1993 just called. It wants its IT systems back…

Your legacy systems probably are not as antiquated as the IRS’ existing systems (some are over 60 years old!). Still, modernizing your legacy technology has been at the back of your mind A LOT lately.

Because it poses a security threat.

Because outdated systems are racking up maintenance costs while delivering less and less functionality every day.

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

We understand. You are ready for a legacy system modernization.

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

Keep reading for your legacy system evaluation, 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 Legacy systems are outdated systems because they are derived from outdated technology; however, legacy systems, despite their age, limited functionality, and security risk, are usually essential to daily business processes, points out Gartner.

How relevant 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 power 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 VITAL.

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

It’s no surprise, then, that optimizing or replacing legacy systems with innovative technology, whether it be cloud computing, SaaS technology solutions, or on-site installation is one of the greatest challenges CIOs in small and large firms confront in their careers.

What Are the Advantages of Upgrading 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 Essential Benefits of Legacy System Modernization

Whether you go for legacy system enhancements or a complete digital transformation, your legacy system modernization can help you future-proof your firm:

1. Expedite Your Business Processes

A legacy system update, such as the implementation of SaaS platforms, new business intelligence platforms, or cloud computing, can refine your workflow and other business operations.

It is not out of the ordinary for companies to expend more than half of their IT budget on supporting legacy systems, for example maintaining data hubs rather than performing a data migration to the cloud for support ticket management.

CIOs that have implemented technological advancements or even a full-blown digital transformation have reduced operational expenditures in their companies 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 demand a significant percentage of the company’s budget.

Frankly, organizations in both 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. Improve Your Business’s Customer Experience and Employee Retention

Legacy technology glitches and failures might cause unexpected downtime for your organizational operations.

For airlines, IT systems faults can cause delays and even the cancellation of thousands of flights. It was a real concern for airlines. Obsolete systems are bad for business.

Your personnel undoubtedly resent the downtime and poor user experience of the older technology as well. And once the technology in their pockets has developed quicker in the last decade than your IT systems—it’s time to upgrade. For your image.

4. Reduce Your Security Risk While Staying Compliant

When your existing systems are so old their provider no longer supports them, they could pose a severe security risk to your business.

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

Big breakdowns occur with legacy systems frequently. Remember Equifax?

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

A single integration to your legacy software here, a hotfix for your legacy software there. Before you know it, your company is clunking along on a Frankenstein legacy system.

Your outdated systems can hardly handle numerous data types—not to mention the enormous amounts of data generated by your IoT devices.

Revolutionary CIOs know legacy software modernization is essential to refine IT system compatibility with new technology platforms.

That is indeed what the CIOs at LinkedIn did when the company was scaling into the largest global professional network, converting its software design from a REST API or an event-driven architecture.

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

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

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

Here are six things to consider before upgrading any legacy system:

1. How much of your IT budget is spent on maintenance costs for legacy software or forced downtime because of a complete or partial malfunction of your old system?

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

2. Do your legacy systems support modern tech and recent IT breakthroughs?

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

3. Is the vendor who designed your legacy system no longer in business?

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

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

Because when you can’t take advantage of big data, you will not have the kind of business intelligence you need to be competitive. Bye-bye, legacy systems.

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

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

6. Is your legacy system SLOW?

It might be time to take the plunge and make the change. The future is approaching at a frenetic pace. And it has arrived.

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

2. Rebuild Your Legacy Software

Rewrite the application components, so you can integrate modern tech solutions, business intelligence, and big data capacity.

3. Redesign 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. Refactor Your Legacy Systems

Reconfigure your code to eliminate technical debt.

5. Rehost Your Legacy Systems

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

7. Digest Your Outdated Systems Functions and Data

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

8. Migrate Your Legacy Systems Application

Transfer your legacy systems application to a new run-time platform without drastically modifying the code or sacrificing functionality.

How Wave Can Be of Assistance with Your Legacy System Modernization in El Paso?

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

That way, you’ll know whether you can get by with a few legacy system enhancements or if you need an extensive digital transformation now.

Whatever the case proves to be for your legacy systems, Wave can carry out the needed upgrades or replacements: from adding functionality that improves the customer experience or simplifying workflows with automation and Business Intelligence solutions.

We will also give you the ongoing IT support you need to get the most out of your modernization investment.

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