What Happens When Developmental Disabilities Organizations Use Outdated Technology?

Investing in new technology may seem like it’s an expensive proposition, but if you’re using outdated software and hardware, you’re costing your developmental disabilities organization more than you know. Your computers and software may not be giving you issues yet, but they will. And when they do, they can cost you in lost data, security and productivity. Using outdated technology will limit your ability to respond to the needs of your organization.

What Are The Costs Of Using Outdated Technology?

• Lost Data:  If you’ve updated one software application but not others, they won’t work together as they should. When this happens, you’ve just set yourself up for data loss. Not only is this devastating and sets your developmental disabilities organization for noncompliance, but it’s expensive to reproduce data. It’s much more cost effective to keep your software up-to-date than it is to do this.
• IT Security: If you’re using old software it’s not protected against today’s new and sophisticated cyber attacks. This is one of the main reasons that software companies release updates and patches. Make sure your software is updated to prevent viruses and malware from entering your network. If they do, your ePHI is at risk.
• Lost Productivity: Without updated technology, your employees will spend time trying to work around issues, or even worse not be able to work when their computers crash. It limits their ability to do their job.

Outdated Technology Can Cripple Your Developmental Disabilities Organization

If your employees are trying to work around outdated technology, this can have a crippling effect on your organization and your budget. Employees end up spending time on “workarounds” to complete their jobs. You’re spending money on wasted time.

And if you’re using a pay-as-you-go IT service, all of those tickets can put real stress on your budget. Now, you’re spending money on both servicing your technology and wasted salaries when your staff can’t work efficiently.

When technology becomes a daily source of frustration for your team, consider the long-term costs to your organization’s performance. Not only will this have an impact on your employees’ morale, but those you service will also be frustrated when you can’t provide the information they need.

Using outdated technology sends a clear message to your employees and others that you don’t value their contributions. This is not the way to support your mission.

Outdated Technology Can Affect Your Compliance

Outdated technology not only affects your performance but your organization’s compliance standing. Hackers look for systems that are out of date because they’re easier to hack. Security gaps in your technology can have potentially disastrous implications for your HIPAA compliance. Just one data breach can result in your organization being posted on the HHS Wall of Shame. Even worse, your individuals’ private and confidential data can end up on the Dark Web, where criminals sell and trade it.

What Should You Do To Keep Technology Up-To-Date?

Keep your hardware up to date. We can help you find affordable replacements for outdated hardware. This doesn’t have to be expensive. We’ll put together a plan that aligns with your goals and budget to replace equipment before it becomes obsolete.

Keep your software up to date. Updating operating systems and software applications might be a pain, but it’s nothing compared to what you’ll face if you get hacked. Make sure software updates and patches are implemented as soon as they’re released. And make sure any line of business applications are also updated as they should be. With Remote Monitoring and Management, we can handle this for you.

Migrate data and applications to your new hardware before it reaches its end of service. If you don’t, you may lose your ability to migrate data and applications over to new hardware. And, unless you’re using virtualization where everything on your computers and servers is replicated, replacing applications and data can be a costly proposition. Ask us about our virtualization services.

Update your server hardware. We can procure the best server for your needs and transfer your data and applications to the new server before it dies on you.

Migrate your systems and data to the Cloud. Rather than replacing your servers every few years, we can migrate your network to a cloud-based system. You can have a hybrid or private cloud for an affordable monthly fee. You won’t have to worry about making capital outlays for equipment. Plus, your data and applications will be available to you and your staff wherever they have a secure internet connection.

For more information about how we can assist you and ensure you don’t worry about IT, contact the experts at VC3 … The Premier Information Technology Solutions Provider for Agencies, Independent Providers, and County Boards of Developmental Disabilities.