It Worked Yesterday…

On a recent call with a client, we were recapping the changes they implemented including the move to the Azure cloud and SharePoint. The goal was to move everything from their on premise network to the modern cloud architecture, and they are well along that path. For their team members, this has been a process and has impacted their day-to-day work.

Although there are many benefits for their entire company, some of the staff want to know why there are changes. Questions like ‘Why fix it if it isn’t broken,’ or comments like ‘It worked yesterday…’ are tough so he asked for some ways he could respond; and he is not alone, BTW.

I immediately thought about a car, one of my favorite comparisons. You know it needs gas to run, but you also know that’s not all it needs. The engine and parts wear down as they age and become dirty even if you don’t put on a lot of miles; the battery can fail; and the whole car is subject to extreme temperatures and weather. Hopefully you’re keeping up with some maintenance, but even if you are, one day it may not start. It started yesterday, but even though the gas tank is full, it won’t start today. Well, how old is the car? Did you take care of it? Did something finally wear out enough that it no longer works? Is it a small part or a crack in the engine block?

Consider a computer – it also is made up of physical parts. These can wear down; computers can overheat which is very rough on the components; power supplies can fail; laptops can be tossed around during travel. It worked yesterday, but today the drives won’t spin, the power supply won’t charge the laptop, or you get the Blue Screen Of Death (BSOD)!

How about software – sometimes it’s the age of the software itself; how old is the code? Older software may not run on new equipment at all, or may be so slow it’s unusable. It ran fine on the old computer (which now doesn’t work) but not on the new one! Maybe you have a new software program that’s running just fine for everyone else but not for you; how old is your computer? How much memory does it have? Newer software is written for the latest operating systems, often with more memory than in the past; it may not be backwards compatible.

Cell phones are a great example – no one would expect an old flip phone to do all the things the Smart Phones can do these days. You might be able to make a call, but even that might not connect to the latest cell phone towers. No one expects an old Blackberry to work today – even if it worked yesterday.

Screens, workstations, power supplies, backup units, laptops, phones, and even software which runs on these systems will stop working – even if they worked yesterday. Try to ‘embrace’ that you will need to replace, upgrade, and maintain the hardware and software. Learn the new tools and programs and incorporate them into your day with new routines. Need help? Give us a call. – CMW