The Importance of Future-Proofing Your Technology
Do you feel like you have to look into a crystal ball to predict what technology to invest in for your company? We’ve all had it happen to us - investing in new technology, only to discover a short while later that it's become outdated or is no longer supported. How can you prevent this from happening to you? The answer lies not in seeing into the future but in “future-proofing.”We'll show you how you can boost productivity while saving time and money, all by focusing on future technology usage.The term "future-proof" means something will have continued value in the distant future. This doesn’t mean an item will last forever but will not quickly become obsolete. Future-proofing hard goods is easy – take the hard hat or goggles you might wear to a construction site. They will likely wear out before technological advancements make them obsolete. In this case, good construction is the best way to keep your equipment valuable into the future. Technology is a moving target, so choosing the right technology requires more strategy. There are 3 important aspects to developing this strategy:
Follows industry standards
Good technology should follow accepted industry standards. Once something has become an industry standard, it's more likely to receive wide support. Technologies that have a large community of stakeholders tend to progress over time and remain useful for longer. There are always new fads in technology, but if they're not picked up by the industry, they can stagnate. Investing in these technologies could mean you're stuck in the past while others move on. Accepted industry standards usually evolve for the better, and with progress comes stability.
Scalability
It’s important for the technology solutions you select to consider scaling. If you buy a system made for just ten people, you could run into problems when you have twenty people in the future. If your chosen technology doesn’t scale, you're traveling down a dead-end road. Moving for too long in the wrong direction could cost you money, time, and effort.
Flexibility
Any technology that you put in place should also be flexible. Smartphones are a great example of technology that is flexible. Most smartphones receive updates to let them stay relevant and deliver value throughout their life cycle. Smartphones become obsolete over time, but their life cycle makes this obsolescence easy to plan around. North American wireless providers often provide “free” cell phones every two years. The phone cost is amortized over two years and paid for with the cost of wireless service. While the cell phone is not free, this practice has the benefit of ensuring you always have relevant technology. For things that don’t have obsolescence built in, it's still important to think about flexibility. Examples of technologies that don't have a planned obsolescence include computer servers and software. Now, companies are increasingly turning to software services that receive constant updates. Software delivered as a service provides new technology without investing in new hardware. The end result is increased business agility and simplified support for mobile workers. Businesses get more for their money, and have more time to focus on core operations.
SafetyLine as a future-proof technology
SafetyLine adheres to the principles of industry standardization, scalability, and flexibility. Companies adopting SafetyLine can do so without purchasing a new infrastructure. We maintain SafetyLine's infrastructure, and the software is constantly updated. SafetyLine is a service that works in “the cloud," where you can access it from anywhere. This allows our customers to be more agile and concentrate on their core business.