3 Strategies for Overcoming Challenges In Legacy Application Modernization
3 Strategies for Overcoming Challenges In Legacy Application Modernization?
The legacy systems powering many organizations today are crucial for day-to-day operations. But, no matter how hard we might want to resist or wish it away, change is inevitable for any business or organization. This means your company’s once new and cutting-edge technology will eventually start showing cracks and no longer provide the needed support it once did. As Sheryl Crow reminded us, a change would do you good, but how might that play out when you’re working to modernize your company’s legacy application??
“Change is inevitable. Growth is optional.” - John C. Maxwell?
Working with many organizations with similar challenges, Mainstream’s software development team gets a front-row seat to the roadblocks these organizations face. We also get to enjoy the fruits of laboring alongside these partners and helping them overcome each situation. In this article, our team shares some of those challenges so your business can keep an eye out for the opportunity to identify solutions more quickly during this transformation.?
Challenge #1: Resist the Urge to McGyver Old Technology
We’re all familiar with the McGyver concept. This could be a great strategy if your organization has a small inconvenience and needs a short-term solution until bigger investments can be made. Oftentimes, the easy way out seems viable. However, at some point, addressing the problem with a long-term, sustainable solution to your technology issues will be necessary.?
Suppose your organization’s technology is not client-facing. In that case, the drive to update your legacy system may not feel too urgent, as the client will never see the older interface or experience the glitches in service. The IT staff may complain about the constant need to patch up software, but there is no external pressure or buy-in for longer-term investment in modernization. Perhaps your organization is adapting to a problem well, but not addressing the root cause of the issue or identifying the true opportunity cost of waiting to modernize your technology.
Why do businesses use quick, short-term fixes for technology issues? This strategy requires low effort and minimal investment to state what may be obvious. Many organizations have not yet felt the strain from years of using these methods for their tech, so the short-term plan they’ve adopted seems to be working for them. It won’t be until their legacy application has a major breakdown that they finally decide to modernize, after costly downtime, data loss or potentially frustrated staff.
Challenge #1 Solution: Invest in Long-Term, Sustainable Technology
For the Arkansas Crime Information Center (ACIC), aging technology was making an unfortunate impact. Costs to maintain the technology were increasing even as there was limited support when the technology failed. ACIC’s software structure was outdated and needed improved documentation to keep up with all the fixes to the current system. The massive amount of information that sits at the heart of ACIC’s organization needed to be processed more efficiently to keep up with the changing times.
ACIC then partnered with Mainstream Technologies to build a sustainable strategy to resolve their technical concerns and stakeholder frustrations. Our team analyzed the current system, interviewed stakeholders and launched ACIC’s criminal history application.
Forrester Consulting performed a third-party assessment of Mainstream’s partnership with the ACIC and the results spoke for themselves:
After investing in long-term technology solutions, businesses can show true ROI in cost and productivity savings. Although, resisting the urge to McGyver is not the only challenge for tech modernization projects.??
Challenge #2: Overcome the Status Quo?
Many businesses struggling to modernize their legacy application must first overcome the pull of the status quo. They are safely sticking with what works for their businesses, knowing some areas could use improvement but are not yet affecting safety or performance. Other organizations may be employing more agile, modern technology, but there is not enough internal or external pressure to drive these organizations toward action.?
The leaders of these organizations may see tech modernization as a lower priority because they simply don’t have the technical experience to envision future opportunities or realize the ROI and stakeholder benefits. When these executives can gain a clearer picture of the project benefits to the organization as a whole, these projects can overcome the status quo hurdle and move into tech modernization projects with gusto.?
领英推荐
What these organizations are missing is the right strategy to envision what their technology modernization project could look like. With the right information and partnering with the right software strategists, then the leadership can see the positive organizational effect this kind of project can bring.
Challenge #2 Solution: Invest in Stakeholder User Experience for the Future
When faced with the realization its technology was stale, the Arkansas Department of Education?(ADE) decided to craft a software strategy to avoid sticking to the status quo and frustrating its stakeholders. The ADE’s main goal was to upgrade its legacy application to a web-based architecture, which would improve collection methods. They needed the upgrade to provide next-day access to district data and reports and to improve the quality of their data, which would eventually be certified after the cycle.?
By partnering with Mainstream, the ADE developed new software with the ability to track progress on a level previously rendered impossible. The ADE received national recognition for the data quality resulting from this tech modernization project.? With the right strategy to guide and support them, the ADE was able to help carve a path for other organizations in their industry for improving both data quality and user experience.?
Challenge #3: Confronting Fears of Potential Risks
Last but not least, the third challenge common with legacy application modernization is confronting the fear of potential risks. Like all capital projects or expenditures, risks for technology modernization projects are not completely avoidable. Many leaders without a tech background might struggle to attempt technology-focused projects for fear of unknown risks they could encounter. These organizations perceive the ROI of staying safe as greater than the ROI of improving their technology solutions.
When risk avoidance is the primary goal, new improvements fall by the wayside. These types of businesses may be those in industries prone to attacks or higher regulations, such as regulatory organizations, healthcare or banking and energy industries. They understand how critical maintaining security is, and therefore proceed cautiously with any technological updates.
When technology starts to show its age, the fear of the resulting damage and losses motivates the organization to transform its legacy systems. Instead of waiting for this crisis, take action to adjust your strategy immediately versus continuing on with older and outdated tools.?
Challenge #3 Solution: Invest in the Efficiency of Critical Safety Stakeholders
The State of Colorado faced a significant risk dilemma when considering changes to software used by the Colorado Office of Community Corrections (OCC), an office within the Criminal Justice division of the Colorado Department of Public Safety. The existing software, known as the Community Corrections Information and Billing system (CCIB), had reached its end of useful service and no longer met the needs of the OCC. The replacement of the CCIB system was considered a Major Project, meaning the project had a specific level of business criticality and manifested either a security risk or an operational risk.?
The system is the central hub within the Office of Community Corrections for transactions of state appropriations for community corrections and the related tracking of important offender programmatic, statistical and demographic data. They chose to work with Mainstream to redesign and replace their legacy software after a six-month-long, nationwide search for vendors. The CCIB was guided through a strategic process allowing them to gain efficiencies while maintaining the strict safety requirements necessary for the organization.?
Want to Craft a Software Strategy That Works for Your Business?
When crafting a strategy for your organization’s legacy application modernization, it is important to acknowledge these challenges and identify which ones your organization may need to overcome. With its many tech modernization projects, Mainstream Technologies works with organizations to truly understand and plan for the technology pitfalls and leadership struggles. Each client will walk through the MainSTREAM six-step strategic process to discover the best software strategy for their organization.?
To start the process, the custom software team conducts a deep dive into your organization's processes to truly understand how best to craft the right solution for your organization. This process is truly an advantage for Mainstream’s tech modernization clients as they identify your goals and objectives. With a generalist background across multiple industries, Mainstream’s team can make connections and suggestions from a vast array of industries, tools and solutions for your business.
Ready to modernize your legacy application and take a proactive step toward organizational efficiency? Reach out to the Mainstream custom software team at?mainstream-custom.com or email [email protected].?