1993 just called. It wants its IT systems back…

Your legacy systems probably aren’t as antiquated as the IRS’ current systems (some are over 60 years old!). But, revamping your legacy system has been on your mind A LOT nowadays.

Because it is a security risk.

Because outdated systems are costing more to maintain while delivering less and less capability every day.

Because you are ready to take your business's digital transformation to the next level.

We get it. You’re ready for a legacy system modernization.

But how can you gain the support of primary stakeholders—whether that is your business partner or the whole boardroom?

Keep reading for your legacy system assessment, so you know when it’s time to upgrade your legacy systems.

What is a Legacy System?

Legacy systems are IT systems. Legacy systems are outdated systems seeing as they are based on older technology; however, despite their age, limited functionality, and security risk, legacy systems, are generally critical to day-to-day business operations, points out Gartner.

How relevant are legacy systems? Without the legacy system on which they rely, commercial business processes such as payroll, inventory management and replenishment, and digital payment transactions would come to a halt.

Legacy systems drive the infrastructure we take for granted in the public sector: power grids, telecommunications services, wastewater treatment plants, and air traffic control towers. Legacy systems are CRUCIAL.

But, the costs of modernization (including unsuccessful modernization efforts) and maintenance of legacy systems are cumbersome, totaling $35 trillion for enterprises and governments internationally since 2010.

It’s no wonder, however, that upgrading or substituting legacy systems with newer technology, whether cloud computing, SaaS technology solutions, or on-premise installation is one of the greatest challenges CIOs in small and large organizations encounter in their careers.

What Are the Advantages of Updating a Legacy System?

“For many organizations, legacy systems are seen as holding back the business initiatives and business processes that rely on them. When a tipping point is reached, application leaders must look to application modernization to help remove the obstacles.” — Stefan Van Der Zijden, VP Analyst, Gartner

What “obstacles” could the upgrading of legacy systems remove?

To put it briefly, A LOT.

5 Key Benefits of Legacy System Modernization

Whether you go for legacy system enhancements or a complete digital transformation, upgrading your legacy systems can assist you in future-proofing your firm:

1. Optimize Your Business Processes

A legacy system upgrade, like the deployment of SaaS solutions, new business intelligence platforms, or cloud computing, can refine your workflow and other business operations.

It’s not unusual for businesses to expend more than half of their IT budget on backing legacy systems, for instance maintaining data centers rather than performing a data migration to the cloud for managing support tickets.

CIOs that have adopted technological improvements or perhaps a full-scale digital transformation have lowered operational expenditures in their organizations by up to 500%.

2. Reduce Your IT System’s Maintenance Costs

CIOs well know the maintenance costs of legacy systems, applications, and infrastructure can demand a substantial percentage of the organizational budget.

Frankly, companies in the public and private sectors spent $26.25 trillion in legacy IT systems operations and maintenance costs over the 11 years spanning 2010 to 2021.

3. Enhance Your Business’s Customer Experience and Employee Retention

Glitches and malfunctions in legacy systems can lead to unplanned downtime for your business workflows.

If you’re an air carrier, IT systems faults can result in thousands of flights to be delayed or cancelled. It was a real issue for airlines. Obsolete systems are bad for business.

Your employees undoubtedly loathe the downtime and unsatisfactory user experience of the obsolete technology as well. And once the tech in their pockets has seen more advancements in the last decade than your IT systems—it’s time to upgrade. For your reputation.

4. Lower Your Security Risk While Staying Compliant

When your present systems are so old their original vendor no longer maintains them, they can pose a severe security risk to your company.

Often neglected and outdated systems, your legacy software, does not receive the security patches and updates it needs to avoid cybersecurity breaches.

Big breakdowns happen with legacy systems frequently. Remember Equifax?

5. Increase the Agility of Your Business Operations for Better Scalability

A one-time integration to your legacy software here, a hotfix for your legacy technology there. In no time, your business is stumbling on a Frankenstein-style legacy system.

Your old systems barely handle numerous data formats—not to mention the big data your IoT devices generate.

Innovative CIOs realize that legacy software modernization is necessary to improve IT system compatibility with new technological platforms.

That’s exactly what the CIOs at LinkedIn did when the organization was developing into the largest global professional network, moving its system design from a REST API or an event-driven architecture.

CIOs for Unilever, SAP, Netflix, the Federal Aviation Administration, and Amazon have also followed suit.

When Should I Upgrade My Legacy System? 6 Questions to Ponder

When contemplating whether or not to modernize legacy technology, CIOs must assess three primary factors: technology, architecture, and functionality.

Here are six questions to keep in mind before any legacy system modernization:

1. How much of your IT budget are you spending on legacy software maintenance or forced downtime as a result of a complete or partial breakdown of your out-of-date system?

If your cost of maintaining obsolete systems are depleting important resources, it might be time for a cost-effective, new solution.

2. Do your legacy systems work with modern tech and recent IT breakthroughs?

Or is it inconvenient to integrate with a new SaaS solution or API? Because of outdated technology or haphazard customization? If you answered “yes,” it’s time for a legacy system upgrade.

3. Is the vendor who designed your legacy system no longer in business?

Or are you having difficulty sourcing mainframe programmers to extend or fix your COBOL code? If so, your legacy system introduces a security risk to your organization and should be replaced.

4. Does your legacy system offer visibility into real-time data transactions and workflow patterns?

Because when you can’t make the most of enormous data, you will not have the business insight you need to stay competitive. Bye-bye, legacy systems.

5. Do glitches, failures, and forced downtimes with your old system correspond with an uptick in customer support tickets and complaints?

You won’t bring in any new business with such a bad customer experience. It’s time for a new system.

6. Is your legacy system SLOW?

It might be time to take the plunge and make a change. The future is FAST. And it’s here.

How Can I Revamp My Legacy System?

If you’ve decided your legacy systems are no longer meeting your business needs, what are your modernization options?

1. Replace Your Legacy Systems

Out with the old, and in with the new—along with all the speed, efficiency, and expandability your CIOs have been promising with such a digital transformation. Hello, workflow automation!

2. Rebuild Your Legacy Software

Rewrite the application components, so you can incorporate new technology solutions, big data capacity, and business intelligence.

3. Redesign Your Legacy Technology

Do as LinkedIn along with many other world-class firms have done: rearchitect your legacy software architecture to improve agility and scalability.

4. Refactor Your Legacy Systems

Restructure your code to get rid of technical debt.

5. Rehost Your Legacy Systems

Employ cloud computing with a data migration and application re-deployment to cloud infrastructure.

7. Encapsulate Your Legacy Systems Functions and Data

Incorporate your functions and data into the application, so that they may be accessed as services through an API.

8. Migrate Your Legacy Systems Application

Move your legacy systems program to a new run-time tool without extensively modifying the code or sacrificing functionality.

How Wave Can Assist with Your Legacy System Upgrade in Columbus?

Do you believe it’s time for your legacy system modernization? Begin with Wave’s extensive system audit, so you can learn about its performance and estimated lifespan.

That way, you’ll know whether your business can get around with a few legacy system modifications or if you require an extensive digital transformation now.

Whatever the circumstance may be for your legacy systems, Wave can perform the needed upgrades or replacements: from adding features that improve the customer experience or streamlining workflows with automation and Business Intelligence platforms.

We will also provide you with the ongoing IT assistance you need to maximize your modernization investment.

The future’s calling. And companyname is eager to help! Schedule a consultation today.