Every organisation is under pressure to modernise, though few realise how much their outdated systems are already costing them. The technology that once supported productivity and compliance can now quietly undermine both, creating inefficiencies that ripple across every department. The challenge isn’t just about replacing what’s old; it’s about transforming how information is managed, shared, and secured across the business.
You might think your systems are ticking along just fine; however, if you’re running on outdated infrastructure or information platforms, you’re likely paying for more than you know. The cost equation changes dramatically when you focus on Intelligent Information Management (IIM), rather than simply keeping the lights on.
The consequence of delayed modernisation
You’re probably aware that systems with old architecture introduce overt issues: slower performance, operational disruption, maybe even downtime. What often goes unseen is the accumulation of inefficiencies that result when your system can’t respond to new demands. Every upgrade, new compliance requirement, and user expectation forces work-arounds when your content management, transactional systems, or data repositories were built for the world of five or ten years ago. Those work-arounds become the norm and build operational drag over time.
Consider how widely used Enterprise Content Management and information platforms are often moved to end support. Recently, Windows 10 reached its official end of support on 14 October 2025, and others, such as numerous OpenText products, are reaching the end of lifecycles too. Discontinuing these platforms mean the vendor will no longer provide ongoing security fixes, feature or patch updates, and will shift to an extended support model. Now, imagine the same fate for your information platform: no updates, growing vulnerability, and rising risk. This means you’re bearing a hidden cost.
The cost of standing still
There are three key categories of hidden cost you need to recognise:
- The risk premium
You’re exposed to security gaps, vendor exit-risks, and compliance failures when you’re on legacy systems. The cumulative risk is escalating even where audits don’t spot something dramatic today. That risk often gets absorbed quietly by resource diversion, higher insurance premiums, more frequent patches, and work arounds.
- The productivity drag
Systems that were never designed for today’s workflows, automation, and hybrid working models force users to work around them. This could mean manual steps, duplicated data entry, or poor integration between systems. Time lost by your people translates directly into cost, both in terms of money and opportunity. It’s likely you’re leaving value on the table if your employees are fighting the system instead of leveraging it.
- The innovation tax
Legacy systems suppress your ability to adopt new business models, integrate emerging technologies, and draw insight from your data. Your strategic agility is reduced if your information is locked away in an inflexible repository or managed via bolt-on components. That means you risk being slower and disadvantaged when the market shifts or competitors adopt new capabilities.
The value of Intelligent Information Management
You will start to see the connection between your content, systems, and business outcomes when you reframe your thinking around Information Management. Intelligent Information Management isn’t simply putting documents in the right folder; it’s about aligning your information lifecycle, governance, and access to support strategic business objectives. It forces you to ask both “can this system still run?” and “does this system let us transform?”
There are five steps you can take to pinpoint hidden costs:
- Assess your information landscape by identifying systems periodically and evaluating how well they meet current business demands.
- Analyse your workflow efficiency by mapping where manual processes exist to understand where automation or integration could eliminate duplication.
- Test your integration capability by evaluating how easily your systems connect to modern cloud, analytics, and collaboration platforms.
- Measure productivity loss by tracking how much time employees spend navigating outdated systems or inefficient approval chains.
- Identify innovation opportunities by mapping which new capabilities or improvements a modern Intelligent Information Management solution could unlock.
You can unlock multiple benefits when you update or migrate to a modern information environment, including enhanced security, lower operational cost, faster processes, and better strategic alignment. That doesn’t mean you must rush blindly. It means you must plan in a structured way, treat your information management estate as a business asset, and invest accordingly.
