Legacy Systems

Open InfoTech Solutions can help you solve problems related to legacy systems. Whether it is a complete replacement or help with alternatives.

What are Legacy Systems?
A legacy system is an older piece of software, but something that is required for a business process. This can vary from performing one simple function to the entire company relying on the system for most processes. Normally, legacy systems will visually look dated and be missing many of the features that make newer software easier to work with.

What are some issues with having Legacy Systems?
There are three main issues around legacy systems. The first and foremost of these is that security and compliance are more difficult with legacy systems. Usability on older software is usually not up to current standards, including typically requiring connectivity to the network they are on. Scalability is another key issue with older legacy software.
Practices around security are continuously evolving and improving. Older software can often introduce vulnerabilities that may or may not be simple to resolve. This is especially difficult if the original source code to the system is no longer available. Workarounds are complicated, and compensating controls can only take you so far. On the compliance front, there are certain mandatory requirements, such as encryption at rest and in transit. This may require the whole system to be isolated in some way to allow access.
Usability of legacy systems for staff is often an obvious hurdle. Staff can complain that the software is much more difficult or temperamental than some of the other tools they use. Also, typically, legacy systems won’t be easily available on multiple devices and in multiple locations. This can have a large limiting effect on the flexibility of your business.
Legacy systems are typically not easily scalable. If your business has been expanding since the software was built, you may be experiencing issues with performance or data loss because the original design was inadequate.

How do I fix my legacy systems?
There are many ways of solving issues with legacy systems. These range from deploying the system in a new way or completely rebuilding the software in another form.
Common approaches:

Rebuild the system into something new
Rebuild the front-end interface to the software while possibly retaining some portions of the system or retaining the database / evolving the database
Adopt new software under either a SaaS or software licensing model
Hybrid approach – find existing software and modify or augment it to fit your needs
Redeploy (move the software to a new environment) the software in a new way

Option 1: Rebuilding the software
When rebuilding the software, we’d go through a multistep process that looks like the following:

Identify what the software is doing well
Identify what the software is doing poorly
Identify the necessary immediate changes for the software
Identify the secondary changes needed for the software
Prioritize all changes and develop a project plan for replacement

After this process, we can build an estimated timeline and cost around the project and make some decisions around it.
Some key questions:

Are we hoping to run this software in parallel with the existing software?
If so, is the expectation that the software is seamlessly operating without double entry (old system and new system)
If we are not expecting to run in parallel, we will set up a series of tests before a scheduled cut-over from one system to the other.
Is this something we want available anywhere on the public internet, or do we want to keep it on an internal network?

Option 2: Rebuild the user interface of your existing project
This involves keeping the existing software while working toward a complete 1:1 replacement of it by starting with the most important features first. Creating a new interface to your existing project has several advantages.

We can start with the most important features instead of waiting until the entire project is completed to replace the software.
Won’t require a major cutover
Will usually take more resources than a straight rebuild, but you get value earlier and more often than a straight rebuild.

Option 3: Adopt new software instead
We usually recommend this as a starting point, and you’ve probably done something similar internally unless you are just starting on your quest to update or replace your current software. This involves getting a list of features that the present software provides. We can then take that feature list and find vendors that will provide your core needs. We will make a comparison of what you have and what you’ll get with multiple products. If we feel this is possible and ideal for your situation, it is the least expensive option, typically.

Option 4: Hybrid – Find new software and modify
This consists of evaluating options similar to adopting a new system, but when we’ve found the list of missing pieces, you’ve determined that you can’t get by without those features. We can make a game plan to augment the system or choose a system where source code is available (open source software), which will enable us to provide the rest of the necessary features.

Option 5: Redeploy
Under certain circumstances, we may be able to use technology to provide the software in a different format than it is presently being used. This is designed to overcome shortcomings in security or availability for a limited time. This isn’t a permanent solution, but it may buy time for one of the other solutions.

How can I get started?
Open InfoTech Solutions specializes in replacing legacy systems. We have experience going all the way back to many of these systems; we are able to understand old systems and source and provide a path forward. Please fill out the form below and we’ll book a consultation for you.