1993 just called. It wants its IT systems back…

Perhaps your legacy systems are not as antiquated as the IRS’ existing systems (some are over 60 years old!). But, upgrading your legacy system has been at the back of your mind A LOT nowadays.

Because it poses a cybersecurity hazard.

Because outdated platforms are racking up maintenance costs while generating even less capability every day.

Because you’re ready to take your business'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 primary stakeholders—whether that is your business partner or the entire boardroom?

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

What is a Legacy System?

Legacy systems are IT systems. Oftentimes, legacy systems are antiquated systems since they are built from outdated technology; however, despite their age, limited functionality, and security risk, legacy systems, are usually essential to day-to-day business processes,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 fuel the infrastructure we take for granted in the public sector: wastewater treatment plants, power grids, telecommunications services, and air traffic control towers. Legacy systems are CRUCIAL.

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

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

What Are the Benefits 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 expel?

To put it briefly, A LOT.

5 Key Benefits of Upgrading Your Legacy Systems

If you go for legacy system enhancements or a complete digital transformation, modernizing your legacy systems can assist you in future-proofing your company:

1. Optimize Your Business Operations

A legacy system modernization, like the deployment of SaaS platforms, new business intelligence tools, or cloud computing, can refine your workflow and other business processes.

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

CIOs that have adopted technological advancements or perhaps a full-scale digital transformation have reduced production costs in their businesses by up to 500%.

2. Reduce Your IT System’s Maintenance Costs

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

Frankly, companies in the private and public 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 Organization’s Customer Experience and Employee Retention

Legacy technology glitches and failures might cause unforeseen downtime for your business workflows.

For airlines, IT systems faults can result in delays and even the cancellation of thousands of flights. It was a serious problem for airlines. Outdated systems are bad for business.

Your personnel certainly dislike the downtime and poor user experience of the outdated technology as well. And once the technology in their hands has developed quicker in the last decade than your IT systems—it’s time for an upgrade. For your image.

4. Lower Your Security Risk While Staying Compliant

If your present systems are so antiquated that their provider no longer maintains them, they can constitute a severe security risk to your business.

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

Big failures occur with legacy systems regularly. Remember Equifax?

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

A one-off integration to your legacy system here, a hotfix for your legacy technology there. Before long, your company is stumbling on a Frankenstein-style legacy system.

Your outdated systems barely handle numerous data types—let alone the big data produced by your IoT devices.

Prospective CIOs know legacy software upgrading is mandatory to enhance the compatibility of their IT systems with innovative technological tools.

That is indeed what the CIOs at LinkedIn did when the firm was growing into the world’s largest professional network, moving its software design from a REST API or an event-driven architecture.

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

When Should I Consider Replacing 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 keep in mind before upgrading any legacy system:

1. How much of your IT budget are you spending on maintenance costs for legacy software or forced downtime as a result of a full or partial breakdown of your outdated system?

If your cost of maintaining outdated systems are depleting considerable resources, it may be time for a more cost-effective system.

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

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

3. Has the vendor that originally designed your legacy system folded?

Or are you having trouble sourcing mainframe programmers to fix or extend your COBOL code? If this is the case, your legacy system is a serious threat to your organization and should be modernized.

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

Because if you are unable to leverage large data, you won’t have the business insight you need to stay competitive. Bye-bye, legacy systems.

5. Do glitches, failures, and forced downtimes with your old system coincide with an uptick in client 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 technology SLOW?

It may be time to bite the bullet and adapt. The future is moving at a breakneck pace. And it’s here.

How Can I Revamp 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—and all the speed, agility, and scalability your CIOs have been promising with such a digital transformation. Hello, workflow automation!

2. Rebuild Your Legacy Systems

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

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

Reconfigure your code, so you can kick technical debt to the curb.

5. Rehost Your Legacy Systems

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

7. Digest Your Legacy Systems Functions and Data

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

8. Migrate Your Legacy Systems Application

Migrate your legacy systems application to a new run-time tool without dramatically altering the code or sacrificing functionality.

How Wave Can Assist with Your Legacy System Upgrade in San Jose?

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

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

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

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

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