Legacy System: A Deep Dive

by Tech Trendz Writer

As the ‘legacy’ in the name suggests, legacy systems are archaic systems made of obsolete software, technologies, and more. Suffice it to say that such structures bring along with them a whole world of issues. But first, we must clarify that legacy systems, despite their problems, can still be used. It is best to believe that many companies do use their legacy systems. Now, the critical question here is, why? Why do companies continue to use legacy systems when it is clear that they are, well, not exactly conducive to growth? Here’s a look at some of those reasons:

1. It works: One of the most prominent and yet underrated reasons is that these legacy systems continue to serve the purpose they were initially set up for. And it makes sense too; after all, changing company-wide systems is an extensive as well as an expensive effort. So, why would anyone change their approach if it is not broken?
2. Monumental undertaking: As mentioned above, switching from legacy systems to modern systems is a mammoth task. It is even more challenging to convert legacy data to new formats that are compatible with modern systems. It is because how the older systems gathered, stored, and processed data typically tends to be widely different from the newer lot of systems' methods and algorithms. So, for the company’s internal IT team, converting years and years' worth of legacy data to ensure compatibility with the new system would be a huge undertaking.
3. Certifications: Data today is subject to stringent laws and regulations worldwide, which makes it essential to ensure compliance with these laws and rules at all times. Often, this involves validation, certification, and more by authorized agencies. Once again, this is not the simplest of tasks and demands much investment — in the context of money and effort.

Even though experts recommend reengineering legacy systems using cloud, businesses have seemingly valid reasons for wanting to stick to their legacy systems. Unfortunately, this gives rise to plenty of issues, such as the ones listed below:

1. Maintenance issues: This is a fundamental requirement for any system, yes? And the world has plenty of modern resources to help companies do that as well. But when one sticks to legacy systems, they choose antiquated software, tools & more that are incompatible with these moderns solutions and technologies. As a result, it becomes quite a challenge to maintain legacy systems and ensure they continue to serve their primary purpose.
2. Security risks: Use of date technologies means systems cannot benefit from the progress and the substantially better security that comes with it. You see, security is a pressing concern worldwide, which is why modern technologies have successfully endeavoured to address this problem. It is why, with legacy systems, company data is exposed to unnecessary risk of hacking.
3. Scalability challenges: It is no secret that the world generates a staggering amount of data every day. And to ensure seamless operations, company systems must be able to scale quickly and accommodate this change. It can prove to be a problem with legacy systems because of various factors, including low storage capacity.
4. Sub-par UI: Since legacy systems do not evolve with time, they are also unable to adapt to the needs and requirements of the new-age users, such as in the context of the user interface. These users typically engage with modern apps and tools in general, making it challenging for them to use legacy systems effectively.

We understand that companies have compelling reasons to retain legacy systems, but that doesn’t mean their business has to suffer for it. One of the best things to do here is to start reengineering legacy systems using the cloud, preferably guided by experts.