The Incremental Approach to Legacy Modernization

Legacy systems are the main barrier to digital transformation and its subsequent benefits. Over a third of CIOs say that they:

• Rely too heavily on legacy systems.
• Have an overly complex technological infrastructure.
• Have difficulty in managing and extracting intelligence from data.  
• Lack necessary IT expertise within the organization.  

But digital transformation has become a loaded phrase. It is an umbrella that covers a broad range of modernization activities. It also speaks to the absolute necessity for businesses to upgrade, improve, or retire legacy systems in order to gain competitive advantage, remain agile in a sometimes-volatile market, and position itself for a dynamic future. Digital transformation is no longer a luxury or a “nice-to-have” plan; it’s not an “if”, but a “when” for all businesses across all industries.  

But when all the potential modernization activities are compiled, they can appear as a daunting mountain that some business and IT leaders avoid out of sheer overwhelm. But it doesn’t need to be that way. In fact, it can’t be that way.  

Modernization for enterprise organizations is a marathon, a long journey that requires commitment to an end goal, focus, and consistency. But most importantly it requires action. And just like a marathon, modernization can be approached a step at a time, and there are many factors to consider when choosing the best route for your business goals, including:  

• Cost and effort  
  The cost of replacing your entire infrastructure and tech stack is high and the replacement also causes constraints on time, resources, and business as usual process.  
   
• Technical specifications
  Legacy systems are resistant by nature to modern technologies that didn’t exist when they were implemented. Being built with obsolete technology adds to difficulty.
   
• Integrations
  Having various capabilities and apps that require differing integrations demands significant customization, which can be complex and time-consuming.  

• Business interruption
  Some legacy systems ensure continuity in the operations, so finding a way to modernize without impeding business as usual can be tricky.  

Why the Incremental Approach?

There is more than one path toward modernization, and one way is to approach legacy system modernization in more digestible steps, but steps that also provide quickly realized benefits without having to undertake the full project from the start. This iterative approach is one that is helpful to organizations particularly concerned with cost, assessment in prioritization, and business continuity.

An incremental approach can help leaders across the business begin to work together to iteratively make changes that create positive impact. IT Teams may push to retain some legacy systems, with a fear that trying to replace their monolith too quickly could end in more issues without proper longtail strategy. IT also has concerns around replacing systems that support a business function but don’t drive significant revenue; if a replacement is necessary, most IT leaders will push for one that is a low-risk solution.  

 Business teams, on the other hand, are concerned that any type of legacy modernization will have impact on business operations, with interruptions or potentially costly downtimes. It time-consuming to update models in legacy systems, and the gaps between teams may slow down product improvement and modification.

The Incremental Solution

Leveraging an incremental approach to legacy modernization is a dependable way to drive greater results with significantly less risk. The Cognizant and Coherent Life Legacy Calculation Engine Modernization Accelerator is a portable and easy-to-manage solution that provides businesses an alternative path to managing legacy system modernization by providing your team a way to convert Excel logic into APIs and modernize how critical data is managed.  

By rehosting or retiring legacy systems, businesses can:  

• Reduce costs and increase efficiency  
  This solution provides a fast logic management process that eliminates 80% of development time on core systems after the first product in the product family is launched.
  
• Improve customer experiences  
  This incremental approach is an easier way to manage your legacy modernization solution with lower cost, bigger business impacts, and more flexibility.
  
• Elevated risk management and compliance
  with versioning, governance, and control capabilities   

Make the “when”, now

With an incremental approach through the Cognizant and Coherent Life Legacy Calculation Engine Modernization Accelerator, your organization can start taking steps toward a more agile and innovative future. Reach out to us or out to a Cognizant expert today to begin a discussion around your unique business needs.