So, you have a mission critical software application that is starting to show its age a bit? If you’re wondering if now is the right time for an upgrade, use these questions to help you determine when to upgrade that legacy software application.
- Do your current users hate it?
Never underestimate the value of user acceptance. It doesn’t just affect the direct success of the project. When users dislike your business software, it can slow down your onboarding process for new employees. It can even go so far as to influence employee retention.
- Are there features which were not completed or are still under development?
This one is directly proportionate to the age of a project. An older project with a lot of unfinished work could be a sign that the project has not gone as efficiently or effectively as you might have hoped.
- Is any part of the application obsolete (as defined by the author or publisher of that language/technology no longer offering support)?
This one is tough because technology moves so quickly that it can feel like a never-ending battle to stay current. Look at the real impact obsolescence may play in your situation. A lack of updates and fixes could lead to security issues. Lack of support could hinder development team.
- Does your application fail to run or run poorly on modern hardware, operating systems or browsers?
There’s not much to say on this one as the question speaks for itself.
- Are any of the original developers still on your staff or on contract?
Whether you have an internal development team or one that works on contract, over time that original crew develops a sort of tribal knowledge if you will about the application. There is a level of insight that the original framers of an application have naturally which can be difficult to transfer as new developers are added.
- Is there any technology employed in the application which your staff has no expertise with?
Who wants to learn old stuff?
- Are you one of the last organizations with expertise in the technology used in your application?
Maybe you are the exception. Perhaps you are immune to turnover. If so, you will happily maintain your staff and won’t ever need to hire another developer. For the rest of us, finding new talent to work on old tech is not an easy task. Lucky for you, this is Ticomix. At Ticomix our developers love taking what’s old and making it new.
Contact Ticomix and our experts can help you tackle the difficult task of upgrading that legacy business application.