What are Legacy Systems and 6 Reasons to Avoid It

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In this article, you will learn about what are legacy systems, along with examples. Moreover, by the end of the article, you will know the disadvantages of using these systems in your business. 

What Are Legacy Systems?


Legacy systems are outdated computing hardware or software that many companies still use. But, since it is an older technology, they cannot complement or integrate with the modern systems. 

What are Legacy Systems with Examples


Dell research reveals that 70% of federal organizations use outdated IT infrastructure to run essential applications. 


That sounds true because if you look at the past, you see many cases of technological incompetency. The most notable legacy system example of failure is when the COVID-19 pandemic hit the US. There was a sudden rise in unemployment, and unfortunately, the US employment legacy systems couldn’t handle a profuse number of cases. 


Why? Because the unemployment systems were developed on a language more than 40 years old, called COBOL. The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment’s spokesperson admitted that the department was migrating to modern technology and away from legacy systems. But it was too late then. And not only Colorado, California, Kansas, Alaska, and 8 other US states were also affected due to relying on legacy systems. 

What are Legacy Systems Drawbacks?


Legacy systems can be the reason for a myriad of issues, such as:

1. Legacy Systems Need Expensive Maintenance

All IT infrastructure requires upkeep, but the cost of maintaining legacy systems is high. Whether you’re using legacy banking systems, legacy POS systems, or legacy systems in healthcare, maintenance is comparatively expensive. 


Since the hardware and software have become outdated, legacy systems suppliers only provide premium and costly support. Moreover, reconfiguring and fixing these systems are complex and require hiring expert engineers with legacy systems familiarity at a high cost.

2. Compliance Issue is Common in Legacy Systems

Businesses must comply with the respective states' and countries' set policies and regulations. But, it gets quite challenging for an application based on a legacy system to adhere to the rules because of outworn technology. 

3. Legacy Systems have Unscalable Infrastructure

You can’t grow your business by relying on legacy systems, as they cannot capture data. Remember, a large number of data flows into organizations when they are in the scalability process. So, these outdated systems act as obstacles in the data flow, restricting your company from expanding further. Therefore, you must think of ways to legacy application modernization.

4. Legacy Systems Increase Security Risks Everyday

With time, businesses are more at risk of becoming a victim of cyber crimes. Incidents like data breaches are now more common than ever. Unfortunately, legacy systems provide minimum to no protection against cyber attacks. And because they consist of old technologies, it is easy to trespass them. 


Besides, vendors now offer systems with the latest technology and frequent updates. These upgrades help make a robust system enabling you to safeguard your organization from online threats. But in the case of legacy systems, there is no such thing as a technology upgrade and automatic data backup. Once the information is lost, it is nearly impossible to retrieve. 

5. Legacy Systems Cause Data Stuck in Silos

If you are wondering what a legacy system's most common side effect is, the answer would be “data silos.” It means the information remains isolated in specific frameworks, as legacy systems were never meant to integrate with one another. 


So if one of your business departments uses legacy systems, the rest upgrade to new integrated systems. Then, that one particular department will be isolated. As a result, it won’t be able to receive business insights and intelligence, which will be created using integrated systems. So, it is important that you plan for legacy migration to stay ahead of the competition. 

6. Legacy Systems Are Too Slow for the Fast World

One of the biggest problems of using legacy systems is slow speed, which interferes with your overall business process. Legacy software lags and has an extensive loading time. Also, there is no fix for this issue, as there are no updates from the providers. 

Conclusion

It is important that you know what are legacy systems so you can run your business successfully. These outdated programs or hardware components are no longer needed in the modern business world. There are many disadvantages to using legacy systems, such as compliance problems, expensive maintenance, unscalable infrastructure, and more. So, it is essential that you switch to the latest technologies to stay competitive in the business world. 

FAQs - What are Legacy Systems?

Q1. What is a legacy system in ERP?

An ERP which is based on outdated technology is referred to as a legacy ERP system.

Q2. Is Excel a legacy system?

Excel is one of the legacy systems tools which is still used by millions of users and businesses.

Q3. Is SAP a legacy system?

Yes, SAP legacy systems still exist.

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