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Legacy systems arose as a result of past mergers, restructuring, or strategic investment decisions. As businesses grow and expand, the inflexibility of these systems is holding their adaptation to new technologies like mobility and the cloud. While obsolete and costly to manage, they are expensive to replace and often involve extensive processes, leaving their current users clinging to them.
Triggers of IT Simplification
The most common pain-points that trigger IT simplification are high maintenance cost, inflexibility, and lack of responsiveness of old architectures and processes. The relentless chase in reducing costs and improving agility are hampering business growth.
The pressure on IT leaders to be proactive innovators is real. Their job is not just to keep the data center running but to help drive growth with innovative technology solutions and a good use of what mobility and the cloud can offer.
Competitive pressure is also an area that needs to be addressed as customers are given more and more choices. IT systems must be flexible enough to meet the changing demands of highly mobile customers. This is an age where people want to know where they can get what they want anytime-- wherever they may be.
Business partner requirements, mergers, and acquisitions are also complex issues that a flexible IT system should address. This can attract potential investors, have a positive impact on your business in the investment market, and add value to your brand.
A Business-Oriented Path to IT Simplification
Effective IT simplification calls for a shift in business products and needs. The legacy integration solution that CIOs choose must be able to support their redefined business models and needs. The options are varied. They can be licensed application software or cloud solutions. CIOs need to have a clear view of the elements that can be integrated into new architectures and operating platforms and then consider the following steps:
1. Eliminate infrastructure and applications of discontinued products and processes.
2. Move data and processes from the legacy system to a temporary set.
3. Modernize the architecture with new technology components.
4. Apply full migration to the new platform that supports your new business products and needs.
In a fully networked environment, businesses need to be able to adapt to new technology for more relevant connectivity within and outside their organizations. The most effective strategy to IT simplification is to redefine business needs and product sets before starting integration.