Today, innovation drives success, and high-performing networks are the backbone of modern business. Connecting remote teams, securing data, and driving positive user and customer experiences – it all depends on how your IT environment performs.
If you’re still relying on legacy networks that haven’t evolved for years, we’ve got bad news for you: it’s likely costing you more than you realise (and not only in a financial sense).
These systems were built for a different era and are fast falling out of favour with forward-thinking enterprises that require tighter security, greater speed, and better connectivity. Not only do legacy networks typically cost more, but they also pose a potentially crippling security risk to your business and can even compromise your ability to compete within the marketplace.
We’re not trying to scare you – the cost is real and it can be high, so we’re here to help you see the bigger picture. Here, we’ll walk you through issues that may affect network performance, why you should upgrade, and how modern infrastructure can transform your business.
The hidden cost of standing still: why legacy networks put your business at risk
Globally, 96% of businesses use the cloud. This figure has surged since 2020 due to more businesses employing a hybrid working approach, the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence, and rapidly changing security threats. And with so much sensitive data at play, that security risk is now a particular concern.
Here’s how legacy networks can make your business more vulnerable:
Outdated or end-of-life hardware and software are often unsupported with critical security updates, leaving known vulnerabilities unpatched.
These systems may lack modern security features, including end-to-end encryption, zero trust architecture, and SD-WAN integration.
They’re often complex to manage with multiple workarounds or fixes in place, making them harder to understand and keep secure.
It’s not only security that’s an issue for businesses using legacy networks though. Staying competitive in a crowded marketplace means adapting quickly, innovating often, and creating efficiencies in every part of your business. When working with outdated systems, this all becomes much harder.
Old networks bring new problems
The older the system, the higher the maintenance headaches. Imagine your network is a classic car. It may get you from A to B, but many of the parts are hard to come by or obsolete, it doesn’t adhere to modern safety standards, and its carbon emissions are astronomical. You probably wouldn’t use your classic car to commute to work on the M25 every day, so why do you expect your old network to do the same heavy lifting?
Outdated systems make it more difficult to meet data protection and regulatory standards too, opening your business to potential penalties or reputational damage. This is due to a myriad of reasons:
Unavailability of security updates for older systems can lead to vulnerabilities which violate GDPR and standards like ISO 27001.
Such regulations and standards usually require detailed monitoring and reporting of which data has been accessed when, how, and by who. Legacy networks often don’t have centralised visibility of this, so compliance can’t be proven.
Outdated networks may not be compatible with modern compliance tools either, meaning automated logs, which many regulators expect, can’t be provided.
Furthermore, legacy networks are limited when it comes to expanding or upgrading. They don’t offer fast and flexible scaling like modern networks, but often require expensive hardware upgrades or complex manual configurations – all of which cost your business time and money.
Ageing systems are also at risk of unplanned downtime. They are more likely to fail and recovery can be slow, which can impact productivity, customer satisfaction, and, ultimately, revenue. Of course, the latter is non-negotiable for any business trying to accelerate growth. But when you’re operating in a mission-critical sector such as healthcare, even a few minutes of downtime can have serious consequences – disrupting essential services and placing lives and data at risk.
How to go from legacy to leading edge
Like any technology, networks have a lifecycle. Once yours has reached the point where it can no longer keep up with business needs, it’s time for a full modernisation project. Replacing your network entirely allows you to build future-focused foundations which tackle network performance and security issues while unlocking speed and scalability. Not to mention, by upgrading your network, you can enable a new wave of innovation in your business. Modern networks use open standards and APIs, allowing them to easily integrate with IoT devices, analytics platforms, and AI services – the tools and technologies powering the future.
A project for Sheffield Teaching Hospitals did exactly this by replacing the trust’s legacy network with a new one based on software-defined access (SD-Access). Its new infrastructure offers a strong, resilient, and secure platform, with improved connectivity and better support for clinical-grade systems and services. It also cut down on the amount of time the IT team spent troubleshooting issues with the previous legacy network, introducing additional cost savings to the organisation.
Meanwhile, in a project for Gibraltar Health Authority, we overhauled the company’s entire network to improve data integrity, patient confidentiality, and critical connectivity. From planning and design to deployment and testing, we built a system that is resilient and futureproofed, with fully optimised wired and wireless networks. This significant upgrade allows GHA to drive forward its digital transformation, scale quickly, and deliver impact to its patients without disruption or downtime.
