Much of today’s small business for profit and not-for-profit application software was written over a decade ago. The million dollar question is: Are these applications still worth running ? Considering all of the technology innovation that has occurred since then, can we expect an application designed and built with yesterday’s technology for yesterday’s business world to fit today’s?
The answer is no.
“If it aint broke, don’t fix it” does not apply to your small business application programs. Your application is like a good race horse, you run it until it can’t race anymore and then you retire it. You don’t try to patch it up.
Many applications which are still out there need retiring. The great applications replace is upon us and we can’t fight it any longer.
How do you go about deciding which applications to replace?
• If it was built over a decade ago, no matter by whom, it is a prime candidate for replacement.
• If the underlying business requirements have changed significantly since the application was developed, you can be certain that it is not performing optimally.
• If the application was written to run natively on a mainframe, a midrange or even a personal computer, it’s on the list.
• If the application has a pure character interface and all of the reports are in text, it’s a candidate.
• If the application does not grant web-based access to staff or members, it needs immediate attention.
Some things to beware of:
If the application does not fit the business requirements then you have to go back to the drawing board. To do this properly, presupposes that you thoroughly understand how your business functions.
Do not for a moment think that if you change the user interface, you have fixed the problem. It’s like drugging a horse, it’s may work for a race or two, but then the horse collapses and may die.
Do your business a favor. Take a deep breath, then take a hard look at your applications portfolio and remember, it may be running but it can still be “broke”.