Does your organization live in the Digital Dark Age?
Vint Cerf is widely known as one of the “fathers of the Internet.” Unfortunately, dear old dad is worried about his child.
“Old formats of documents may not be readable by the latest version of software because backwards compatibility is not always guaranteed. Over time, as we accumulate vast archives of digital content, we may not actually know what it is,” Cerf warns.
That’s why it’s imperative that your organization is using the latest versions of the systems you rely on every day. Especially important systems, like enterprise content management, which you use to integrate all those systems. These systems need to continuously evolve.
Otherwise, they fall behind.
And when your systems no longer communicate, information looks like this: @ dfa 3oang iu-14tu bgt#024nvra 890g5489.
The importance for users: Access to current information
What if you’re a CIO and your employees suddenly can’t access important customer information? Are customers going to continue to trust your organization? Is your CEO going to remember you saved a little money in the short-term, only to weaken the company in the long-term?
Whether customers are internal or external, these days, people assume you have instant access to information. If you don’t, you’re living in the Digital Dark Age.
After all, most of your customers have instant access to information right on their phones.
The importance for vendors: Staying current with new technology
That’s why it’s so important to choose a vendor that enhances its product on a regular basis. The world of business is increasingly electronic, so systems need to be able to communicate. If they can’t, you’re going to lose customers and fall behind the competition.
“Our lives, our memories, our most cherished family photographs increasingly exist as bits of information – on our hard drives or in ‘the cloud.’ But as technology moves on, they risk being lost in the wake of an accelerating digital revolution,” said Cerf.
It’s a warning call to keep your systems and information current with technology, or they’ll slip away into darkness. Forever.
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