Is It Time To Let Go Of Your Legacy Software?

Legacy software refers to any program or system of programs that is old and still in use. Software has an average life of about five years before it is often necessary to upgrade your marketing, however some software can stay efficient and reliable for much longer than this.

Many companies will invest in a good managed services provider to stay ahead of their competition and focus on their core business, so whether you’re a budding startup or a multinational corporation, you can leave the IT to the experts while focusing on delivering day-to-day services and excellent customer service.

In fact, many large corporations rely on legacy software that is more than 10 years old. A few good reasons why companies cling onto such software include:

•         Familiarity and ease of use
•         It works just fine and fulfils all current needs
•         Such software could allow certain data to be kept offline (which can have security benefits)
•         The cost and hassle of migrating to new software

While there are perks to using old and reliable software, there can also be many downfalls to this software. To ensure that your legacy software isn’t holding back your business, it could be worth considering these downfalls. Below are just several signs that you may want to let go of legacy software.

It’s no longer supported

This is an obvious sign that software should be upgraded – if the vendor no longer supports it, you can expect to receive no future updates, which could be a cybersecurity risk. Updates are essential for keeping software guarded against the latest viruses and cyberthreats.

On top of this, such software could develop bugs that will require a software specialist to fix. When software is supported, such bugs are often recorded by the vendor and you can usually find instructions on how to fix these bugs more easily (or a new update will simply iron them out).

Unless you have staff with the expertise to maintain and monitor this software, it’s often not worth clinging onto.

It’s slow and regularly crashes

If your software is slow, your productivity is reduced. Upgrading to newer software could allow you to get more done in less time. You may even be able to automate certain tasks with new software that may not be possible to automate with legacy software.

If software regularly crashes it could be a particularly clear sign that you need to migrate to newer software.

You can only use it on one device

Cloud-based software can be used on a range of devices from any location. This opens up the flexibility for you and your employees to work from home or on the go rather than having to be in your office. Availability as an app can also allow work to be done on a tablet or a smartphone.

If there is a need to use software more flexibly, it could be worth upgrading. If you want to keep the software and its data to one machine, there may be no reason to upgrade to cloud-based software (banks, government agencies and corporations sometimes do this to isolate very sensitive information – although this does mean have to keep the machine and software safe and secure in order to not lose all data).

Migrating to cloud-based applications has become a lot easier with many specialist migration tools available for processes such as Oracle Forms migration. It’s worth reading into all the pros and cons of cloud technology to make sure that this is the right decision for you.

It’s incompatible with modern software

If you need to link up new software to your legacy software, but cannot due to incompatibility, this could be another reason to migrate to new software. Some vendors of older software provide infrequent updates that may fix this. There are also companies out there that are able to come up with creative solutions for integrating software. However, this may not always be the case.

It’s expensive to host and maintain

It’s common for companies with old custom software to keep data stored on a server and have in-house employees hired to maintain it. This can be expensive – while modern cloud-based custom software comes with its costs, it’s often much cheaper to run because you don’t have to maintain your own server. While it could cost a lot of money to set up new software and migrate everything, you’ll likely save costs in the long run by switching to a modern cloud-based solution.

It requires extensive training to use

Old software may require specialist expertise to use. Simpler modern options may not always offer the same boundless freedom that older software offers, however you could find that the restrictive features are worth the reduced time spent training employees.