How to migrate your Legacy System to a New Technology?

High-tech software systems created with a superb technological stack become obsolete over time, regardless of how large or small a firm is. If you have a comparable legacy system that you want to transfer to a modern technology, this blog will assist you answer all of your Legacy System Migration queries.

Legacy System

Legacy Systems are outmoded pieces of technology, hardware, or software that may still be used in the day-to-day operations of an organization because they fulfil a critical role. However, this might be a barrier to your company’s success & future growth because: –

• Legacy systems could be underperforming.
• They lack adequate maintenance and support,
• Result in delays in business upgrades and enhancements.
• Pose a threat to the company’s workflow efficiency and data security.

Legacy System Migration

A legacy system migration occurs when an organization transitions from obsolete software, platforms or applications to a new sophisticated technology with enhanced functionality that matches its business needs.

The Legacy System Migration is divided into two: –

1. Lift and Shift Migration

It is managed by the organization’s information technology department. Lift and Shift Migration entails shifting the app and its associated data to the cloud without rebuilding the app. When systems fail to work correctly, become outdated, or new technologies are introduced, software engineers often use this technique.

2. Business Transformation

Providing timely legacy application conversion services can help companies stay ahead of the curve with the latest technologies, proactively overcome any technical hurdles and deliver exceptional user experiences.

Benefits of Legacy System Migration

When it comes to legacy system migration, there are several advantages. The main advantage is that it may help the organization stand out among its competitors by boosting productivity and work quality.

Furthermore, outdated software is incompatible with new systems, so if the organization continues to use it, it will face a number of issues, including malfunctioning, cybercriminal assaults owing to inadequate security measures, high maintenance and support costs and a lack of accessible upgrades.

Options Available for Legacy Migration

Legacy Migration Options are: –

• Application Rehosting

Lift and shift is another term for rehosting. Without modification, an application is transferred from on-premises to the cloud. This method is typically used to move large-scale applications in order to fulfil specific business goals, such as launching a product faster or exiting an on-premises data Centre.

• Application Replatforming

Legacy apps are migrated to the cloud with just modest changes in a re-platforming method. As a result, it is more secure and scalable. This is a less expensive approach than reworking, but developers should minimize code changes and focus on cloud-native and open-source features. This is the best solution when you want to cut costs while getting a good return on investment.

• Application Refactoring/Rearchitecting

Refactoring involves redesigning the app’s overall architecture and business logic in order to better its design model, database utilization and coding methodologies. During this time, the app’s functioning and user experience will not be jeopardized. Complete optimization of the cloud is also required to maximize its capabilities.

Businesses should choose this strategy when they are ready to make the full transition to a cloud-native architecture. Changing the codebase will make it easier to maintain, update and perform better. In comparison to the previous two approaches, this one necessitates a greater degree of Skilled Professionals as well as a financial and time investment.

What Are the Steps to Migrate Legacy Systems?

Here are some steps which Companies need to follow when Migrating Legacy applications to a New Technology:

1. SWOT Analysis

SWOT Analysis is essential for identifying the Migration Process’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Through conducting such an analysis, you can strategically plan not only the technical aspects but also the business components.

2. Evaluate the Existing Infrastructure

It is critical to assess and comprehend the current infrastructure and legacy systems. Investigate the inputs, outputs and reactions while interacting with a black-box system. For white-box apps with transparent functionality, reverse engineering can be beneficial.

This assessment of processes, apps and so on will encompass network design, performance needs, related infrastructure and availability.

3. Development of Migration Strategy

After doing a SWOT analysis and evaluating existing infrastructure, it is time to build a migration strategy based on the possibilities presented above. Choose the Migration Strategy that best meets your company goals and expected budgets, but keep in mind that Application Replatforming and Application Refactoring have minor migration challenges and may incur additional expenditures.

You must pick which components or functionality to move first when migrating old software in components rather than the entire program in one go.

4. Build Application Infrastructure

After choosing the migration strategy, some applications can be migrated with just a lift and shift of software applications without much additional work. While others will require figuring out which components to migrate first, rearchitecting, etc.

All of the computational and operational infrastructure necessary for enterprise application deployment, management and development is included in the application infrastructure.

There is no common model for Application Infrastructure Design. Developers create the application infrastructure that supports the application’s specific features, capabilities and needs. Servers, data storage, networking, application monitoring, logging and security services are among the components that comprise an application’s infrastructure.

The infrastructure required to support an application is determined by its functionality and architecture. To identify different services inside the application and how they interact, many developers utilize a layered application architecture model.

It is imperative to create a backup of your system so that you can roll back to the previous system if anything goes wrong during the migration.

5. Run and Test Pilot Migration

A trial migration allows you to test your plan and determine whether your system upgrade is satisfactory to users. A pilot migration will take time due to user and performance testing, as well as quality assurance, but it will help minimize potential issues during migration.

6. Migrate Legacy System Incrementally

As a result of the evaluation and planning, it is now time to undertake Legacy System Migration. However, before beginning the migration process, make a backup of your data to avoid losing anything during the migration. After migration, you should additionally test the system to ensure that it fulfils user needs, safe and compliant.

7. Manage new Cloud Infrastructure

Following the migration of legacy systems to the cloud, a thorough analysis of the newly developed software system needs to be performed including an overview of the cloud infrastructure. You may utilize a variety of key performance metrics, including compliance, rework and lag time between process stages. It might aid in the comparison of your new application to the legacy application.

Why don’t more Companies Migrate Legacy Applications?

Many businesses are still hesitant to move their legacy applications since it is a time-consuming and expensive procedure. Companies must also ensure that the transition is seamless and that there is no disruption, leading to a poor User experience.

Another reason why businesses continue to use legacy applications is because their old system still performs day-to-day operations and feel no need to replace it. The firm is not prepared to deal with any disruptions in its business processes and it is concerned about the System’s development and replacement costs.

Challenges of a Legacy System Migration

When it comes to Legacy System Migration, there are several obstacles that businesses must address before proceeding.

1. Budget

When it comes to legacy system migration, the most essential factor is the budget. A company must determine the whole cost of the migration procedure and compare it to the projected budget. If it is within the budget, the company can proceed with the migration process.

2. Time Management

Consider other processes while planning the migration process since moving the old system takes time and other processes must be temporarily paused until the migration process is completed. So, if the organization is going through a critical process, it is advisable to complete that first before proceeding with the System Migration Process.

3. User Acceptance

When users use a legacy system for a long period, they become accustomed to it. So, Companies need to consider that the new system should be easy to adapt for the users and user experience shouldn’t get disrupted.

4. Data Migration

Data has become more crucial to every individual and organization in the 21st century. As a result, it is critical that the organization maintains data backups in the legacy system while simultaneously developing a comprehensive migration plan.

5. Dependency Bottlenecks

Dependents such as software & hardware users are either directly or indirectly linked to the old system. You can discover the dependencies by shutting down the software. You can keep track of any notifications that come your way. When you migrate the program, you may therefore ensure that the dependent software is properly migrated.

6. Post Migration Preparation

There are challenges and risks which can occur post-migration. Even if you implemented the migration process carefully there is a chance that the system might not work. A simple way to prevent the process from occurring is to prevent it from happening in the first place.

Make sure the business has a backup or continuity strategy in place and a contingency map to avoid this from happening. This will not only stop mishaps from happening in the future, but it will also help fix post-migration problems.

Conclusion

The biggest risk to any company’s expansion is keeping out-of-date legacy software, that no longer complements it’s business growth. Although legacy system migration might be daunting, it is essential for the expansion and future prospects of the firm. To ensure successful business continuity and delivery of business services, you must do it right the first time with minimum expenses and effort.

To execute this crucial process of legacy system relocation and modernization, we advise you to work with a professional and competent group of software engineers. To seamlessly migrate your old software to newer technologies, Softlabs Group can provide you the best developers in the business.