1993 just called. It wants its IT systems back…

Your legacy systems probably are not as outdated as the IRS’ existing systems (some are over 60 years old!). Still, revamping your legacy technology has been on your mind A LOT recently.

Because it’s a cybersecurity threat.

Because outdated platforms are racking up maintenance costs while generating even less capability every day.

Because you are ready to level up your organization’s digital transformation.

We understand. You’re ready for a legacy system modernization.

But how do you get the buy-in you need from important stakeholders—whether that is your business associate or the entire boardroom?

Keep reading for your legacy system assessment, this will help you determine when it is the right time for upgrading your legacy systems.

What is a Legacy System?

Legacy systems are IT systems. Oftentimes, legacy systems are outdated systems seeing as they are built from outdated technology; however, despite their age, limited functionality, and security risk, legacy systems, are generally essential to everyday business workflows, points out Gartner.

How important 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 public-sector infrastructure that we take for granted: wastewater treatment plants, power grids, telecommunications services, 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 corporations and governments worldwide since 2010.

It’s no surprise, then, that modernizing or rebuilding legacy systems with innovative technology, whether cloud computing, SaaS technology solutions, or on-site installation is one of the greatest challenges CIOs in small and large organizations face in their careers.

What Are the Advantages of Modernizing 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 “hurdles” could the modernization of your legacy systems eliminate?

Short answer, A LOT.

5 Significant Advantages of Upgrading Your Legacy Systems

In the event that you go for legacy system enhancements or an absolute digital transformation, your legacy system modernization can assist you in future-proofing your organization:

1. Streamline Your Business Operations

A legacy system upgrade, such as the implementation of SaaS tools, modern business intelligence platforms, or cloud computing, can refine your workflow and other business processes.

It is not out of the ordinary for businesses to expend more than half of their IT budget on supporting legacy systems, such as maintaining data hubs instead of performing a data migration to the cloud for managing support tickets.

CIOs who’ve applied technological upgrades or perhaps a comprehensive digital transformation have reduced production expenditures in their organizations by up to 500%.

2. Reduce IT System Maintenance Costs

CIOs well know the maintenance costs of legacy systems, applications, and infrastructure can account for a large percentage of the organization’s budget.

In fact, businesses 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 Company’s Customer Experience and Employee Retention

Glitches and malfunctions in legacy systems can lead to unexpected downtime for your organizational operations.

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

Your staff undoubtedly dislike the downtime and poor user experience of the older technology too. And when the technology in their pockets has advanced faster in the last decade than your IT systems—it’s time for an upgrade. For your credibility.

4. Lower Your Security Risk While Maintaining Compliance

When your present systems are so antiquated that their original vendor no longer maintains them, they could pose a serious security risk to your business.

Frequently ignored and out of date, your legacy software, does not receive the security patches and updates it needs to avoid cybersecurity breaches.

Substantial failures happen with legacy systems regularly. Remember Equifax?

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

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

Your obsolete systems can hardly handle multiple data types—much less the enormous amounts of data generated by your IoT devices.

Prospective CIOs know legacy software upgrading is mandatory to enhance IT system compatibility with modern technology platforms.

That is exactly what the LinkedIn’s CIOs did as the firm was growing into the world’s premier professional network, converting its system architecture from a REST API or an event-driven architecture.

CIOs for Unilever, SAP, Netflix, Amazon, and the Federal Aviation Administration have all taken the same approach.

When Should I Consider Upgrading My Legacy System? 6 Questions to Ponder

Technology, architecture, and functionality are 3 major considerations for CIOs when deciding if it’s time for a legacy technology upgrade.

Here are some questions to ask before any legacy system upgrade:

1. How much of your IT budget is spent on maintenance costs for legacy software or forced downtime because of a full or partial malfunction of your outdated system?

If the cost of keeping older systems are depleting important resources, it may be time for a more cost-effective platform.

2. Do your legacy systems offer compatibility with the latest tech and recent IT advancements?

Or is integration with a new SaaS solution or API a nightmare? Because of too much old technology or ad-hoc customization? If you answered “yes,” it is time for a legacy system upgrade.

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

Or are you having a hard time finding mainframe programmers who can fix or extend your COBOL code? If this is the case, your legacy system poses a serious threat to your business and should be modernized.

4. Is your legacy system capable of providing insight into real-time data transfers and workflow patterns?

Because when you are unable to make the most of big data, you won’t have the kind of business intelligence you need to be competitive. Goodbye, legacy systems.

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

With such a poor customer experience, you won’t bring in new customers. It’s time for a fresh system.

6. Is your legacy system SLOW?

It may be time to bite the bullet and make the change. The future is FAST. And it has arrived.

How Can I Modernize 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 system—along with all the speed, agility, and versatility your CIOs have promised with such a digital transformation. Welcome, workflow automation!

2. Rebuild Your Legacy Software

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

3. Redesign Your Legacy Systems

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

4. Refine Your Legacy Systems

Retool your code to get rid of technical debt.

5. Rehost Your Legacy Systems

Implement cloud computing by migrating data and redeploying applications to cloud infrastructure.

7. Encapsulate Your Outdated Systems Data and Functions

Incorporate your functions and data in the application, so you can access them as services via an API.

8. Replatform Your Legacy Systems Application

Move your legacy systems application to a new run-time platform without extensively altering the code or compromising functionality.

How Wave Can Help with Your Legacy System Upgrade in Portland?

Think it’s time for your legacy system modernization? Begin with Wave’s comprehensive system audit, so you can learn about its performance and predicted lifespan.

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

Whatever the case proves to be for your legacy systems, Wave can carry out the needed modifications or replacements: from adding features that improve the customer experience or streamlining workflows with automation and Business Intelligence platforms.

We'll also provide you with the continuous IT assistance you need to get the most out of your modernization investment.

The future is calling. And companyname is happy to help! Schedule a consultation today.