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A legacy system is an outdated and increasingly obsolete technology that is still being used. It may include methods or technology which are no longer relevant in the current context and may hinder or complicate the understanding of the methods or technologies used in the current scenario. In the reference of IT, the term refers to old software, including operating systems, apps, libraries, and even programming languages.
Other terms for “legacy systems” are:
There are countless examples of legacy systems. Some are:
There are many reasons why companies still use legacy systems to fulfill their operational tasks.
Based on the reasons mentioned above, there are two types of organizations that legacy software is more prevailing:
The most common way legacy systems affect organizations is by interfering with their productivity, efficiency, and security levels. Legacy systems imposed limitations on how an organization functions. Besides, when a legacy system is put under pressure, it can also prevent the correct functioning of an organization as a whole.
Take government agencies, for example. Earlier this year, It was reported that 12 US states still relied on unemployment support software that was built on ancient COBOL code. The systems were functioning, but the unforeseen event of the COVID-19 outbreak dragged them to the ground. With unemployment reaching the sky, these legacy pieces of software were quickly overrun by the sudden spike of traffic and requests.
As a result, thousands of people found themselves struggling to access the system that was supposed to provide their unemployment benefits. It exposed the “legacy” status of these systems like cumbersome, inefficient, and virtually impossible to update. Eventually, the problem became so pressing that private companies stepped up to help fix the problem.
The two main risks connected with leaving behind a legacy system tend to be the following -
Both situations are equally dreadful, and it is always advised that such changes take place under the technical team and the organization’s leadership overview.
For smaller organizations, moving past legacy systems is an achievable goal in the short term. There are plenty of new software alternatives for SME’s that are easy to onboard, test, and replace.
Larger organizations, on the other hand, face a different kind of drastic change when it comes to legacy system migrations. In their case, everything starts with four major steps:
It is also necessary to pay special attention to staff training and system maintenance costs, as these can especially have an impact on resources. The whole process takes several months to prepare, and it requires strong leadership and full-fledged inspection from technical teams’ at several points.
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