The UK Government states that;
“Technology becomes legacy when it is either considered an end-of-life product, out of support from the supplier, impossible to update, no longer cost-effective and now considered to be above the acceptable risk threshold.”
Source; https://www.gov.uk/guidance/managing-legacy-technology#defining-legacy-technology
Despite this understanding of the perils of legacy systems, reliance on them by businesses continues to hamper UK companies, and the Government itself. Dependence on these systems not only slows business responsiveness, it also leave them open to cyber-attacks. It is estimated that as many as ¾ of manufacturing companies and the vast majority of financial service providers (over 90%) rely on legacy systems for their day to day operations. In terms of Government efficiency, despite their apparent understanding of the impact of businesses continuing to use legacy systems, around 50% of the Governments IT spending alone is thought to be on maintaining outdated software.
Legacy systems hinder business development, and although an older system, with the correct support and maintenance can continue to meet business requirements, they are a ‘ticking clock’ in terms of their shelf life and simply waiting for their obsolescence before updating an older system can create many more problems than it solves. This recalcitrance in updating old systems is understandable; they have often been developed over many years, are trusted and understood by staff and seen as vital to the way a business operates. Changing a system is seen as a massive, and unnecessary upheaval - the ‘if it isn’t broke – why fix it?’ mentality.
There are a number of very significant pitfalls with this way of thinking; Legacy systems require ever growing company resources and people with specialised skills to maintain them. They use outdated programming languages and tools that are no longer supported in the industry, making upgrades increasingly difficult as time passes. This has a direct impact on company growth; without access to modern technology, companies begin to fall behind their competitors. They lack the in-depth data insights and advanced reporting capabilities that modern systems offer, which in turn help senior management make critical business decisions, keeping the company competitive and at the forefront of their game.
Another impact of legacy systems is the impact on the customer experience. Business areas need a high level of connection, a unified approach between departments and quick response times to keep up with an increasingly demanding and connected customer base.
Many outdated systems are no longer supported by their manufacturer, with potentially catastrophic consequences. A single vulnerability enables attackers to gain access to all business applications and databases, breaching GDPR in an instant and potentially leading to costly litigation. An updated system avoids this and allows safeguarding of company data and comprehensive disaster recovery solutions.
Despite the obvious risks, fear still abound in businesses, large and small, when it comes to modernising legacy systems. Cost and business disruption are always on the radar when it comes to implementing any type of change to an established system. However modernising company systems saves the longer term business costs of leaving them unheeded.
There is also the possibility of a third way; modernising legacy systems does not necessarily involve an ‘all-or-nothing’ step change in business operations. It is possible to implement change more gradually, starting with the parts of the software essential to modern daily operations.
At DevStack, we take the time to understand your business processes and walk you through any issues with updating your legacy system, step by step. We enable you to work out what your business needs to achieve and set out a clear map detailing how to get there. We help you to develop software that is fit for your business purposes, with the ability to scale and adapt it as required.
