You’ve probably heard the term “digital transformation” by now almost as much as you’ve heard the words “cloud computing.” In a digital transformation, a company overhauls its technology along with the way it uses that technology to do business. More specifically, digital transformation involves moving away from legacy-based systems and outdated hardware and moving into the cloud.
Still unsure whether the timing is right for your business to go through the digital transformation process? You need to know about these four things you might still be using that are on their way out the door this decade.
- Hard drives, USB drives, and physical storage in general. How long has it been since you’ve used a USB drive to store data? Cloud storage services are more and more common (and less and less expensive), and they offer almost unlimited amounts of secure storage. Storing data – especially data that is sensitive or critical in nature – on a physical device such as a hard drive or thumb drive is rapidly becoming an outdated practice.
- Passwords. Surprising? Even the strongest passwords can be cracked by savvy cyber criminals, and smart businesses have already implemented stronger security measures such as two-factor or multi-factor authentication to keep their systems and data safe. Biometric technology is rapidly improving, and many newer mobile devices have already replaced traditional passcode logins with facial fingerprints or facial recognition. Soon biometrics will be commonplace in business settings as well.
- Paper documents. Remember the first time you e-signed a document? It probably wasn’t that long ago, and it probably felt a little unofficial. Today, cloud agreements are already beginning to replace paper documents in the most official scenarios. Even the financial and real estate industries have started conducting legal transactions via the cloud rather than on paper.
- POTS. Businesses will always need to communicate via phone. What will become unnecessary in the near future are legacy phone systems that require separate phone lines rather than an internet connection to function. Cloud phone systems offer features such as mobile integration that make it easy for customers to stay in touch, while utilizing feature-rich, on-premise handsets for employees that work at the office or contact center. Cloud-based unified communications systems that integrate voice are rising in popularity as an inexpensive means for businesses of any size to collaborate.
If you’re currently staring at an outdated legacy phone or a filing cabinet full of paper documents, it’s time to come up with a plan for the not-so-distant future. Digital transformation is a necessary process not only to keep up with competitors but to move beyond soon-to-be-obsolete, legacy-based systems of all kinds.
At Enterprise Visions, we have the resources and knowledge to walk you through what it will take to move your business out of the past and into the cloud. Reach out to our experts and we’ll help you begin your digital transformation.