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5 Warning Signs You’ve Outgrown Your Custom EHS Software


frustrated-with-custom-software.pngYour custom EHS software was state-of-the-art a few years ago, but now it’s a daily source of frustration. 

It’s not just you: More than 80% of homegrown software projects become obsolete before they provide a return on investment.

In the following post, we’ll cover 5 warning signs that you’ve outgrown your custom software — and it’s draining your time and resources:

1. Your team complains about creating reports and pulling data

Pay attention to these grumbles — they could be a red flag that your current custom software is failing. Complaints like...

  • “I’m sick of entering the same data three or four times.”
  • “Every time I try to pull a report, I get an error message.”
  • “The system is down...again.”
  • “Our data is off because no one wants to use this program.”

At best, you’re losing valuable work time because employees are fighting with your system. At worst,  you could be opening yourself up to costly risks like injuries or environmental compliance fines.

2. You can't use it on mobile

According to Salesforce, 60% of employees rely on mobile devices to get work done.

That’s especially true if your team performs tasks like audits and inspections on-the-go. Says Perillon customer Kurt Anderson, EHS director at Minnesota Power Allete, “We are reducing administrative and travel time significantly, because now data can be captured remotely, accurately, and analyzed efficiently.”

Mobile solutions can also help bump employee productivity — which can easily justify the cost of moving to a mobile solution.

3. It's hard to make updates and changes

Maybe you’re already tracking environmental data, but you need to tweak your report for an upcoming audit.

Or you need to pull illness and injury data to meet OSHA’s new electronic filing rule.

Should be easy to do, right? But if you have to hunt down IT every time you need to create a new report, it’s time to reevaluate your software solution.

4. You've lost key IT employees

Your “go to” person when there’s a problem with the software system? She just put in for maternity leave.

It’s what software engineers call a “single point of failure” — any critical component that, if it fails, could spell disaster for your business.

Look around: If only a handful of employees know how to fix your software when it breaks, it may be time to move on to a commercial software with a built-in support team.

5. Your software hasn’t been updated recently

You might feel safer with your data in-house, but it’s kind of like keeping cash under your mattress.

According to Alert Logic's Fall 2012 State of Cloud Security Report, custom software users suffer more than twice as many security attacks as commercial software customers.

Without proper maintenance, custom software can leave your sensitive data open to attack — and the risk only gets worse with time.

Time to retire your homegrown software? Download our free report on the pros and cons of homegrown vs. off-the-shelf EHS software to help you figure out your next move:

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