Legacy systems are old, outdated IT systems, softwares, applications or programs that typically rely on an on-premise infrastructure that companies have relied on for years or even decades. These softwares can usually contain a lot of features, from sales or CRM applications to custom and industry-specific applications, covering many functions. Legacy migration therefore means the modernization of old IT systems, ie the migration of new hardware to an infrastructure or software platform. We also talk about legacy migration when a company moves outdated softwares, platforms, or applications to the cloud.
Legacy migration projects are among the huge projects that are making a significant difference to business. As a result, businesses are often reluctant to migrate their outdated applications. Yet modernizing old, outdated business applications can increase an organization’s productivity and efficiency. Why do businesses still stick to their outdated systems? The following reasons usually arise:
In our work, we have also come across IT systems that are slowly becoming oldtimer. Companies often do not realize when they need to migrate their old applications. Smaller, annoying IT problems add up over time and it becomes more and more difficult to use the program, which is increasingly at the expense of efficient work. Below are a collection of typical cases when it is highly recommended to think about migrating old systems to a new system or cloud:
Not only are these disruptive factors, they reduce the efficiency of the entire organization and even weaken security, so in that case, it’s worth deploying old business applications on a new software platform or in the cloud.
Despite the extra effort associated with the legacy migration project, there are several benefits to migrating older applications to a new platform. Here are the three main arguments in favor of legacy migraton:
Investing in IT infrastructure is one of the most significant items in the IT budget. Servicing old hardware in particular raises IT costs, as the older the hardware, the higher the maintenance costs. Migrating a legacy application can reduce maintenance, software and licensing costs.
2. Improved data protection
Older applications are generally not properly protected and do not have a reliable backup or recovery plan in case of data loss or corruption. So after legacy migration, data protection improves.
3. Quick access
Older applications are slow, frustrating to use, and difficult for new employees to learn. Storing huge amounts of data and applications on older systems is not feasible and cannot be expected from an older application to provide equal performance with today's more advanced technology.
Migrating an old business application or software also requires testing expertise. ProofIT testing specialists can help test the migration of old applications to the new system so your company can seamlessly transition to the new software platform and thereby improve the efficiency of the business operations.
