You might think that inheriting a legacy is a good thing. Everyone will happily accept a valuable art collection or millions of dollars. However, in the IT world, legacy systems will never be a desirable thing. These systems are actually a burden for your IT infrastructure. In this article, we are going to talk about how legacy systems can slow down your business.
Definition of Legacy Systems:
Legacy systems are simply old or outdated systems that companies are still using. You might be using old computer technology or application. These legacy systems can be very bad for your IT infrastructure.
Most companies think that only old systems are legacy systems. However, you can’t define these systems by age only. A legacy system is actually an obsolete system, application, technology, or process. Thus, these systems can slow down your business growth.
Why are businesses still using legacy systems?
You might be thinking about why businesses are still using these systems. These legacy systems were cool in the last century. Thus, it was a good idea to buy these systems. However, many companies are still sticking with old systems. Some of the reasons are:
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Some legacy systems still work
Many businesses believe that they should use their systems until they are functional. Thus, they are still using legacy systems that are still functional. There is no reason to replace these systems if they are still getting the work done.
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Difficult to replace
It is very difficult to replace custom legacy applications. You need to change the entire code of your applications. Thus, companies are still sticking with legacy applications because they don’t want to start from a stretch.
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Modernization comes with its own risks
Companies don’t want to take any chances by modernizing their systems. Sometimes you can lose your critical data while updating your systems. Also, you need access to a good IT team for updating your systems. Sometimes modernization can be super expensive for businesses. You might need to invest your money into expensive systems and applications.
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Fear of Unknown
Most companies don’t update their systems because they have a fear of change. Thus, they think that it is better to stick with legacy systems. They don’t want to opt for better solutions that are available. Due to this, you will find legacy systems in every industry.
Why Legacy Systems are not good for your business?Â
There are various solutions that will help you in using your legacy systems. However, you can’t use these systems indefinitely. If you are using legacy systems in the long run, then it will hurt your business. Some of the reasons behind this are:
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Security Risk
This might sound weird to you. However, legacy systems are actually not reliable. These systems are prone to security breaches and malware. It is very difficult to find security patches and tools for these legacy systems. Most software vendors abandon their old applications. Also, these systems are non-compliant with the required security standards. These security setbacks will eventually lead to revenue and data loss.
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Legacy systems can lead to dysfunctional workflow and processes
If you are using legacy systems, then you will always work in your constraints. You can’t use the applications that are best for your business. Due to this, you might need to build your applications around old and compromised technology. If you can’t find business processes that are compatible with legacy technology, then you should buy new systems.
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High operational and maintenance costs
Legacy systems are old and outdated. Thus, these systems will fail frequently. It is very expensive to maintain and fix these systems.
The cost will increase as it will become very difficult to find old hardware parts. If you are using old software, then you need to find people that can fix and modify that software. You need to manage the cost of multiple data centers as you can’t connect these systems with the cloud. Thus, you can’t use a cloud platform with legacy systems.
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Data inconsistency
Data is the most important thing for businesses. Businesses need data for making important decisions. However, legacy systems will come with their own challenges. You need to deal with data quality, database architecture, and database design problems. This will result in data redundancies and inconsistencies.
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Talent shortage
You need employees that have special skills for maintaining these legacy systems. It is not easy to maintain these outdated systems. Thus, you might need to provide extensive training to your employees. There is already a shortage of legacy talent in the market.
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Compatibility issues
You need to integrate your legacy systems with the latest business applications. If you don’t have access to flexible systems, then the integration process will become messy. It will become very difficult to implement business flexibility if you are using legacy systems. Your IT department might need to re-code entire applications for your legacy systems.
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Poor performance
The efficiency and performance of your legacy systems will also affect the efficiency and performance of your entire business. Your employees might need to wait for several minutes for lading a simple report. You might think that this is not a big problem but your employees will be losing a lot of valuable time.
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Legacy systems will limit your IT budget
The biggest problem with legacy systems is that they will absorb all your resources. You can’t improve your IT infrastructure without using these systems. The cost of replacing and re-architecting these applications might sound too much to you. However, your legacy systems will actually cost more in the long run.
Conclusion
These are the main disadvantages of using legacy systems. The cost of maintaining these systems will be too much in the long run. Experienced MSPs like Bleuwire can help you in upgrading your systems. They will help you in updating your old and outdated systems. Also, they will help you in integrating your IT with the latest cloud technology. This is the best option for SMBs as they don’t have access to a good IT team. If you need more information regarding legacy systems, then you can contact Bleuwire.
Contact us today to learn about Bleuwire™ services and solutions in how we can help your business.
