The ONLY way to truly maintain your legacy software…

OK, we’re sure we’re hitting a nerve here when we utter the words “legacy software”…but don’t worry, this post should point you in the right direction to sorting out any legacy woes you might be facing.

At first glance, taking on that legacy system lurking in the corner can seem a bit daunting, but hey, it’s only your company’s legacy solution, which is old, outdated but probably still performing a useful job for somebody…somewhere…right? It can’t be that much of a biggie, surely?

Well, you might be surprised at how many old, outdated systems out there are still serving the public in general; from the huge banking industry to the travel industry to various government bodies, these old systems still play a major role in today’s world.

And it goes even deeper than that, especially when you take into consideration some of the bigger corporations and government organizations out there. You probably had no idea (we didn’t) that the US government spends an annual $36 million (half the annual federal IT budget) maintaining legacy applications and systems (according to a recent survey conducted by MeriTalk and the Unisys Center for Innovation in Government).

Those huge numbers make your proposal to assign Guy the recently hired programmer to “look after” the company’s legacy software a little insignificant…

But we know that still leaves you fairly confused and not exactly frothing at the bit to take on that legacy stuff. And, yes, when you look a little closer, you’ll see it gets worse…

Your software/system was quite probably created with software and tools that are no longer available. This means you’re left with a system that needs updating with old versions of software that are unstable, unsupported, and quite frankly, a headache.
The original personnel who built and maintained the system have, of course, long left the scene of the crime. The problems start when you try to decipher the comments added in the code by Boris and Yossi from years back…

So just how can I turn the maintenance of my company’s legacy software into something a little easier and more enjoyable?

Basically, you have one of two options when maintaining your legacy systems:

Create a team devoted to maintaining your legacy systems.

Hire an outsource team to come in and take responsibility for all things legacy.

At Galil Software we’ve seen various companies attempt to maintain their own legacy systems, and there is one word that sums it up perfectly: expensive. The impact on an organization’s resources can actually get quite staggering, especially if additional development is also required.

And that’s where we come in.

Galil Software has the experience and capacity to take ownership of legacy systems and can provide the perfect solution for any legacy setup. Among our many levels of service and experience, we have become cost-effective experts at:

Building Maintenance services: including the fixing of bugs and producing new builds.
Continuous Development services: including the development of new features, as per the customer request and in line with their business requirements.

The decision on maintaining your legacy system is in your hands – it’s one of mopping sweaty brows OR entrusting your system with experts…

Feel free to contact us if you need further advice or assistance regarding legacy software maintenance.