Legacy Modernization

Johnston McLamb has a long history of helping clients upgrade their systems to take advantage of newer technologies, significantly reducing the cost of maintenance, support, and enhancements. Because our services deliver greatly increased flexibility and adaptability to change, previously impractical or impossible system modifications can be implemented. And modernization frees up IT resources so more focus can be dedicated to innovation and new systems.

What Is It

Legacy modernization is the practice of updating old legacy systems that use outdated technologies so you can take advantage of newer, more robust and efficient technologies. Studies show that about 75% of total IT investments go to maintenance instead of new systems. With only 25% of the IT budget available for new projects, organizations find it very difficult to innovate and align IT effectively with their business goals.

Frequently, the target of legacy modernization is mainframe-based systems that utilize outdated technology and databases or no database at all. Client-server systems are also candidates for legacy modernization. Maintenance of these older systems is increasingly more difficult for many reasons. There are fewer users with mainframe skills, and as they retire, they're not being replaced. Most old legacy systems are not adequately documented, and many years of changes have made it nearly impossible to make new changes and adequately test them. And vendors increasingly drop support for older technologies.

Our Approach

Johnston McLamb employs a proven approach to legacy modernization:

  • Identify systems that are candidates for modernization.
  • Conduct an analysis of mainframe applications or other applications that need upgrading. The analysis includes the Johnston McLamb Technology Assessment, including documentation of issues and problems with the system, level of effort required for support and maintenance, needs for future expansion, and risks of doing nothing.
  • Recommend what to do next. Examples include: do nothing, move the existing application to a lower-cost platform, replace the application with a COTS product, or redevelop the application with newer technology.
  • Provide an estimate of the cost of the recommended approach, time required, risks, and benefits.
  • Work with the customer to take the necessary actions. This which might involve full life cycle development or COTS integration.