Legacy Systems Developers | Legacy Infrastucture Developers Nottingham

What is classed as legacy infrastructure?

Legacy infrastructure refers to older systems, hardware and technologies that have likely been part of your organisation for many, many years or in some cases - even decades. They were reliable and effective in their hey day, but as time has gone on, they’ve become outdated, inefficient or difficult (and expensive) to maintain - maybe a combination of them all!

That being said, just because something is legacy doesn’t necessarily mean it’s broken. A legacy system might still work exactly as it did on day one, it’s just built with older technology or methods that no longer align with your modern business needs.

Many organisations still rely on legacy systems because they’re deeply woven into everyday operations. Replacing them can feel daunting and the perceived cost, effort and disruption often outweigh the immediate benefits - at least on the surface.

The risks & issues with legacy infrastructure

Lack of compatibility - Many legacy systems are not compatible with newer technologies, software and/or hardware which can make integration and interoperability challenging if not impossible.
Maintenance issues - Vendor support dries up, documentation disappears and the people who originally set the system up have long since moved on. As a result, finding experts to maintain your legacy tech can becomes both difficult and expensive.
Security risks - Legacy systems are often missing critical security updates, leaving your business open to cyber threats and data breaches - far from ideal in this age of GDPR and constant attacks.
Limited scalability and flexibility - Older systems often lack the scalability and flexibility needed to adapt to changing business requirements or accommodate growth, making innovation slower and more painful than it should be.
Costly - Whilst legacy systems might seem cheaper to keep, the total cost of ownership usually ends up higher due to ongoing maintenance costs, downtime and inefficiencies.

Examples of legacy infrastructure

Traditional on-prem servers that utilise obsolete operating systems & software.
Bespoke legacy software such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Workforce Management (WFM) systems which are devoid of modern features, functionalities and integration capabilities.
Offline filed based systems - Excel, Access, CSV
Ageing networking equipment including routers, switches and firewalls.
Dated telecommunications solutions and the associated infrastructure.
Legacy mainframe computers running outdated software applications.

Addressing the risks and issues associated with your Legacy Infrastructure

If you suspect your legacy systems are becoming more of a liability than an asset, don’t panic - there are structured ways to modernise safely and strategically.

Here’s a simplified version of the approach we use at Cool Code Company when helping businesses transition away from legacy systems.

Depending on your situation, some steps may be reordered or skipped altogether.

Assess & Document - First and foremost, it is imperative to understand what your current environment looks like. A comprehensive assessment of your legacy infrastructure should be undertaken to understand and visualise it's current state, dependencies and limitations. The assessment should include all components, configurations and integration points as this will form the basis of your migration roadmap.
Prioritise - Identify critical systems and components that need immediate attention due to security risks, performance issues or business impact - whatever is more important to you. These elements should be prioritised as the starting point for upgrades or replacements.
Integration - Determine whether there are ways to integrate some of your infrastructure with newer technologies & platforms as this can extend their lifespan and enhance functionality without the cost of replacing the whole lot.
Modernisation - Look at areas you can modernise by gradually replacing or upgrading outdated components with newer, more efficient technologies. This could involve migrating to cloud-based services or virtualising servers for example.
Maintenance and Support - For infrastructure that can't be upgraded, integrated or replaced quickly, ensure that you have adequate support and maintenance plans in place. This may involve contracting with third-party vendors for support services or training internal staff to handle maintenance tasks.
Security - Ensure you have solid security measures in place to protect your legacy infrastructure from cyber threats and vulnerabilities which can be done via regular security assessments, patch management (where available) and access controls.
Backup and disaster recovery - Where possible, implement reliable backup and disaster recovery strategies to mitigate the risk of data loss or downtime in case of system failures or disasters.
Legacy system retirement - Evaluate whether certain legacy systems can be retired or decommissioned if they no longer serve a critical business purpose or if the cost of maintaining them outweighs the benefits of keeping them.

Systems worth keeping in their legacy state

Sometimes, the risks of migrating legacy software systems far outweigh the potential benefits and in these cases, it makes sense to leave them as they are. Here are some common scenarios where you might want to leave your legacy systems well alone -

Archived and/or historical data systems

Old databases or systems that simply store historical data don’t always need to be modernised, providing they’re secure and accessible when needed.

Offline systems

If a system runs completely offline and serves a very specific purpose, modernisation might offer no real advantage.

Business critical systems with severe impact potential

When a legacy system is absolutely critical to operations and replacing it could cause downtime or data loss, maintaining it “as is” may be safer - at least for now.

Low and no change business systems

If a system supports processes that rarely change such as order tracking or inventory management and your team knows it inside out, it might be best left alone until there’s a genuine reason to upgrade.

How can we help?

Here at Cool Code Company, we have helped many of our clients upgrade and replace their legacy systems. We can help you move your systems in a way that suits your situation - maybe you've got the budget to take a big bang approach or maybe you need to do it gradually - we can evaluate your current environment, help create a migration plan based on a risk reduction approach and undertake the migrations for you.

We can also help you to make your legacy infrastructure more robust if you are not able to upgrade or replace it for whatever reason whether that's via integration with newer technology, undertaking maintenance and debugging or securing the infrastructure in another way.

Get in touch today to discuss any concerns you may have about your legacy infrastructure, our UK based experts will be glad to help.

Legacy Infrastructure