Ready to Upgrade Your Legacy System? Here’s What You Need to Know

May 14, 2020

If your organisation is still operating under the same legacy system, now may be the perfect time to take stock of where you are now and where you need to be to support and drive future business growth. Here are the key factors you may need to consider.

Many organisations have IT infrastructure built on legacy hardware and software. But first of all, what is a legacy system? In short, a legacy system is an old method, technology or computer system that is now considered outdated and may even have been inherited from a previous owner. The disadvantages of legacy systems include a lack of functionality (or indeed the opposite — overcomplexity of simple functions), and an inability to integrate with other systems, to mention a few.

Since employees will be used to working in a certain way, often over a period of several years, legacy infrastructure can be tough to part with. This will be especially true if alternative solutions haven’t been thoroughly planned and developed, with a robust plan for implementation.

However, it is essential that your organisation is able to move forward and upgrade to newer technologies to support and drive future business growth as your priorities change and your needs evolve.

The challenge of replacing existing legacy systems

Q Associates’ recent independent IT survey results revealed that upgrading legacy technology solutions is one of the top five major challenges for IT leaders and Technology teams.

Beyond the mechanical challenge and complexity, which will require meticulous precision and technical expertise, getting users onboard rarely happens overnight. Therefore, the further in advance you can introduce the idea of a new system to employees and highlight the benefits is essential to ensure a healthy uptake once implemented.

Interrupting workflow also represents a key challenge, so looking at ways to minimise disruption and improve the user experience while the transformation is taking place is crucial to success.

Replacing legacy systems takes time, so if your business is currently experiencing periods of downtime or reduced staff, this may be an ideal time to make it happen.

What to consider when replacing your legacy IT system

Creating a thorough plan for replacing your legacy system is arguably the most important step of all. Here, you should flesh out what the new system might look like, how it would work, and detail your contingency plan while the work is being carried out.

At this stage, you should also ensure you allocate sufficient IT resources to carry you through this period to prevent hiccups and minimise disruption. Are there additional resources you can hire or staff you can reallocate should the need arise?

When looking at the specifics of the project in more detail, it is worth considering whether data migration is necessary at this stage — as this could significantly lengthen the timeline to project completion. Migrating your data will also require you to implement additional backup and security steps to ensure your information is protected, and can be moved across to the new system safely.

Overall, taking steps to avoid significant downtime throughout the process of upgrading your IT systems will help the project run more smoothly, saving unnecessary time and cost. It’s also worth factoring in additional time to fully embed the new system in your company and allow employees to get used to the change.

How we can help

Without enough time, resources, and expertise, replacing your legacy IT systems yourself can be a challenge. At Q Associates, we specialise in helping to upgrade legacy infrastructure systems, with over 30 years of experience. As an award-winning independent provider of specialist IT solutions and services, we provide technology solutions to customers across the UK and beyond.

We work alongside some of the world’s most innovative technology providers to design, deliver, and support our customers’ critical IT service platforms, across desktops, data centres and clouds.

Our people are what set us apart. With individually certified and accredited technical consultants, our experts are on hand and here to help remove your IT complexity, enable digital transformation and help you meet the ever-evolving demands of your business.

We are proud of the work that we do and would love to discuss your strategic IT priorities and challenges in more detail.

If you would value an independent, specialist view on replacing your legacy IT infrastructure, don’t hesitate to give us a call on 01635 248181 or email info@qassociates.co.uk