It’s officially summertime in the northern hemisphere, which means summer projects. A few years back—okay, maybe more than a few—the gentleman who built my first boat videotaped the entire process so that I could build my own next time.
Excited and super pumped to spend my summer learning how to build a boat, I hunted down that VHS tape. When I tried to pop that tape into the VCR, I realized my VCR was replaced by a DVD player that streaming apps have since replaced. I could feel the excitement drain from my body. It slipped my mind that I have been putting off transferring the VHS recording to a DVD or video file format such as .WMV, .MP4, or .MPG because it is a cumbersome, frustrating, and expensive process.
This got me thinking. How many other systems and software programs that were designed to streamline operational processes and create more efficiencies are now outdated and hindering more than helping?
We went from tracking transactions on paper to moving the data to excel spreadsheets and then implemented systems to house and process the data. Yet these systems still require cumbersome, time-consuming processes.
A lot of software that we use today was once a huge step-change in streamlining and automating processes but is now slow and painful. These challenges make the now outdated systems a main water cooler topic of complaint.
Times have changed. Technology has advanced. Businesses have become more digital. Demands are higher and more productivity is required than ever before. Yet, we are still relying on systems that are not optimized to handle today’s volumes.
At what point do we start upgrading the systems that are no longer helping and are now hindering our performance and customer experience?
Even when there are massive benefits to upgrading, changing something we are familiar with is met with a degree of resistance. And it is understandable. Even when things are not that great, there is a level of comfort in the familiar.
Do you find yourself continuously looking for ways to justify keeping a system or process that is no longer helping and is now hindering your business because you are resisting change? If so, then it’s time to ask yourself,
“Are the once helpful systems and processes costing more than you realize? And how much are they actually costing now?”
Don’t wait until your bank account is bleeding millions before updating your processes and systems.
If you’re ready to discover how you can save time and money in your finance department with confirmation automation and even streamline your P2P or order-to-cash process, schedule some time to connect with one of our experts today at info@datagumbo.com.
