1993 just called. It wants its IT systems back…

Ok, maybe your legacy systems aren’t as outdated as the IRS’ current systems (some are over 60 years old!). Still, modernizing your legacy technology has been at the back of your mind A LOT nowadays.

Because it’s a cybersecurity threat.

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

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

We get it. You are ready for a legacy system modernization.

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

Keep reading for your legacy system checklist, this will help you determine when it is ideal to upgrade your legacy systems.

What is a Legacy System?

Legacy systems are IT systems. Legacy systems are antiquated systems seeing as they are derived from outdated technology; however, legacy systems, despite their age, limited functionality, and security risk, are generally vital to day-to-day business operations, points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: telecommunications services, wastewater treatment plants, power grids, and air traffic control towers. Legacy systems are ESSENTIAL.

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

It’s no surprise, however, that upgrading or substituting legacy systems with new technology, be it cloud computing, SaaS technology solutions, or local implementation is one of the greatest challenges CIOs in small and large firms confront in their careers.

What Are the Benefits 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 “hurdles” could the upgrading of legacy systems eliminate?

To put it briefly, A LOT.

5 Key Advantages of Upgrading Your Legacy Systems

If you choose a legacy system enhancements or a complete digital transformation, your legacy system modernization can help you future-proof your organization:

1. Optimize Your Business Processes

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

It is not unusual for businesses to expend more than half of their IT budget on sustaining legacy systems, for example maintaining data hubs rather than carrying out a data migration to the cloud for managing support tickets.

CIOs who’ve adopted technological improvements or perhaps a full-blown digital transformation have reduced production expenditures in their organizations by up to 500%.

2. Cut Down on Maintenance Costs for Your IT Systems

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

As a matter of fact, companies in the private and public 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

Legacy technology glitches and failures can lead to unforeseen downtime for your business operations.

If you’re an air carrier, IT systems faults can cause thousands of flights to be delayed or cancelled. It was a major problem for airlines. Outdated technology is bad for business.

Your staff undoubtedly resent the downtime and unsatisfactory user experience of the older technology too. And once the technology in their hands has seen more advancements in the last decade than your IT systems—it’s time to upgrade. For your credibility.

4. Reduce Your Security Risk While Staying Compliant

If your existing systems are so antiquated that their provider no longer services them, they could pose a serious security risk to your business.

Your legacy software, which is frequently ignored and out of date, does not receive the security updates and patches it requires to prevent cybersecurity threats.

Major breakdowns happen with legacy systems regularly. Remember Equifax?

5. Make Your Business Processes More Agile for Higher Scalability

A one-off integration to your legacy system here, a hotfix for your legacy system there. In no time, your organization is clunking along on a Frankenstein legacy system.

Your old technology can hardly handle numerous data formats—not to mention the massive amounts of data generated by your IoT devices.

Prospective CIOs know legacy software modernization is mandatory to improve the compatibility of their IT systems with modern technology solutions.

That is indeed what the LinkedIn’s CIOs did when the firm was growing into the world’s premier professional network, moving its system design 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 Replace My Legacy System? 6 Questions to Contemplate

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

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

1. How much of your IT budget are you spending on maintenance costs for legacy software or forced downtime due to a total or partial malfunction of your outdated system?

If the cost of maintaining outdated technology is eating up important resources, it might be time for a new, cost-effective platform.

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

Or is integration with a new SaaS solution or API a nightmare? Because of too much old 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 difficulty sourcing mainframe programmers who can fix or extend your COBOL code? If so, your legacy system is a security threat to your company and should be modernized.

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

Because if you can’t make the most of large data, you will not have the kind of business intelligence you need to stay competitive. Bye-bye, legacy systems.

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

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

6. Is your legacy technology SLOW?

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

How Can I Revamp My Legacy System?

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

1. Replace Your Legacy Systems

Out with the old, and in with the new system—with all the speed, agility, and versatility your CIOs have promised with such a digital transformation. Hello, workflow automation!

2. Rebuild Your Legacy Systems

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

3. Rearchitect Your Legacy Technology

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

4. Reconfigure Your Legacy Systems

Reconfigure 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. Encapsulate Your Legacy Systems Functions and Data

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

8. Replatform Your Legacy Systems Application

Migrate your legacy systems program to a new run-time platform without extensively modifying the code or compromising functionality.

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

Do you believe it’s time to modernize your legacy system? Begin with Wave’s extensive system audit, so you can get insights into its functionality and predicted lifespan.

That way, you’ll know whether your organization can get around with a few legacy system enhancements 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 functionality that improves the customer experience or simplifying workflows with automation and Business Intelligence solutions.

We will also provide you with the continuous IT support you need to get the most out of your modernization investment.

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