The Future of Your Legacy System

By the year 2020, spending on information technology (IT) will surpass 2.3 trillion dollars. In addition to installation and training for new fancy technology, part of these large costs includes managing older systems as they become obsolete. Updating these systems comes with many challenges that can cause you to put off updates for longer than you should.

Are you preparing to update a legacy system? Maybe you even need to update a few systems that your business relies on heavily. Feel nervous and scared? Don’t worry. Keep reading below for five helpful tips as you begin to update these older systems.

1. Lay Out a Complete Structure
Legacy systems tend to be very large and very complex. As you start to modernize it, your first step should be to lay out a model of the entire application. This means you should lay out where it lives on the network, storage capacities, and daily uses where it is used. Breaking the system down will help you create updates and new applications that encompass every aspect your business needs.

2. Identify Linked Applications
Through the above process, you should come up with a list of any subsequent applications that rely on the older system. These systems need to be separated and adjusted in order to function with the updates. Sometimes this just requires some tweaking of code. Another option is to ensure the needs of these separate smaller systems are handled in the newer one. This eliminates the number of systems required, streamlining your business processes.

3. Plan the Data Migration
Data breaches and losses can be very costly. If you have been in business for a while, your legacy system could have years and years worth of data house within its software. Because of this, you need to create a plan when preparing to move data from your existing system to a newer one. Warning: it won’t always be easy. By planning ahead, you can have the migration in mind while developing the new system. Run tests with small amounts of data to ensure information will map in a similar way in the updated system.

4. Think about Security
In addition to migration, it is important to think about security capabilities while you develop a system to replace your older ones. Building your security needs and preferences into the design will ensure the new system functions efficiently. Take your problems from the old system and make them into solutions.

5. Keep Favorite Functions

Sometimes when a new system comes along, businesses jump ship without much thought. The thought is that “newer must be better, right?” This is not always true. Legacy systems are still around because they operate in a way that continues to work for people. If you change to a new system without at least trying to maintain some similar functions, your staff will struggle with the learning curve.

While it’s not always possible to keep functions that staff enjoy, exploring your options may lead you to an even better system than you originally were going to choose.

Update Your Legacy System Hassle Free

Embarking on an update journey doesn’t have to be a massive headache. Hopefully now with these five tips have you feeling much calmer and optimistic. Do you have some additional questions or specific systems you want to discuss? Please don’t hesitate to contact us and we would love to help you out!