When you think about the technology powering your business, how does it make you feel?
Are you confident? Excited? Mystified? Nervous? Terrified?
(Maybe a mix of all of the above?)
Many business leaders are confident about their IT right now — but really nervous about what comes next.
Here’s what you need to know about a recent report about future readiness, plus what to watch for in your own business.
A Concerning Report on Future Readiness
A recent report from Kyndryl revealed quite a bit about what today’s business leaders are thinking about technology — and the results were pretty dismal.
Much of the concern comes down to how well businesses are doing at being future-ready. In other words, are they making IT decisions today that prepare them for the next few years and beyond, or are they stuck in the present?
Here are some of the findings in this survey of more than 3,200 business leaders:
- 90% think their current IT systems are in great shape, performing well, and “best in class”.
- 64% are concerned that their tech is starting to get outdated.
- Just 39% had confidence that their system was future ready.
Elsewhere in the report, Kyndryl noted that its AI-powered insights platform (called Bridge) gathered that around half of all technology in use at these businesses was at or near end-of-life. Narrow it down to “mission-critical hardware” and things aren’t much better. 44% of it is approaching or has already reached end of life (according to Bridge data).
That’s … concerning. 90% think they’re running best-in-class hardware, but the facts say 44% of that hardware is approaching or already past the end of life stage.
What is “End of Life”? Why Does It Matter?
“End of life” is a diagnosis or category in the world of IT. A piece of hardware that has reached end of life is one that won’t get any more updates or support from the company that made it.
Hardware that reaches end of life (EOL) doesn’t automatically stop working. It may continue functioning for years after EOL, in fact. The problem comes when something goes wrong.
Think of it like owning a Pontiac or a Saab: if you maintain it well, your vehicle will keep running for years. But Pontiac doesn’t exist anymore, so you’re going to have a hard time getting support from your trusty local Pontiac dealer.
The analogy breaks down pretty quick, unfortunately, because end-of-life IT products are even scarier than old cars. Think about all those security updates you’re constantly asked to install for various software, operating systems, and even hardware/firmware. Those things are to block vulnerabilities and generally stop the bad guys from exploiting them.
Once a manufacturer stops supporting that IT product, that means no more security updates. Any vulnerability that’s discovered will likely remain open, forever.
End of life also means that when that venerable old piece of hardware finally dies, you can’t buy a one-to-one replacement. You’ll face some kind of upgrade or migration or transition headache.
The long and short of it is this: if you’re running hardware and/or software that’s approaching (or even past) end of life, you aren’t future-ready. In fact, it’s more like you’re sitting on a ticking time bomb.
It’s Time to Get Future Ready
Is your business running on borrowed time? If your tech is approaching end of life (or is already there), then it’s time to form a plan to get your business future-ready.
Doing this solo is really tough — but we can help. Reach out to our team to get started.