1993 just called. It wants its IT systems back…

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

Because it’s a cybersecurity hazard.

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

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

We get it. You’re ready for a legacy system modernization.

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

Keep reading for your legacy system checklist, 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 obsolete systems seeing as they are derived from antiquated technology; however, legacy systems, despite their age, limited functionality, and security risk, are typically critical to everyday business operations, 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 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 VITAL.

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

It’s no wonder, however, that upgrading or substituting legacy systems with innovative technology, whether it be SaaS technology solutions, cloud computing, or on-premise implementation is among the most difficult tasks CIOs in small and large organizations encounter 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 “barriers” could the upgrading of legacy systems eliminate?

Short answer, A LOT.

5 Significant Advantages of Modernizing Your Legacy Systems

In the event that you choose a legacy system enhancements or a comprehensive digital transformation, modernizing your legacy systems can help you future-proof your organization:

1. Optimize Your Business Operations

A legacy system upgrade, like the implementation of SaaS platforms, modern business intelligence software, or cloud computing, can refine your workflow and other business operations.

It is not out of the ordinary for companies to waste 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 support ticket management.

CIOs that have adopted technological improvements or perhaps a full-scale 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 eat up a significant percentage of the business’s budget.

Frankly, companies in both 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 can lead to unforeseen downtime for your organizational operations.

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

Your staff certainly dislike the downtime and poor user experience of the obsolete technology as well. And when the tech in their hands has seen more advancements in the last decade than your IT systems—it’s time for an upgrade. For your image.

4. Reduce Your Security Risk and Maintain Compliance

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

Your legacy software, which is frequently ignored and out of date, doesn’t receive the security patches and updates it needs to prevent cybersecurity breaches.

Substantial mishaps happen with legacy systems frequently. Remember Equifax?

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

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

Your old systems are incapable of handling numerous data formats—not to mention the enormous amounts of data your IoT devices produce.

Revolutionary CIOs know legacy software modernization is essential to refine IT system compatibility with modern technological tools.

That’s exactly what the LinkedIn’s CIOs did when the company was developing into the world’s largest professional network, transforming its software architecture from a REST API or an event-driven architecture.

CIOs for Netflix, Unilever, SAP, Amazon, and the Federal Aviation Administration 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 a few things to consider before upgrading any legacy system:

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

If your cost of maintaining outdated systems are draining important resources, it might be time for a more cost-effective solution.

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

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

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

Or are you having trouble locating mainframe programmers who can extend or fix your COBOL code? If so, your legacy system introduces a serious risk to your firm and should be upgraded.

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

Because if you can’t make the most of large data, you won’t have the kind of business intelligence you need to be competitive. Adieu, legacy systems.

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

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

6. Is your legacy technology SLOW?

It may be time to bite the bullet and make the change. The future is approaching at a frenetic pace. And it has arrived.

How Can I Upgrade 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—along with all the speed, efficiency, and scalability your CIOs have promised with such a digital transformation. Welcome, workflow automation!

2. Rebuild Your Legacy Software

Rewrite the application components, so you can implement modern technology 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. Reconfigure Your Legacy Systems

Reconfigure your code to get rid of 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

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

8. Replatform Your Legacy Systems Application

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

How Wave Can Be of Assistance with Your Legacy System Modernization in Kansas City?

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

That 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 case proves to be for your legacy systems, Wave can handle the needed upgrades or replacements: from adding attributes that improve the customer experience or optimizing processes with automation and Business Intelligence tools.

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

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