As a hard-working business owner, you strive to make smart financial decisions for your company while also offering your team the best technology possible for their work. One of the most effective ways to meet both of these goals at once is to keep backward compatibility in mind when purchasing new hardware and software for your business.
What is Backward Compatibility?
The term “backward compatibility” refers to technology that can easily use interfaces and data from previous versions. If you are also a gamer or have kids who love to play video games, you may be familiar with this concept already — while some newer versions of game consoles are backward compatible and will allow players to use their existing collection of games, other new systems will only work with the games that are made for the new unit.
In order to provide you and your employees with the latest technology while still keeping your eye on your bottom line, it is important to find hardware and software that is backward compatible. With that in mind, the following three examples are among the best:
Bluetooth Technology
Bluetooth technology is definitely ubiquitous. The chips are in smartphones, laptops, tablets, headsets, keyboards and many other devices. Fortunately, Bluetooth 5, the latest version of this technology, not only features extended range, faster speeds and greater message capacity, it is also backward compatible with the Bluetooth 4.x versions. This means that when you are purchasing additional Bluetooth-powered devices for your growing team, they will work seamlessly with the existing tech that is still perfectly functional.
4G LTE Laptops
The 4G LTE laptop is another example of a backward compatible device that makes your team work more efficiently while saving your business budget. With Qualcomm Snapdragon modems built into mobile devices like the 4G LTE laptops, you can stay connected to your employees and your customers. The Snapdragon 4G LTE multimode offers backward compatibility to the 2G and 3G network technologies, so you can use your laptop when meeting clients in remote areas, as well as in bigger cities that offer the 4G LTE coverage. Thanks to the Snapdragon 4G LTE backward compatible technology, older laptops can be super fast, sending data at up to 300Mbps — this means files will be sent to clients quickly, emails will go out without delay and everyone at your company can be as efficient as possible.
Excel
If your company uses Excel to keep track of things like customers, invoices, orders and more, you may wonder if newer versions of the popular software will work with what you are already using. Fortunately, once you have installed a new version of Excel, you can continue to work with workbooks that were previously created — as well as keep them accessible for those who do not have the latest version. For example, for backward compatibility with an earlier type of Excel like Excel 97-2003, you can open a workbook that was created with this version and work in Compatibility Mode; this way, the file can be opened later in the earlier version. As an alternative, you can download a file converter that will open up older Excel workbooks. Excel’s backward compatibility means you don’t have to re-do or lose important data, which is an enormous plus.
It is reassuring to know that you can upgrade as needed to different types of technology without having to scrap everything that came before it. When shopping for new hardware and software like Bluetooth technology, laptop modems and various computer programs, double check that it is backward compatible before buying them — this will save you time and money.