Completely scrapping legacy systems is rarely a good solution. Legacy applications often contain critical structures and unique business expertise that must be preserved. IT service provider Avision explains which aspects of legacy systems are worth preserving.
They are difficult to maintain, expensive to run and often stand in the way of innovation: companies view legacy applications as a burden and would like to get rid of them. But beware: not everything about legacy systems is dispensable per se. They often contain critical structures and business processes that should be preserved. The IT service provider Avision specialises in the modernisation of legacy applications and highlights where companies need to look more closely:
1. User interfaces
People are creatures of habit and react sensitively to change. New user interfaces can therefore cause major difficulties. They often require significant training effort, and even technically superior interfaces frequently fail due to a lack of user acceptance. However, this does not mean that companies should leave the interfaces untouched. They should simply not be radically changed, but rather adapted in a targeted manner. This allows efficiency gains to be achieved that significantly outweigh the costs of the transition.
2. Interfaces
Most legacy applications are not isolated systems, but part of complex IT landscapes: they communicate continuously with other applications and systems via interfaces. Changes to these often have a direct impact on the connected IT landscape and can result in significant follow-on costs. Instead of simply replacing interfaces, new versions should be introduced in parallel and different data formats supported simultaneously. This ensures that the connected systems remain as stable as possible.
3. Processes
Some processes in legacy systems contain unique know-how that has grown over decades and forms the basis of companies’ competitive advantages. They deserve special protection because they represent a key success factor, even if they are not always modern. The switch from a proprietary legacy application to standard software can therefore pose a significant risk, as it robs companies of their individual strengths and can thus weaken them decisively.
4. Certifications
In highly regulated sectors such as the pharmaceutical industry, medical technology, aviation or the financial sector, software solutions are often certified. The certification processes required for this are extremely time-consuming and costly. It therefore often makes sense not to replace such solutions entirely, but to keep the certified core systems stable and to design modernisation steps on top of or around them. Modernisation should not jeopardise existing certifications.
“Not everything that is old is automatically worth preserving. At the same time, however, not everything that is modern is automatically better,” explains Nadine Riederer, Managing Director at Avision. “Companies must determine for themselves what has genuine value and is critical to their success – and where preserving the status quo stands in the way of necessary further development. A good legacy strategy preserves what is valuable and modernises in a targeted manner.”
This press release is also available at www.pr-com.de/de/avision.
Press contact
Avision GmbH
Christina Karl
Marketing
Bajuwarenring 14
D-82041 Oberhaching
Phone +49-89-623037-967
christina.karl@avision-it.de
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Melissa Gemmrich
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