You're facing a legacy system upgrade dilemma. How do you balance innovation with stability?

Poor system performance. Inefficient system resources negatively impact productivity and customer performance. Technical debt. Legacy systems usually rely on outdated hardware and software, making the support challenging. Compliance issues. Systems may also require migration due to compliance reasons. Security vulnerabilities. Outdated security protocols, lack of security updates from the vendor, or a high risk of data breaches are signs that the current system needs an upgrade. High maintenance costs. In some cases, supporting and maintaining outdated systems is more expensive than migrating them to new ones.

Future-proof your upgrade by aligning it with long-term goals and involving diverse teams to ensure both current needs and future growth are addressed.

Never build something that there isn't a present need for. Technology systems change so fast now the old way of building around a platform that slowly grows with your client is no longer a relevant strategy for long term stability. Instead assess current need and poll the current marketplace to determine the best long term performing system with the highest quality and support reputation. Price is irrelevant if a system cannot be relied upon.

It is difficult to strike a balance between innovation and stability while upgrading legacy systems. A phased approach, which divides the upgrade into manageable phases, parallel testing, risk assessment, data migration strategy, user training, continuous monitoring and evaluation, modernization tools such as containers, cloud migration, and a hybrid approach, which maintains both legacy and new systems concurrently during transitions, as well as gradual replacement of components with modern alternatives. These measures assist keep the system functioning, maintain its efficacy, and reduce hazards.

If the legacy system is needed and can't be upgraded due to business constraints. Airgapping the machine or network segregation works really well. You get to keep access to the software but not lose out on any licence agreements on legacy software 😀

One aspect that is missing in the description of planning here, is the planning for getting the IT processes and business practices right while implementing your IT project: one must think about how to ensure full business ownership of the new application or the new platform, and how to organize and embed all ITIL management practices in the IT organization when the project has been delivered. Otherwise we only risk replacing the legacy systems of yesterday and today by the legacy systems of tomorrow.

Planing is a critical step. Learn the market and trends, align between you company ability to the complexity of the system. Get help if you are not sure.

When developing a plan it is very important to ensure that you Integrate agile methodologies into your upgrade roadmap, allowing flexibility to adapt to unexpected challenges while keeping stakeholders engaged and informed for seamless execution

Um planejamento é crucial quando se trata de atualização. O tech lead ou um outra pessoa com bastante experiência deve fazer uma POC da atualização desejada para se ter um ideia do trabalho que isso pode dar. Muitas vezes mesmo com todo cuidado imprevistos podem acontecer. Uma migração que fiz de versão de JBoss uma vez funcionou no ambiente local e de homologação, mas em prod não funcionou com o balanceamento, e foi necessário replicar todo o ambiente com toda a infra (balanceamento e proxy reverso) pra tentar ver outras opções de configuração e poder chegar no ambiente de prod com opções e escolher o que funcionava.

Incremental change sounds good but, in many real-life situation, users will only use the new system if there is a 'hard' migration strategy: that means the old way of working, and the old systems, need to be replaced by the new way of working, and the new system or platform that makes that possible. In such scenario, incremental change is neither desirable nor possible.

As the project manager I mostly Adopt a phased approach to change, enabling real-time learning and adjustment, which ensures smoother integration and sustained system stability while ensuring users needs are resolved well

Projetos tem muitas dependências e as vezes uma mudança incremental não é possível, cada caso é um caso. Se é possível dividir, talvez essa seja de fato uma melhor saída. Tipo, quando tive que fazer uma migração de versão e distribuição do Java (do & da Oracle para o 8 do OpenJDK) e do JBoss da 6.4 para a 7.1 eu fiz separado em 2 etapas.

Incremental change will not be a good solution for replacement of the legacy system which has been in use for a long time and due to facing many problems, challenges and shortcomings in the present system where altogether new hardware or software is desired which is very much different from the existing legacy system.

From my own experience, I would say that user resistance - and its complement: user acceptance - is, by far, the most underestimated risk of IT projects. Many IT projects fail not because they aren't technologically sound (most of them are technologically sound), but because they do not respond to the real needs of the business.

When implementing a new solution it very key to embed risk management in every phase of the upgrade, turning potential threats into opportunities for strengthening system resilience.

Risk management during a legacy system upgrade is all about anticipating the unexpected. In my experience, a critical area that often gets overlooked is the impact on upstream and downstream systems that rely on the legacy system’s data. You can identify many of these dependencies upfront, but the reality is, some will only surface during testing and implementation. Suddenly, users from unexpected places will emerge, needing data that was missed in initial planning. Be ready to pivot quickly and find ways to supply that data to avoid disruptions. It's all part of the process!

É necessário fazer um levantamento de riscos, analisando os impactos. Por isso é importante uma POC por uma pessoa experiente no negócio e na tecnologia.

To reduce the risks ensure the new legacy system upgrade will address fully not only all the present needs but also those that may arise in the near future. Take full measures to test and check all the needs are properly met by the new upgrade of the legacy system. Have alternatives ready in case any major problems arise after the upgrade of the legacy system in the company.

When adopting a new system, as the project manager I ensure that I empower the team with proactive training and support, making them champions of the upgrade and ensuring seamless adoption

Training is key, but don't forget about organizational change management. In addition to teaching the application itself, it’s essential to address how the upgrade changes the way people work. Legacy system upgrades often bring uncertainty, and it's important to engage staff early. In my experience, getting the team involved in the process and highlighting the benefits can help build excitement and ease apprehension. When people understand the “why” behind the change and feel supported, adoption becomes much smoother. It’s all about building confidence and enthusiasm for what's ahead!

Training all the concerned staff about the critical aspects arising as a result of the changes due to the upgrade in the legacy system is very critical and important. Extensive training is needed during transition and also post upgrade stage to ensure smooth functioning and avoid project delays and loss of revenue arising due to the above transition.

Após a atualização é possível que algumas partes do sistema parem ou funcionem de forma incorreta, então é preciso deixar no planejamento um tempo dedicado a manutenção corretiva de urgência, e até um plano de rollback para uso em casos extremos.

Understand the limitations and strengths of your legacy system. Identify areas that need improvement and those that are crucial for daily operations. Ensure that the modernization aligns with the organization’s strategic goals. If rapid innovation and scalability are priorities, a full system replacement might be necessary. Consider an incremental approach to modernization. Develop a robust migration strategy that addresses potential risks. Make sure that new technologies are compatible with the existing system. Weigh the costs of modernization against the benefits. Prepare your team for the transition. After implementation, continuously monitor the system’s performance.

As mentioned earlier, this monitoring and adapting to the new legacy system upgrade is essential especially to avoid loss of revenue and smooth running of the business without much problem.