Outdated definitions of technology are keeping your margins low

As mergers and acquisitions bring new competitors into their once well-established markets, IT solution providers (TSPs) are continually evolving in an attempt to stay relevant and thriving. However, many are still struggling to increase margins and establish greater differentiation.

Part of this continued evolution is monitoring and evaluating the status quo. In that vein, today I want to challenge your concept of “outdated technology.” In our world of technology, outdated tech may have you thinking about on-premise Exchange, Windows XP, Microsoft 2012, or Server 2008—but if this is all that comes to mind, it could be playing a factor in lower margins.

Traditional concepts of outdated technology conjure thoughts of 8-track players, jalopies, hand crank car windows, or typesetters from the turn of the century. 

In other words, technology is considered outdated in a broader context if:

• It no longer efficiently meets the needs of the intended audience. Consider the 8-track player. Each “album” was broken up into 4 segments, and you could only switch between these segments, not between individual songs.
• The amount of labor needed to support the outcome could no longer be warranted by the price charged. Consider turn-of-the-century typesetting newspapers. The amount of time it takes to manually place each letter in place to print a single page must have been excruciating—and when labor rates went up, margins went down.

The risk of using outdated technology

While it may seem like using outdated technology is more of an inconvenience than a risk, there are significant cybersecurity concerns surrounding the use of outdated tech in your business. One of the biggest risks is that outdated technology is often not secure or supported. When a system or application is no longer supported, it can become a risk to support and expose your company to cybersecurity threats that could have been prevented had you been using more modern tech.

Another factor to consider when using outdated tech is how much has changed since the pandemic. Many companies now support hybrid or remote work environments, and the traditional “branch office firewall” is no longer capable of providing the support and security coverage it once did. The needs of clients have changed, and while some may see this as a problem, the most successful TSPs see it as another opportunity to evolve.

The benefits of modern technology

Innovative modern technology is the key to ensuring your clients and your business are protected from cyberthreats. I was recently impressed with SASE by ConnectWise + Exium, and see it as a prime example of “new technology” that has:

• An impressive ability to deliver a high-quality security stack directly to the end user, end device, or the IoT device, wherever it may be
• A simple deployment and management system that replaces the need for higher-tier engineers, as well as the need to deploy vehicles and field engineers
• No reliance on hardware, as well as vendor-managed supply chain logistics and firmware updates

For TSPs looking to expand their ability to deliver managed services outside of their traditional geographic regions or expand into a new target audience, this solution is an exponential growth game changer.

Knowing when it’s time for an upgrade

In the rapidly changing world of technology, it can be challenging to know when it’s the right time to move to a new technology. As a rule of thumb, if it’s not efficiently meeting your needs or if the amount of labor it takes to use is no longer worth the price, it’s considered outdated technology. And by understanding our clients’ needs, the growing risks, and our own margins, we can prioritize secure, modern technologies over the outdated solutions we may have become accustomed to.

The TSPs that are most effective in this effort will have a distinct advantage in providing value to their clients. Talk to an expert today about how innovative solutions from ConnectWise can keep your technology up-to-date and your margins high.