1993 just called. It wants its IT systems back…

Perhaps your legacy systems aren’t as old as the IRS’ current systems (some are over 60 years old!). But, revamping your legacy technology has been on your mind A LOT lately.

Because it is a cybersecurity threat.

Because antiquated systems are racking up maintenance costs while delivering less and less functionality every day.

Because you’re ready to take your organization's digital transformation to the next level.

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

But how can you gain the necessary buy-in from key stakeholders—whether that’s your business partner or the entire boardroom?

Continue reading for your legacy system evaluation, so you know when it is the right time for upgrading your legacy systems.

What is a Legacy System?

Legacy systems are IT systems. Legacy systems are antiquated systems seeing as they are derived from older technology; however, despite their age, limited functionality, and security risk, legacy systems, are generally essential to daily business operations, points out Gartner.

How important are legacy systems? In the commercial sector, business processes like payroll, inventory tracking and replenishment, and cashless payment transactions would grind to a halt without the legacy system on which they operate.

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 firms and governments globally since 2010.

It’s no surprise, then, that modernizing or substituting legacy systems with newer technology, whether SaaS technology solutions, cloud computing, or on-site implementation is among the most challenging issues CIOs in small and large businesses encounter in their careers.

What Are the Perks 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 “obstacles” could the upgrading of legacy systems eliminate?

In a nutshell, A LOT.

5 Significant Advantages of Legacy System Modernization

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

1. Streamline Your Business Processes

A legacy system upgrade, such as the implementation of SaaS tools, new business intelligence platforms, or cloud computing, can improve efficiencies in your workflow and other business operations.

It is not unusual for companies to spend more than half of their IT budget on sustaining legacy systems, such as maintaining data hubs instead of executing a data migration to the cloud for managing support tickets.

CIOs who’ve implemented technological improvements or even a comprehensive digital transformation have reduced production expenditures in their businesses by up to 500%.

2. Cut Down on Maintenance Costs for Your IT Systems

CIOs are well aware that the costs of maintaining legacy systems, infrastructure, and applications can account for a significant percentage of the organizational budget.

Frankly, organizations 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 technology can result in unforeseen downtime for your organizational operations.

For airlines, IT systems instabilities can result in thousands of flights to be delayed or cancelled. It was a real problem for carriers. Obsolete technology is bad for business.

Your personnel certainly loathe the downtime and poor user experience of the obsolete technology as well. And once the tech in their hands has developed quicker in the last decade than your IT systems—it’s time to upgrade. For your reputation.

4. Minimize Your Security Risk While Staying Compliant

If your current systems are so antiquated that their original vendor no longer services them, they can pose a severe security risk to your company.

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 occur with legacy systems regularly. Remember Equifax?

5. Make Your Business Processes More Agile for Greater Scalability

A one-off integration to your legacy system here, a hotfix for your legacy software there. Before long, your firm is clunking along on a Frankenstein-style legacy system.

Your old systems can hardly handle multiple data types—much less the enormous amounts of data your IoT devices produce.

Forward-looking CIOs understand that legacy software modernization is necessary to enhance the compatibility of their IT systems with innovative technological tools.

That’s exactly what the CIOs at LinkedIn did while the organization was developing into the world’s largest professional network, converting 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 Consider Replacing 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.

Below are a few things to consider before any legacy system modernization:

1. What percentage of your IT budget are you spending on maintenance costs for legacy software or forced downtime because of a full or partial breakdown of your out-of-date system?

If your cost of operating outdated technology is draining major resources, it may be time for a cost-effective, new solution.

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

Or is integration with a new SaaS solution or API a nightmare? Because of obsolete technology or ad-hoc customization? If you answered “yes,” it’s time to modernize your legacy system.

3. Is your legacy system's original developer no longer in business?

Or are you having a hard time locating mainframe programmers who can extend or fix your COBOL code? If so, your legacy system poses a potential threat to your company and should be modernized.

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

Because if you can’t take advantage of big data, you won’t have the business insight you need to be competitive. Adieu, legacy systems.

5. Does your legacy system’s failures, glitches, and forced downtimes correspond with a spike in customer support tickets and complaints?

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

6. Is your legacy system SLOW?

It might be time to bite the bullet and make the change. The future is FAST. And it’s here.

How Can I Modernize My Legacy System?

What are your modernization alternatives if you've determined that your legacy systems no longer fulfill your company needs?

1. Replace Your Legacy Systems

Out with the old, and in with the new—with all the speed, flexibility, and scalability your CIOs have been promising with such a digital transformation. Welcome, workflow automation!

2. Rebuild Your Legacy Software

Rewrite the legacy system, so you can implement modern technology solutions, business intelligence, and big data capacity.

3. Rearchitect Your Legacy Technology

Do like LinkedIn and a host of other leading organizations: redesign your legacy software architecture to enable greater agility and scalability.

4. Reconfigure Your Legacy Systems

Restructure your code to eliminate technical debt.

5. Rehost Your Legacy Systems

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

7. Digest Your Outdated Systems Functions and Data

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

8. Replatform Your Legacy Systems Application

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

How Wave Can Help with Your Legacy System Modernization in Lubbock?

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

That way, you’ll know whether your company can get around with a few legacy system tweaks or if you require a complete digital transformation now.

Whatever the case proves to be for your legacy systems, Wave can perform the necessary modifications or replacements: from adding attributes that improve the user experience or simplifying processes with automation and Business Intelligence solutions.

We will also provide you with the ongoing IT support you need to see the greatest return on your modernization investment.

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