Beware of niche systems
Posted: Thu Feb 06, 2025 3:20 am
Conduct technical audits regularly. Otherwise, you risk remaining in the dark.
Break the work down into stages. The thought of a major renovation can often cause panic. But tackling the problem in stages allows for smaller steps that will allow the organization to make steady progress at a manageable pace.
Listen to the data. A data-driven approach will help you prioritize and identify where modernization is most urgent. You may even discover underutilized resources, which is good news in challenging times.
Stay on top of new trends and innovations. Some teams have no idea what’s available. They continue to do things the way they did 25 years ago, missing out on countless opportunities for efficiency, security, scalability, cost reduction, and other improvements.
Involve end users. By actively seeking feedback from end users, you can ensure that you are building the right thing. It will also help you quickly identify any issues that may arise during the upgrade.
“Make sure you don’t develop a culture where you only ask these questions after a problem has arisen. Instead, regularly ask, ‘What is being done to update our aging equipment or at least make sure it still functions properly?’ If no one knows the answer, that’s cause for concern, and if no one even knows how to find the answer, it’s time to ask for help!” Kulik advises.
Cybersecurity and technology consultant bosnia and herzegovina mobile database Hasse says the root cause of legacy system problems is usually niche systems from third-party vendors. The problem is particularly prevalent in the manufacturing sector, as well as physical security, such as door control systems, environmental systems such as HVAC, industrial control systems, and medical equipment.
In these industries, there are several high-priced vendors offering all-in-one solutions and a number of less expensive options that are quite adequate to meet the needs of the task at hand.
“The problem is that specialized systems require specialized development processes and, especially in the case of life safety, quite a lot of regulatory paperwork that needs to be done before the product can be sold,” says Hasse. “As a result, these vendors simply cannot keep up with the pace of technology change. So they tend to ignore new developments until they are forced to, and then it can be several years before the product can be implemented by their customers.”
In the meantime, technical support teams try to cope with the situation as best they can, often choosing to isolate these systems entirely or, if they must be connected for some reason, going to extreme measures to control the connections allowed.
Break the work down into stages. The thought of a major renovation can often cause panic. But tackling the problem in stages allows for smaller steps that will allow the organization to make steady progress at a manageable pace.
Listen to the data. A data-driven approach will help you prioritize and identify where modernization is most urgent. You may even discover underutilized resources, which is good news in challenging times.
Stay on top of new trends and innovations. Some teams have no idea what’s available. They continue to do things the way they did 25 years ago, missing out on countless opportunities for efficiency, security, scalability, cost reduction, and other improvements.
Involve end users. By actively seeking feedback from end users, you can ensure that you are building the right thing. It will also help you quickly identify any issues that may arise during the upgrade.
“Make sure you don’t develop a culture where you only ask these questions after a problem has arisen. Instead, regularly ask, ‘What is being done to update our aging equipment or at least make sure it still functions properly?’ If no one knows the answer, that’s cause for concern, and if no one even knows how to find the answer, it’s time to ask for help!” Kulik advises.
Cybersecurity and technology consultant bosnia and herzegovina mobile database Hasse says the root cause of legacy system problems is usually niche systems from third-party vendors. The problem is particularly prevalent in the manufacturing sector, as well as physical security, such as door control systems, environmental systems such as HVAC, industrial control systems, and medical equipment.
In these industries, there are several high-priced vendors offering all-in-one solutions and a number of less expensive options that are quite adequate to meet the needs of the task at hand.
“The problem is that specialized systems require specialized development processes and, especially in the case of life safety, quite a lot of regulatory paperwork that needs to be done before the product can be sold,” says Hasse. “As a result, these vendors simply cannot keep up with the pace of technology change. So they tend to ignore new developments until they are forced to, and then it can be several years before the product can be implemented by their customers.”
In the meantime, technical support teams try to cope with the situation as best they can, often choosing to isolate these systems entirely or, if they must be connected for some reason, going to extreme measures to control the connections allowed.