Imagine a company that still uses a horse-drawn carriage to deliver its products. The company may be successful now, but it is at a disadvantage compared to its competitors, who use trucks or vans. The horse-drawn carriage is slower, less efficient, and more expensive.
The same is true for businesses that use legacy systems. These systems might have been state-of-the-art when first implemented, but they must be updated and more efficient. They are also more likely to be vulnerable to security threats.
Legacy system modernization is similar to updating a horse-drawn wagon to a truck or van. It improves the company's competitiveness, efficiency, and security. It is critical for organizations to modernize these systems in order to remain competitive, improve operational efficiency, enhance customer experience, and respond to changing market needs.
Refer to the following table for a better understanding of the differences between legacy systems vs modern systems.
Benefits of Legacy System Modernization
Businesses do not need to replace their legacy systems with modern ones. Instead, modernizing your existing legacy system can offer several benefits, such as:
- Improved performance: Modernizing your legacy system can improve its performance using newer technologies and hardware.
- Increased security: Modernizing legacy systems can improve their security using newer security features and technologies protecting your data from unauthorized access, theft, or tampering.
- Enhanced scalability: Legacy system modernization can enhance scalability using newer technologies that handle more users and data.
- Reduced costs: Modernization of legacy systems can reduce costs by eliminating the need to maintain and support outdated technologies.
- Improved compliance: Well-modernized Legacy applications can help you to meet the latest compliance requirements.
- Increased flexibility: After modernizing, your legacy system can make integrating with other systems and applications more accessible.
- Improved user experience: Modernizing legacy software can make it easier and more user-friendly.
Benefits of Leveraging a Dedicated Team of Developers to Modernize Legacy Systems
Outsourcing companies like “Bacancy Technology” offer dedicated software development team to other organizations to modernize legacy software or applications. Here are a few of the most important benefits of modernizing legacy systems leveraging a dedicated team of developers.
- Experience: The experience of a team of developers is necessary to modernize your legacy systems successfully. They will be familiar with the latest technologies and best practices, and they will be able to quickly and efficiently identify and address any issues that may arise.
- Expertise: A dedicated team of developers will have the expertise to understand your business needs and requirements. They can design and implement a modernization solution that meets your needs and goals.
- Competency: A team of dedicated developers will be competent in all aspects of legacy system modernization. They will be able to assess your current system, identify areas for improvement, and develop and implement a plan to modernize your system.
- Cost-effectiveness: A team of software developers can be a cost-effective way to modernize your legacy systems. They can often finish the modernization project faster and more efficiently than an in-house team and at a lesser cost.
- Peace of mind: Working with a dedicated team can give you peace of mind knowing that your legacy system is in good hands. You can be confident that the project will be completed on time and within budget and that the final product will meet your needs and expectations.
Selecting Suitable Legacy System Modernization Approaches and Strategies
While modernizing legacy systems, businesses can adopt various strategies and approaches based on their specific needs and circumstances. Here are three common modernization approaches:
- Refactoring: Refactoring involves changing the existing codebase and structure of the legacy system while preserving its core functionality. This approach focuses on improving the system's architecture, code quality, and maintainability without altering its behavior.
- Rewriting: Rewriting entails completely recreating the legacy system using contemporary technologies and frameworks. This approach provides an opportunity to design and develop a new system that aligns with current business requirements and leverages the advantages of contemporary technology.
- Rehosting: Rehosting, also known as "lift and shift," involves migrating the legacy system from its current infrastructure to a new environment without making significant code changes. This approach aims to leverage the benefits of modern infrastructure, such as cloud platforms, without altering the underlying system's functionality.
(Note: These approaches are not mutually exclusive, and businesses often adopt a combination of strategies based on their specific requirements. For instance, a business may refactor certain modules while rewriting others, or they may rehost the system as an initial step and then gradually refactor or rewrite specific components. The chosen approach depends on budget, time constraints, system complexity, desired outcomes, and long-term business objectives.)
Success Stories of Dedicated Teams in Modernizing Legacy Systems
Here are some of the success stories to highlight the importance of dedicated teams and their ability to plan, execute, and deliver successful legacy system modernization initiatives. You can improve your chances of success in modernizing your legacy systems by following the procedures listed below.
- Bank of America modernized its legacy core, banking, built in the 1970s. The modernization project took three years and cost $15 billion.
- Walmart modernized its legacy supply chain management system. The modernization project took two years and cost $1 billion.
- GE Aviation modernized its legacy product data management system. The modernization project took one year and cost $500 million.
- Siemens modernized its legacy manufacturing execution system. The modernization project took two years and cost $1 billion.
Reading the time it took to modernize the legacy system and the cost of it might have given an idea to you about the importance of modernization of legacy systems.
Conclusion
In conclusion, modernizing legacy systems is critical for businesses to stay competitive, enhance efficiency, and meet evolving customer expectations. By adopting modernization approaches such as refactoring, rewriting, or rehosting, organizations can address compatibility issues, improve integration, and unlock the full potential of their systems.
If you wish to understand more on how you can hire a team for development, you might like to read this article on Team as a Service. It sheds light on overcoming business challenges leveraging the expertise of a team of developers and benefits of it.
For modernizing your legacy system, Bacancy is the trusted partner you need by your side. With its dedicated software development team, Bacancy brings a wealth of experience and expertise in legacy system modernization. Their team of skilled professionals understands the intricacies of legacy systems and has a proven track record of successfully transforming outdated software into efficient, modern solutions.
Bacancy's approach combines industry best practices, cutting-edge technologies, and a tailored strategy to meet your unique business requirements. By partnering with Bacancy, you can leverage their deep domain knowledge, collaborative approach, and commitment to excellence to ensure a seamless and successful modernization journey. With Bacancy, you can trust that your legacy system will be revitalized, future-proofed, and ready to propel your business forward in the digital age.