That new project submission deadline is looming. Yes that one!

You’re on top of things, or so you think. Then, as if from nowhere, a roadblock pops up in your organisation’s IT software system and that all evaporates before your very eyes!

What has happened?

It’s just one prime example of how “legacy applications” can bite you in the proverbial!

How do you define a legacy app? In typical IT fashion, if you ask 3 people you will get 4 different answers…

Such apps may have originated from a vendor supplier, in-house, an application not running in the most current version of a platform’s operating system….or it’s just decrepit!

It has been there so long in the background that no one knows what to do with it or what it actually does, but they’re anxious not to remove it in case it destabilises the entire system, taking a whole tranche of other more vital apps down with it.

So what can we do about them?

Do not underestimate the sheer volume of such legacy apps in your IT systems; or how much it might actually cost you to get rid of them – not only in terms of hard cash but also valuable time better spent on other tasks.

Yet, doing nothing is not the answer as these applications can, at worst, cripple a system altogether. Time to mitigate the risk factor…by discovering and documenting the existing state of the application, you can work out the options open to you, then devise a plan to to ensure that your application is back to meeting the demands of your business.

So, we’re stuck in this cycle of old applications and infrastructure driving a path of change that detracts us from delivering our focussed business projects?

NO! We can remediate the situation by utilising your organisation’s cloud strategy (we all have one by now) onto sharing infrastructure and adopting a policy of maintenance as fundamental components of a broader strategy.

Here, a blend of internal and external resources can act as a good way forward delivering a robust and lasing solution. The legacy conundrum never completely goes away but it CAN be contained and proactively managed.

That’s it sorted then?

In the meantime: what do you mean the deadline has been brought forward?!?