1993 just called. It wants its IT systems back…

Ok, maybe your legacy systems aren’t as outdated as the IRS’ current systems (some date back 60 years!). Still, upgrading your legacy system has been at the back of your mind A LOT nowadays.

Because it presents a cybersecurity hazard.

Because obsolete platforms are costing more to maintain while providing even less efficiency every day.

Because you’re 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 support of important stakeholders—whether that’s your business partner or the whole boardroom?

Continue reading for your legacy system assessment, so you know when it is time to upgrade your legacy systems.

What is a Legacy System?

Legacy systems are IT systems. Oftentimes, legacy systems are obsolete systems since they are based on antiquated technology; however, despite their age, limited functionality, and security risk, legacy systems, are usually essential to everyday business operations, points out Gartner.

How essential 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 public-sector infrastructure that we take for granted: telecommunications services, wastewater treatment plants, power grids, and air traffic control towers. Legacy systems are ESSENTIAL.

However, the modernization (including failed modernization efforts) and maintenance costs of keeping legacy systems are troublesome, totaling $35 trillion for enterprises and governments globally since 2010.

It’s no surprise, then, that optimizing or rebuilding legacy systems with innovative technology, whether cloud computing, SaaS technology solutions, or on-premise implementation is among the most challenging issues CIOs in small and large organizations face in their careers.

What Are the Benefits 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 “obstacles” could the modernization of your legacy systems expel?

To put it briefly, A LOT.

5 Essential Advantages of Upgrading Your Legacy Systems

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

1. Optimize Your Business Processes

A legacy system upgrade, like the adoption of SaaS platforms, new business intelligence software, or cloud computing, can improve efficiencies in your workflow and other business processes.

It is not unusual for organizations to spend over half of their IT budget on sustaining legacy systems, for example maintaining data centers instead of performing a data migration to the cloud for support ticket management.

CIOs that have implemented technological improvements or even a full-scale digital transformation have reduced production expenditures in their organizations by up to 500%.

2. Reduce Your IT System’s Maintenance Costs

CIOs are well aware that legacy system, application, and infrastructure maintenance can account for a large percentage of the company’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 Organization’s Customer Experience and Employee Retention

Legacy technology glitches and failures can result in unforeseen downtime for your organizational processes.

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

Your employees unquestionably loathe the downtime and poor user experience of the obsolete technology too. And once the technology in their pockets has seen more advancements in the last decade than your IT systems—it’s time to upgrade. For your image.

4. Lower Your Security Risk and Stay Compliant

If your current systems are so antiquated that their original vendor no longer maintains them, they can pose a severe security risk to your company.

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

Substantial mishaps occur with legacy systems all the time. Remember Equifax?

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

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

Your old technology are incapable of handling numerous data formats—let alone the massive amounts of data generated by your IoT devices.

Forward-looking CIOs understand that legacy software upgrading is mandatory to refine the compatibility of their IT systems with new technological platforms.

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

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

When Should I Consider Upgrading 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.

Below are some questions to ask before upgrading any legacy system:

1. How much of your IT budget is spent on legacy software maintenance or forced downtime due to a full or partial breakdown of your outdated system?

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

2. Do your legacy systems work with modern technology 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 upgrade your legacy system.

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

Or are you having difficulty finding mainframe programmers who can fix or extend your COBOL code? If this is the case, your legacy system poses a potential 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 enormous data, you won’t 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 support tickets and complaints?

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

6. Is your legacy technology SLOW?

It might be time to jump in with both feet and make a change. The future is moving at a breakneck pace. And it has arrived.

How Can I Upgrade My Legacy System?

If you’ve decided your legacy systems are no longer meeting your business needs, what are your modernization options?

1. Replace Your Legacy Systems

Out with the old, and in with the new—with all the speed, efficiency, and versatility your CIOs have been promising with such a digital transformation. Welcome, workflow automation!

2. Rebuild Your Legacy Systems

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

3. Rearchitect 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. Refine Your Legacy Systems

Reconfigure your code to get rid of technical debt.

5. Rehost Your Legacy Systems

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

7. Digest Your Outdated Systems Data and Functions

Incorporate your functions and data into the application, so that they may be accessed as services via an API.

8. Replatform Your Legacy Systems Application

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

How Wave Can Help with Your Legacy System Upgrade in Las Vegas?

Do you believe it’s time for your legacy system modernization? Start with Wave’s thorough system audit, so you can get insights into its performance and expected lifespan.

That way, you’ll know whether your organization can cope with a few legacy system enhancements or if you require an extensive digital transformation now.

Whatever the circumstance may be for your legacy systems, Wave can handle the required modifications or replacements: from adding functionality that improves the customer experience or simplifying workflows with automation and Business Intelligence tools.

We will also provide you with the continuous IT assistance you need to maximize your modernization investment.

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