There are countless companies out there today that are still running on legacy circuits. This should come as no surprise – many of these systems were designed years ago with the intention of being used well into the future. But the last few years have seen significant disruption for enterprise technology, and many existing infrastructures were not built with things like cloud functionality in mind. Yet, there are still an untold number of organizations that are running off of these networks.
"Enterprises using technology are addressing their business requirements and needs," wrote ZDNet contributor Dan Kusnetsky. "For the most part, they will continue to use this technology until it no longer serves their purposes."
But in many cases, the time in which legacy solutions lost their viability may have come and gone long ago. One of the biggest offenders in this sense is the fax machine. Faxing has long been leveraged in the workplace, first as a means of convenience. But the definition of "convenient" has changed over the years, and as a result the fax machine has become a cumbersome necessity. It sits siloed in the corner of many offices and is sometimes foregone entirely because of the aging hardware that facilitates it. This can actually be quite dangerous in practice. Faxing is still used today because of the superior security measures that protect it, as opposed to email attachments – which acts somewhat similarly in function but lacks the same protections.
But there is some significant hope in the form of the cloud. Cloud technology has been helping to redefine countless business practices – faxing being chief among them. Modern professionals need the kind of mobility and remote access that only the cloud can provide, and thankfully cloud-based faxing is a viable way to get out of the slump created by outdated legacy systems.
Time to cut the cord
According to PC Magazine contributor Fahmida Rashid, there are a great deal of businesses out there looking to go as wireless as possible. People have seen what technology is capable of and are starting to treat the concept of cords and fixed locations and inhibiting to productivity. While a good many companies have already started viewing VoIP, or voice over IP, as a valuable new tool, they are beginning to feel the same about FoIP – the faxing equivalent.
Professionals love their smartphones. In fact, many of them will do whatever is necessary to leverage only one device as much as possible – even if doing so flies in the face of best practices. In term of faxing, this generally means using email over more trusted channels. The solution here is not to force users onto a path that they view as ineffective, but to supply them with new tools that meet their changing needs. This is why so many companies are turning to cloud-based fax.
Start a new legacy
While it has been proven that modern cloud solutions can help a business evolve, there are still some people out there who would rather stand by aging – and even failing – systems. In many instances, this is because there is a fear of change, especially when it comes to the cloud.
"Most organizations of any size are using a complex mix of systems that were developed over several decades," wrote Kusnetzky, a supporter of legacy systems. "Changing working systems that are based upon older technologies, older architectures and older methodologies has to be done very carefully if the intended results and only the intended results are to be achieved."
But this line of thinking doesn't give modern employees and IT staff enough credit. Making transitions to the cloud has never been easier. This is thanks to advancements both in technology and its common understanding in the consumer sphere. The tide is turning for cloud assets, and businesses that want to get the most out of it should start by examining cloud-based faxing. The fax machine may not have aged very well, but the idea behind it helps companies to stay afloat and avoid trouble. Updating this channel with modern capabilities will help organizations and the professionals within them to stay ahead of the competition.
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