What is a legacy system? A clear explanation of the problems and human resources needed to overcome them

“Legacy” is a word that means “inheritance”. Derived from this, it is also a word that gives you a positive connotation, such as “things that have been passed down for generations” or “good old things”. However, in the field of information systems, “legacy” is often used with the negative image of “outdated” and “obsolete”. In this article, we look at the problems of a “legacy system”, the measures needed to exit it, and the human resources responsible for exiting it.

Table of Contents

What is a legacy system?

A legacy system is an outdated system that has been in place for a long time. There are many instances where it is inconvenient and risky to operate, such as failure to respond to the latest technology and failure to receive proper maintenance.

One of the reasons why legacy systems are problematic is that they are “black boxes”. A system becomes a black box when it is used for a long period of time and changes are made to it through revisions to laws and programs that are repeatedly modified and updated. It seems that no one can comprehend the whole picture of the system, as it has been touched by several responsible persons each time. And so you have to get a legacy system migration approach because legacy systems are inconvenient, but unfortunately, specialists notice that they often continue to be used because they cannot stop working, which is a concern for the future of companies. That is why we have prepared this article and legacy system migration service for you.

The risk of using legacy systems

There is a term “cliff” associated with legacy systems. Using this term, it is assumed and warned that legacy systems will lead to a cliff in 2025 and that companies that do not take countermeasures will be significantly less competitive. Furthermore, the continued use of legacy systems is not only a problem for individual companies. If a service is suspended due to a serious systemic problem, it will affect the lives of consumers.

What problems arise if the outdated system is left as it is?

Explain the problems that arise when companies leave their legacy systems as they are. It must be understood that this causes various issues, from direct effects such as system failures to indirect effects such as future lost opportunities.

A critical system failure occurs

By continuing to use outdated systems, system failures occur. Due to aging and computing capacity issues, the risk of failure due to the inability to process huge amounts of data increases. If such trouble happens, business activities will stop and there will be many losses. If there is a serious impact on the lives of consumers, it will lead to a loss of social trust in a company.

Increased cost

Continuing to use outdated systems will lead to long-term maintenance and management costs. Due to aging, the frequency of breakdowns will increase, incurring repair costs each time. Maintenance costs are projected to reach 90% of IT-related budgets if legacy systems continue to be used. The challenge will be to reduce maintenance costs and allocate resources appropriately.

Unable to meet the requirements

There is also the possibility of failing to respond to compliance. In recent years, business-related laws have been amended quite frequently. Business continuity itself will be hampered if existing systems are unable to respond to these legal changes for the legacy system migration approach. In order to respond to changes in legislation, we may have to implement another system as an additional system, or in some cases work with it through manpower.

Failure to respond to the diversification of working styles

In recent years, with the proliferation of remote work and the accelerated diversification of work styles, legacy systems can hinder this trend. For example, if the system processing does not support remote control, it may be necessary to come to the office for this particular processing. If you cannot respond to the diversification of work styles, it will work against you in recruitment.

Work is personalized

Legacy systems have been in use for a long time, and software updates and upgrades have occurred quite a few times. It would be very dangerous if only someone who knew all the details could understand the whole system. When system operation depends on individual skills, operator retirement becomes a severe problem. A company’s core system must avoid the state where “only specific people can handle it”.

Incompatible with modern systems

Technology is advancing day by day, new systems are being developed one after another, and the convenience of doing business is becoming greater and greater. Legacy systems may be incompatible and not work with these modern systems. Maybe new business partners and system requirements do not match and transactions cannot be made. Never forget that you could be missing out on valuable business opportunities.

How to move away from legacy systems

We’ve found that performing legacy system migration unattended is a risk of suffering various defects. Here, we will explain how to move away from legacy systems. In any case, it would be desirable to have something that could be done without burdening normal operations.

Migration

Migration means “moving” or “relocation”. It is the transfer of existing systems and stored data to another environment. “Legacy migration” is for system migration and “data migration” is for data migration. The advantage is that you can move in stages, and you can take action while reducing risks.

Modernization

Modernization means “upgrading”. It is a way of replacing an operating system with a new one while preserving the data and programs stored in the existing system. There are three ways to upgrade:

Replacement “Replace the old/broken system with a new system equivalent to the existing one and process the existing data”.
Replace “Replace the system that was running on the old computer with a system infrastructure such as the cloud as it is”
Rewrite “Redesign a system equivalent to the existing system using a new programming language”