Your Privacy

This site uses cookies to enhance your browsing experience and deliver personalized content. By continuing to use this site, you consent to our use of cookies.
COOKIE POLICY

How Often Should You Replace Existing Technology?

How Often Should You Replace Existing Technology?
Back to insights

When to replace existing technology? It is a question that often gets avoided or ignored, leading to an overwhelming amount of tech that no longer gives your business the competitive advantage it needs. In today’s world, change is happening faster than ever. To adapt to changing conditions, you need to continuously evaluate when to update or replace the tech that enabled your initial advantage over your competition. 

What I have observed at medium to Fortune 500 size companies is that when they identify an opportunity where technology can give them an advantage, they typically go through an evaluation process of various technology solutions. This evaluation typically covers functionality, cost, timelines on implementation, and return on investment. Additionally, the company should evaluate the impact this will have over a specific period. 

Too often, I have seen the last part skipped over. This leads to future weakness in the company and, thus, opportunities for their competitors to capture some of their market share by not replacing technology. This loss in market share is because they did not re-evaluate that solution years later. Instead, they implemented a solution and got business value from it and assumed it was always going to continue giving them the same value. 

The business became dependent on that technology and as conditions changed, they may have made modifications and updates to the technology but never did a complete re-evaluation to see if this was the right technological solution for the next few years. Consistently modifying and updating solutions can cause technology that was an advantage, to now becoming a disadvantage or anchor, slowing down your innovation and adaptation. 

My recommendation is to set a specific timeline for every major technology solution that you put in place where you will come back and complete a new strategic assessment and evaluation to determine if it is something that you need to replace or modify. 

Most critical technology solutions take over a year to implement, and some take many years. To retain your competitive advantage, you must have a new or updated solution ready prior to the current solution becoming obsolete.  

Connect with us if you want to learn how UDig can help you evaluate your current solutions and build a technology roadmap for your software or data solutions.

Looking for a Software Rewrite Strategy? If you have decided you are ready to embark on the journey of rewriting your software, dig into this blog.

Digging In

  • Digital Products

    The Growing Importance of Digital Accessibility

    Embracing Digital Accessibility: A Moral and Business Imperative In today’s digital landscape, accessibility has become crucial for businesses and organizations. With increasing awareness and legal requirements, ensuring that digital products are accessible to all users, including those with disabilities, is not just a compliance issue but a moral imperative. At UDig, we champion ADA compliance […]

  • Digital Products

    Unlocking Business Potential: The Power of Custom Application Development

    Like any savvy business leader, you’re likely always on the lookout for tools to give your company a competitive edge. And in doing so, you’ve undoubtedly considered investing in custom application development. But the question is, how do you ensure that such a major investment in a custom web application development provides a strong return on […]

  • Digital Products

    Mastering Legacy Application Modernization: Strategies for Success

    The ironic truth of the business world is that change is the only constant. But this means that failing to keep pace with the competition and its technologies will only end with you falling behind. That’s where legacy application modernization enters the fold. When you modernize legacy applications, your team gains access to new features […]

  • Digital Products

    CTO Confessions Podcast

    In this episode of CTO Confessions, Rob Phillips, the Vice President of Software Engineering at UDig, digs into his journey from a passionate technologist in his youth to a seasoned leader in the tech industry. He shares valuable lessons on transitioning to senior leadership, the importance of understanding and articulating company problems, and the art of empowering teams for high performance.

  • Digital Products

    Navigating the Challenges of On Premise to Cloud Migration

    In today’s rapidly evolving technological landscape, the shift from on premise solutions to cloud-based infrastructure has become a pivotal transformation for organizations seeking to modernize their IT operations. This transition holds the promise of increased agility, cost savings, and enhanced scalability. However, it is not without its set of formidable challenges that organizations must navigate. […]

  • Digital Products

    The Power of Transferrable Skills in Tech Projects

    Every project has its own unique elements that require flexibility to be effective and achieve success. This often requires picking up new pieces of a tech stack, learning a new programming language, or a new project methodology. Fortunately, there are also many transferrable skills that carry over from one project to the next. In my […]