1993 just called. It wants its IT systems back…

Ok, maybe your legacy systems are not as antiquated as the IRS’ present systems (some are over 60 years old!). Still, modernizing your legacy technology has been on your mind A LOT recently.

Because it is a cybersecurity threat.

Because outdated systems are increasing maintenance expenses while generating less and less functionality every day.

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

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

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

Keep reading for your legacy system evaluation, this will help you determine when it’s ideal to upgrade your legacy systems.

What is a Legacy System?

Legacy systems are IT systems. Oftentimes, legacy systems are obsolete systems seeing as they are built from older technology; however, legacy systems, despite their age, limited functionality, and security risk, are typically vital to everyday business processes, 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 power the infrastructure we take for granted in the public sector: telecommunications services, wastewater treatment plants, power grids, and air traffic control towers. Legacy systems are CRUCIAL.

Nevertheless, the expenses of modernization (including botched modernization efforts) and maintenance of legacy systems are counterproductive, totaling $35 trillion for companies and governments worldwide since 2010.

It’s no surprise, then, that upgrading or rebuilding legacy systems with newer technology, whether SaaS technology solutions, cloud computing, or on-site installation is among the most challenging issues CIOs in small and large organizations encounter 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 “obstacles” could the modernization of your legacy systems remove?

In a nutshell, A LOT.

5 Key Benefits of Upgrading Your Legacy Systems

If you choose a legacy system enhancements or a complete digital transformation, modernizing your legacy systems can help you future-proof your business:

1. Optimize Your Business Processes

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

It’s not out of the ordinary for organizations to spend over half of their IT budget on supporting legacy systems, for instance maintaining data centers instead of executing a data migration to the cloud for support ticket management.

CIOs that have applied technological advancements or perhaps a full-scale digital transformation have cut production expenses in their businesses by up to 500%.

2. Reduce Your IT System’s Maintenance Costs

CIOs are well aware that the costs of maintaining legacy systems, infrastructure, and applications can eat up a significant percentage of the organization’s budget.

As a matter of fact, companies in both public and private sectors spent $26.25 trillion in legacy IT systems operations and maintenance costs over the 11-year period from 2010 to 2021.

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

Legacy technology glitches and failures can result in unexpected downtime for your business processes.

If you’re an air carrier, IT systems faults can cause delays and even the cancellation of thousands of flights. It was a serious problem for airlines. Outdated systems are bad for business.

Your staff certainly dislike the downtime and poor user experience of the older technology as well. And when the tech in their pockets has developed quicker in the last decade than your IT systems—it’s time to upgrade. For your reputation.

4. Minimize Your Security Risk and Maintain Compliance

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

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

Substantial breakdowns happen with legacy systems all the time. Remember Equifax?

5. Make Your Business Operations More Agile for Greater Scalability

A single integration to your legacy system here, a hotfix for your legacy system there. Before you know it, your company is stumbling on a Frankenstein-style legacy system.

Your obsolete technology barely handle various data formats—not to mention the enormous amounts of data your IoT devices generate.

Innovative CIOs realize that legacy software upgrading is necessary to refine the compatibility of their IT systems with new technological platforms.

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

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

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

CIOs must evaluate three primary factors when assessing if it is time to modernize legacy technology: technology, architecture, and functionality.

Here are a few questions to ask before any legacy system modernization:

1. What percentage of your IT budget do you spend on legacy software maintenance or forced downtime due to a full or partial malfunction of your old system?

If your cost of operating older technology is draining important resources, it may be time for a cost-effective, new platform.

2. Do your legacy systems support modern technology and recent IT advancements?

Or is it a pain to integrate with a new SaaS service or API? Because of outdated technology or haphazard customization? If you answered “yes,” it is time to upgrade 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 to extend or fix your COBOL code? If this is the case, your legacy system poses a security threat to your organization and should be upgraded.

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

Because if you are unable to take advantage of enormous data, you won’t have the business insight you need to stay competitive. Adieu, legacy systems.

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

With such a negative client experience, you will not attract new customers. It’s time for a fresh system.

6. Is your legacy system SLOW?

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

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—along with all the speed, efficiency, and expandability your CIOs have promised with such a digital transformation. Hello, workflow automation!

2. Rebuild Your Legacy Software

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

3. Rearchitect Your Legacy Systems

Redesign your legacy software architecture to provide more agility and scalability, as LinkedIn and a slew of other outstanding firms have done.

4. Refine Your Legacy Systems

Restructure your code to get rid of technical debt.

5. Rehost Your Legacy Systems

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

7. Digest Your Legacy Systems Functions and Data

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

8. Migrate Your Legacy Systems Application

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

How Wave Can Be of Assistance with Your Legacy System Modernization in New Orleans?

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

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

Whatever the situation may be for your legacy systems, Wave can handle the needed modifications or replacements: from adding functionality that improves the user experience or streamlining workflows with automation and Business Intelligence tools.

We will also give you the ongoing IT assistance you need to see the greatest return on your modernization investment.

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