In our increasingly digital 21st-century economy, agility is the name of the game, and companies need to be ready to optimize every facet of their operations in order to stay competitive. With traditional systems showing signs of age, payment infrastructure is seen as a key area for digital transformation, while cloud-based solutions have emerged as the future of financial services. Here, we’ll dive into why, looking at the shortcomings of traditional systems and highlighting how shifting to cloud infrastructure can benefit businesses.
The limitations of legacy payment systems
While it might not be at the forefront of conversations in the global business world, legacy payment systems are one of the biggest sources of inefficiency for companies. A lot of organizations operate on the premise that established legacy systems are reliable enough because they have supported operations for years. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” is the logic in these instances, and that’s understandable, but the reality is that something is broken with legacy payment infrastructure, making it a silent killer for businesses.
One of the downsides of traditional, on-site payment systems is their rigidity. They tend to lack the kind of flexibility and integration capability that modern organizations need, especially if they have plans to expand operations going forward. Older payment systems often require frequent patching and workarounds to function, and the results are often still suboptimal from an efficiency perspective. As such, outmoded payment systems can become a source of operational bottlenecks, frustrating customers and employees alike and imposing major opportunity costs by effectively restricting the scalability of a business.
Were that not enough, outdated infrastructure comes with security risks as well. Legacy payment systems require constant oversight to ensure that patches and updates are applied, and even then, they often don’t benefit from the latest security measures, making them more susceptible to data breaches. This puts sensitive data at risk of unauthorized access, which could have catastrophic implications on a business, incurring major regulatory penalties as well as destroying consumer trust. So, from a compliance standpoint, legacy systems often represent a major potential liability.
The upsides of cloud-based payment infrastructure
The case for cloud-based payment systems is a particularly strong one because they offer an elegant solution to virtually all of the issues that legacy systems present. Unlike the proprietary systems that companies have traditionally used, which rely on fixed, on-premise systems, cloud payment platforms are designed with flexibility in mind. They boast considerable integration capabilities and, most crucially, are completely scalable. This means that they facilitate agility, allowing businesses to capitalize on growth opportunities by scaling up or down as they need without needing to carry out an overhaul on their foundational infrastructure.
In addition to scalability, cloud-based payment systems also bring benefits in terms of cost efficiency. One might be inclined to think that relying on traditional proprietary systems would be the more economical option since it doesn’t come with subscription fees, by therein lies a false economy. As we’ve already touched on, legacy systems tend to require ongoing maintenance and, in the event that something goes awry, substantial IT support to get things operational again, and this can be surprisingly costly in the long run. Managed services always operate on the latest system versions, and maintenance comes as part of the service, ensuring minimum operational disruption and no unexpected costs.
Lastly, cloud systems offer greater capacity for strategic insight. This is because they come with dashboards and analytics, which allow a company to track payment data in real time. As such, businesses can spot trends, make operational adjustments to yield meaningful results that keep them competitive. In this sense, these payment solutions can help organizations to future-proof themselves and maintain a strong market presence.
Sticking the landing in digital transformation
Of course, while the advantages of modernizing payment infrastructure are abundant, there are challenges that come with this kind of digital transformation. Of course, cloud migration is always a consideration, but the main obstacle is change management – specifically, getting staff to adapt. Rolling out new innovative technologies requires considerable adaptation from those overseeing and engaging with these systems. This can be daunting, and the learning curve involved can make it difficult to get maximum benefit from them.
To ensure that modern payment systems are implemented and integrated into workflows optimally, a company needs to take a strategic approach that facilitates adoption. This begins with orientation – delineating the purpose of the new tech, how it will fit into daily operations, and why it’s better than previous legacy systems. In conjunction with this, leadership has to ensure that dedicated communication channels are established so that employees can voice concerns and provide feedback on the user experience.
Additionally, a company can implement a support application, such as a digital adoption platform, to streamline the learning process. This is a kind of application that will overlay on the software that employees are learning, providing real-time support and prompts, as well as learning resources like interactive walkthroughs, to help them learn. By implementing this kind of solution, companies can help reduce the learning curve and ensure that employees get up to speed with the new tech sooner. This will allow for smoother deployment, ensuring maximum return on investment with new payment systems.
Wrapping up
In the age of agile business, it’s becoming abundantly clear that legacy payment systems are not fit for the purposes of ambitious businesses. To achieve meaningful success and growth, digital transformation is the way to go, and that means adopting scalable cloud infrastructure for payments. Those that embrace this concept and prioritize adoption in the approach will position themselves to be industry pace setters in the years to come.
