Introduction

Legacy systems are systems using outdated or end-of-support/life software and/or hardware. Legacy systems are typically still used and may even be running business critical services.

Due to the age and version of the underlying software, legacy systems tend to lack the ability to integrate with newer technologies, isolating them from the broader IT infrastructure and making them harder to interact with.

Legacy systems, though critical at times, can become expensive to maintain (both technology and skills), unrecoverable due to incompatibility and other issues, a security and compliance risk, and limit the scalability of an organisation’s IT capabilities.

There are a number of options available for organisations looking to (1) maintain their legacy systems without the added costs, (2) improve interactive and UI capabilities, (3) modernise and upgrade their legacy technology.

This POV explores the options for managing, upgrading, and extending legacy systems

The Risks of Maintaining Legacy Systems

Before looking at how to extend your legacy systems, it is important to understand the risks and possible resolutions, as well as if extension is the best option for you.

Security

Legacy software, if end-of-support, does not receive technical support from the original vendor. This includes any security patches for known risks. Organisations compromise and create vulnerabilities for their entire IT infrastructure by maintaining legacy technology.

Recovery

If core services are running on your legacy systems, you risk losing the capabilities should the technology fail and is unable to be recovered due to the lack of skills, complexity of the failure, or purely just the time it has been down.

A system may become unrecoverable if peripheral technologies are updated and become incompatible with the older system. This has nothing to do with the legacy system itself, but means it is unrecoverable and functionality is lost. When broader IT modernisation is the strategy, this will become a hinderance.

Compliance

Many regulations dictate the need to have supported software. This support does not have to be provided by the original vendor or provide patches, but should provide the ability to mitigate some of the other risks associated with maintaining legacy systems such as recovering from failures and managing licence usage.

Performance

Business productivity relies heavily on the ability of technology to do as expected in a timely manner. Legacy systems become inefficient as they age, either due to the comparative efficiency of newer technologies, or due to the lack of compatibility with other systems. This can create staff and customer frustration.

Skills

As explored above, maintaining the skills to manage and support legacy systems can be a challenge and costly as the technology is phased out or specialised. These issues add to the total cost of ownership of the system, and need to be properly evaluated when deciding to extend the life of the legacy solution.

Solutions

So, now that we understand some of the risks, what can we do about it?

Responsiv provide a range of options to both extend the life of your legacy software/middleware and to help you modernise your IT infrastructure to manage the risks explored above.

Extended Support

If you’re happy with your legacy solution and don’t see an immediate reason to upgrade, or are on track to upgrade in the future, you may opt for extended support.

Support may be available from the original vendor if the software/middleware/hardware has not gone end-of-support (EOS), or be available from a third-party both prior to and after EOS status.

By continuing with extended support, you ensure you are compliant with an active support agreement and have access to the skills to recover the system (if possible).

Responsiv provide extended support for a range of products, including IBM software and middleware. This incident recovery service cuts the costs of traditional support and subscription, and provides the option to upgrade should your legacy systems become unrecoverable.

Find out more about Responsiv Assist Extended Support

Skills

When the skills to manage, maintain, and support your legacy systems become hard to find or costly to employ, turn to Responsiv.

Responsiv Consulting and Responsiv Assist are available to provide the skills and experience you need to manage and support your systems, including knowledge of the peripheral factors that require consideration.

Our skills are available on a project or ad-hoc basis depending on your need. This means you don’t need to source or pay for full-time skilled resources, rather calling on us to supply when you have demand.

Navigate the IT skills shortage with Responsiv

Wrap-Around

If the legacy system is too critical to or complex for your business to change, you can create a wrap-around solution to enhance the service it provides.

By ‘wrapping’ your legacy system in a modern solution, you can create new compatibilities and improve the UI capabilities of the original service.

Responsiv do this by wrapping systems with the Responsiv Cloud Automation Platform (RCAP). By doing so, we can develop bespoke integrations to access siloed data and provide updated screens and processes to improve the experience for end users.

The core service is maintained with a host of new accessibility features.

Upgrade and Modernise

If you decide your legacy system is too risky, costly, or incompatible to maintain, you have the option to upgrade and modernise.

By upgrading to the latest or a newer software version, you reduce the risks associated with outdated software, access the latest patches, and unlock new features.

You may choose to modernise your software, opting to migrate to a new cloud service or change vendors.

Responsiv has the skills and technology to support or fully deliver your upgrade or modernise your legacy systems.

Next Steps

Understanding the risks, challenges, and opportunities that arise from maintaining your legacy systems is important.

By weighing up the significance of the system you are looking to manage, you can assess the benefits and pitfalls of maintaining the legacy system. Is it too risky to lose the services provided? Is it too costly to get the skills and support to maintain the system? Is there a more efficient solution available? Is the system too complex to upgrade or migrate?

Your environment is undoubtedly different to anyone else’s. Making the decisions that are right for your strategy, goals, and existing infrastructure is crucial to getting the desired outcomes. There is no one size fits all answer to what to do with your legacy systems.

Speak to Responsiv to get the expert advice and understanding of you IT infrastructure, possible options, and delivery support, all in one trusted partner.