Keeping your business from growing – Is Legacy Software Holding Back Your Business?

We often feel that legacy applications, which make up almost a third of our workplace tech, won’t disappear any time soon.  However, as we’ve discussed, outdated technology can put your data at risk, and it can also compromise your company’s productivity and profitability. 

Legacy systems present more and more challenges and frustrations to companies that depend on them over time.  Persisting with a legacy system has a range of drawbacks, including costly maintenance, slow, buggy interfaces, and siloed data.  Let’s look at a few of the most common…

Difficult, costly maintenance

According to a Deloitte survey from 2018, 57% of an enterprise’s IT budget goes to operational support, while only 16% goes to innovation.  It is possible that you are spending far more than 57% of your IT budget on supporting maintenance if your business relies heavily on legacy technology.  Archaic software languages – such as COBOL – are becoming increasingly difficult to support, as many programmers with knowledge of such languages are retiring.  With anything in life, rare means expensive, and the cost of finding and recruiting those with the necessary skills is only likely to increase.

Unreliable, hard-to-maintain systems are also risky from a business continuity perspective.  In the event of a business-critical issue, you may find it difficult to find personnel with the niche skills and experience necessary to restore your applications.  As a consequence, critical business functions may be out-of-action for an extended period, resulting in revenue loss.

Siloed data

In today’s world, cross-app integration and information mobility are taken for granted.  Apps and platforms typically support cross-party integration by default, and the cloud enables location-independent access to information resources.

Meanwhile, many legacy systems were developed in an era when enterprise mobility was severely limited and big data wasn’t really a thing.  In response, countless standalone platforms were created, housing data in isolated silos that were only accessible by specific hardware and unable to integrate with external applications.  It is difficult to leverage data housed in legacy platforms, since native information processing capabilities are often limited, and cross-platform integration requires complex and expensive technical expertise. 

Often, manual handling is the only option: relaying data manually between platforms.  The time and cost associated with such activities are a serious productivity drain, especially when newer platforms allow for automation.

Brand perception and employee satisfaction

The fact is, many legacy systems don’t look good.  When legacy programmes use outdated interfaces and lack aesthetic embellishment, they may portray your organization as worn-out and unreceptive to innovation.  The use of such technology could also negatively impact employee perceptions of your company, particularly if they come from an environment where more modern solutions are used.

The use of old-fashioned systems can also frustrate and dishearten end users. Unresponsive infrastructure can hinder your team’s ability to be productive due to slow, buggy interfaces and hard-to-understand information.  It can also be embarrassing when legacy technology fails when employees need it most.

Conclusion

Maintaining outdated legacy applications could be a fool’s errand due to compromised security and productivity risks. 

New technologies offer solutions to many of these issues, but we know that significant operational changes can be challenging.  With infrastructure-lite technologies and intuitive platforms that require almost no end-user training, replacing legacy applications with newer solutions is often much easier than imagined.  Contact us and let us help you find alternatives to legacy technology that will spearhead your digital transformation.