Legacy Software and Support
Legacy software is potentially problematic as it can be hard to
maintain, improve and expand due to a general lack of understanding
of the system; the staff who were experts on it have often either
left the company or forgotten what they knew about it, staff who
entered the field after it became "legacy" never learned about it
in the first place. This can be worsened by lack, or loss of
documentation. Integration with newer systems may also be difficult
because new software may use completely different technologies.
Despite the many problems that arise, businesses can have
compelling reasons for keeping a legacy system, such as:
- The cost of redesigning the system can be very expensive.
- The system is highly business critical and any down time costs
the business money.
- The system is complex and not well understood i.e. the original
developers have left or the documentation is lost.
- The software still works efficiently and the owner sees no
reason for changing it.
Legacy Support
If the reasons for keeping a legacy system outweigh the need for
replacement, then it is possible for such software to be maintained
& supported.
At MSM we have been at the forefront of supporting and
maintaining legacy technologies, particularly Delphi, and have
built a team of developers who have many years experience of it
plus an ISO 9001
certified process for learning and supporting systems written
in legacy technologies. This has been so successful we have the
UK's only Delphi
Centre of Excellence. Our team are hugely experienced using all
versions of Delphi from 1 to 2009 as well as the commonly
associated tools and databases.
Outsourcing the development or maintenance of your Delphi
solution or some other legacy technology will reduce your costs and
give you access to a highly experienced team in our Delphi Centre
of Excellence not matched anywhere. It is unusual to find teams who
are equally capable and willing to develop new solutions or support
and maintain systems written by other people.
Further
Reading
Enquire about
support of your legacy system Read about SharePoint, a technology that is
replacing many legacy systems.
