Some businesses make the mistake of not updating their systems when they become available. Even worse, some keep software around well after their end of life. You may think, why fix it if it is not broken? You may not see it, but it is broken and that is why it has been replaced. Running End of Life technology is a dangerous place to be. There are more vulnerabilities than ever, and they are growing by the minute.

Some of the Dangers Include

Security Risks

Software is constantly being updated. Teams work on finding the vulnerabilities and performance issues and then release patches and updates to correct them. When something reaches its EoL, those updates and patches are no longer released, even though they exist. In fact, newer versions get these releases, and the vendors will explain exactly what the vulnerability was, how it can be exploited, and how it was fixed. So, hackers are given a roadmap on how to take over outdated software.

If you do have security policies or are required by law to meet regulatory compliance, you will not be able to follow them with outdated systems. This is rule number one in maintaining basic security. If you store any confidential information on these systems, there could be additional risks if that data is loss or gets into the wrong hands.

Incompatibility

There are many systems that may work together. If you continue to run an outdated system that communicates with a current system or the cloud, you could be at risk of corrupting your data. Or, it may just be so incompatible, that I will not work, so you may no longer be able to have it function the way it did.

Downtime

You never truly know when something is going to stop functioning. So, when it does, it will take more time, cost more money, and require more expertise to get you back up and running. This could result in downtime for your business. The more critical the systems, the more often you should run updates and patches to avoid downtime.

Lower Productivity

As systems become outdated, their performance tends to suffer. Operations and tasks take longer than they should. Malfunctions and failures can slow your work. Systems will become unreliable, causing you problems and slowdowns, impacting your overall business productivity.