what you can do and not what you’re limited to doing because of the systems you’re running on. “But that’s still incredibly expensive and we don’t have that kind of capital!”
There are so many solutions available to nonprofits when it comes to affordable tech. TechSoup, for example, offers discounted hardware and software to nonprofits. There’s also Kramden Institute, which we featured in our list of Nonprofits Making an Impact. You can donate your old computers to be refurbished and given to kids who can’t afford computers for school.
If you have any questions regarding upgrading your systems, cybersecurity or general IT inquiries, drop us a line at questions@greenskiestech.com.