An IT workaround is a manual step or side tool your team created to get around a gap in a system or process, such as a spreadsheet that bridges two applications or a computer that needs several restarts. To decide which ones to leave behind, find the workarounds that became permanent, look beyond whether equipment turns on, and review the problems that keep returning.
Before adding another technology purchase to next year’s budget, ask your team one question:
What technology problem have you learned to live with?
You may hear about a spreadsheet that fills a gap between two systems. A computer that needs several restarts. A report that someone rebuilds by hand every Friday. Those workarounds say something positive about your employees: they found ways to keep the work moving. They don’t necessarily mean the underlying process is working well.
Picture a Wilmington office coordinating with field teams across northern Delaware and southeastern Pennsylvania. A small extra step in sharing project information can become part of every handoff. As you prepare for 2027, take a closer look at the routines your team has stopped questioning.
1. Which workarounds have become permanent?
Temporary fixes have a way of settling in. A spreadsheet created to solve one problem starts supporting several others. Eventually it has its own instructions and a designated person who understands how it works.
Research shows how deeply a workaround can take hold. In one 2021 case study published in Information & Management, employees at a global retailer’s Hong Kong warehouse built and carefully coordinated workarounds when a mandated enterprise system did not fit their work. The warehouse manager estimated that 30 to 40 percent of processes needed one. It is a single case, not a measure of every business.
Before changing anything, ask why it exists. Imagine a regional contractor entering the same customer information into a project system and a billing system, with an employee maintaining a separate spreadsheet to reconcile the differences.
The useful question is not, “Why are you still doing this?” It is, “What would need to change so you no longer had to?”
Perhaps an existing application has a feature the team hasn’t been using. Perhaps the systems need an integration. Perhaps the process itself needs attention before anyone buys new software.
Diamond Technologies, a Wilmington, Delaware IT services provider in business since 1996, provides business application support, system integration, and modernization of older applications. That gives us a way to examine the software behind a workaround, not just the computer someone uses to complete it. Start with the work your employees need to accomplish, then consider the options.
2. Is a computer that turns on actually working well?
A computer can start every morning and still make the working day harder than it needs to be. Maybe opening a business application takes several attempts. Maybe a task that should be straightforward requires a restart. Maybe employees have arranged their routines around waiting.
You don’t need to replace equipment simply because it is older. You do need to understand whether it remains suitable for the job. For a week or two, ask employees to note recurring interruptions:
- The date
- What they were trying to do
- What happened
- Roughly how long it took to get moving again
That gives your IT provider something more useful than “the computer is slow.” Have the issue investigated before choosing a solution. A new device is not automatically the answer to a problem involving software or the way a process has been set up. The goal is a better working day, not a newer label on the equipment.
3. Why do the same problems keep returning?
One repair does not necessarily justify a replacement. Repeated repairs deserve a broader conversation.
Ask your IT provider to review recurring issues over the past six or twelve months. Alongside direct costs, consider employee waiting time, repeated troubleshooting, and interruptions to customer work. Then ask whether those incidents share an underlying cause.
A familiar problem can begin to feel manageable because everyone knows the temporary fix. But knowing how to restart a system is not the same as understanding why it keeps stopping.
In a published testimonial on our Clients page, Andrew Shafer, GIS Analyst at BrightFields, describes a shift from earlier IT providers whose approach was mainly reactive to steadier managed support with Diamond. That distinction matters when deciding whether another short-term fix is enough.
Sometimes the right next step is a repair. Sometimes it is a configuration change, an application improvement, a replacement, or a better-documented process. The decision should follow the diagnosis.
Which technology should you keep?
A year-end technology review does not need to become a shopping list. Some systems should stay exactly where they are. Others may need a small improvement. A few may no longer justify the effort required to keep them useful.
Start with the frustrations your team can describe. Decide which ones interfere most with important work. Then give those issues an owner and a next step. Your employees should not have to become experts in compensating for technology that is supposed to support them. For a ready-made starting point, see our Q4 IT Readiness Checklist.
For 2027, aim for fewer unnecessary steps, clearer responsibilities, and technology decisions based on how your business actually works.
Schedule a discovery call with Diamond Technologies. Call 302-656-6050, and let’s talk about the workarounds your team is ready to reconsider. You can also contact us online.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is an IT workaround?
An IT workaround is a manual step, side spreadsheet, or repeated routine that employees use to keep work moving around a gap in a system or process. Examples include entering the same customer data in two systems, restarting a computer several times, or rebuilding a report by hand every week.
How do you know if a workaround is costing your business?
Ask employees to log recurring interruptions for a week or two: what they were trying to do, what happened, and roughly how long it took to get moving again. That gives your IT provider specific information to investigate, which is more useful than a report that a computer is slow.
Should you replace a computer that needs frequent restarts?
Not automatically. Have the issue investigated first. A problem that looks like aging hardware may come from software or from the way a process is( set up, and a new device will not fix those. Replace equipment when the diagnosis shows it is no longer suitable for the work.
When do repeated repairs justify a different fix?
Review recurring issues over the past six to twelve months and look for a shared cause. Count employee waiting time, repeated troubleshooting, and interruptions to customer work alongside direct repair costs. The next step may be a repair, a configuration change, an application improvement, a replacement, or a better-documented process.
Can existing business software be improved instead of replaced?
Sometimes. An existing application may have a feature the team has not used, two systems may need an integration, or the process may need attention before anyone buys new software. Diamond Technologies provides business application support; CRM and ERP integration, and modernization of older applications.