Legacy migration

Migrating legacy databases to new environments can be a smooth and secure process when appropriately managed with the proper procedures and expertise.

Legacy application migration

Chudovo's legacy software modernization team has the expertise to make the migration successful.

Optimizing core business applications can be challenging, as maintaining outdated software systems can lead to increased costs and security risks. To ensure that your business is resilient and agile, replacing legacy systems with more up-to-date solutions is the best solution.
Legacy system migration can be intimidating, but it is necessary for long-term success. Routine maintenance and training of specialized personnel is expensive and can create compatibility issues and need frequent patches to keep the system running.
By migrating to a more secure and reliable system, you can help your business remain agile, boost resilience, and simplify your legacy systems simultaneously. Plus, you can rest assured that your data will be safe and secure with the transition.

Why should businesses migrate?

Migrating legacy software can help businesses keep up with modern tech trends, effectively face industry challenges, and offer a superior user experience to their clients. Additionally, there are other reasons why companies should opt to upgrade their applications, such as: - Legacy apps may be difficult to scale to support additional features:

Compatibility with modern tools and apps may need to be added.
Mobile device support for legacy apps may be limited.
Old design patterns may lead to low performance.
Outdated design flaws can lead to security risks.

Why Companies are Using Outdated Legacy Systems

There is a tendency to resist change everywhere. The initial discomfort it brings can be off-putting, and it can take a while for us to adjust to the new. Many business owners who rely on the existing system can relate to this. Here are some key reasons they are reluctant to move away from it.

Business Requirements

There is no sense of urgency for a replacement if the current application fulfills its purpose; people are more content with the system they have been using for years and are hesitant to switch. Thus, organizations typically stick with the plan if the existing system can meet the business's needs.

Investment 360

Migrating from legacy systems is a complex and lengthy process and requires an up-front expense. This cost can be off-putting to some companies. However, it is essential to remember that such a change requires professional assistance to execute the shift successfully, which can add to the overall expense. Thus, while the initial investment may be considerable, the result of migrating to the cloud can be highly beneficial.

Legacy System Migration

Over time, working with the same system can lead to it becoming familiar with specific technical issues, and users may need to realize the requirement to switch to a new one. However, various challenges can arise when using the system, like frequent crashes, inadequate backup, difficulty accessing data, or inability to handle many users, all of which can impede the effectiveness of the business.

Business Requirements

Investment 360

Legacy System Migration

The key pillars of legacy migration and digital transformation

Many organizations may find migrating legacy applications to be a daunting or unneeded task. However, failing to update can impede business growth and impede agility. Those who have successfully shifted from a monolithic architecture to a modern cloud-based composable microservices architecture have experienced numerous advantages.

Here is a summary of the changes in technology during the last few years and how modernization and best practices differ.

Cloud

Cloud technology is not a novel concept, but its progress has been extraordinary. Its significance in modern architecture is tremendous, as it serves as a base for constructing, constructing, and preserving applications and services in a novel way. The cost-effectiveness of cloud computing is debatable; however, the correct management can save you money and provide you with possibilities to grow your business, which was probably only possible after.

There are fantastic public cloud services, and it is not suitable to consider the pros and cons of AWS, Azure, GCP, etc., or your platform strategy in this context. A well-laid plan is essential; you can opt for a single platform, a hybrid option, or a multi-platform architecture.

The approach should be consistent, whether it's hybrid (cloud and on-premise/managed data center), multi-cloud, or a single consolidation cloud platform. The architecture, tools, and methods used must be appropriate for the chosen approach.

Event-driven architecture

Event-Driven Architecture (EDA) may not be as well-known as cloud or DevOps, but it is essential for a microservices-oriented architecture. Unlike request/response-driven legacy architectures, EDA allows for real-time, asynchronous interactions with software.

With EDA, events are sent without waiting for a response and can be consumed by receiving applications as needed, which fits perfectly with the loosely coupled components of microservices. In short, Event Driven Architecture is essential for modern software architecture.

It enables components to be created, implemented, deployed, and managed independently, with the capacity for modifications and scalability.

DevOps pipelines for rapid, reliable software delivery

DevOps and the cloud are closely related. Developing on the cloud makes it easier to transition from development to deployment. Many leading cloud platforms offer continuous integration, delivery, and infrastructure automation to enable DevOps. Strong DevOps (or DevSecOps) practices and implementations are crucial for the quality and speed of modern application development.

Finding the right balance between releasing new features and guaranteeing reliability for users is critical. With more operational systems, SRE (Site Reliability Engineering) can be used to automate tasks and troubleshoot.

Containers and microservices

Containers have been a significant force in software development over the past decade, driving DevOps processes with their modularity and looser coupling. It has enabled microservices to become the predominant architectural pattern, breaking applications into individual, self-contained services in place of giant, complex monoliths.

This shift has had far-reaching implications for how businesses operate, enabling them to focus more on product management, features, and optimizations - tasks that are difficult in legacy systems.

Automation and infrastructure-as-code (IaC)

Migrating to an event-based microservices architecture may bring about some complexity, but it can also diminish it in other areas. Infrastructure automation is the answer to this, as it allows the entire architecture and infrastructure to be coded, developed, changed, and automated – freeing it from the restrictions of legacy/monolithic applications.

A vital advantage of this is the ability to quickly create and remove test environments as needed, along with the relevant application, in a cloud environment.

API integrations

APIs are at the core of this current system infrastructure/architecture method, which provides a universal way to supply and access services from a growing ecosystem. Utilizing APIs grants the capability to link and combine services and data inside an organization and facilitates broader integration with external systems and data sources.

Employing APIs can fuel your products and services by controlling services and gaining access to more comprehensive data, eventually providing more value to customers or to you internally.

Take your apps beyond migration:

Optimize your solutions portfolio

Maximize the value of your apps by reusing services to reduce complexity in your software landscape. Shift apps or components to the cloud for increased automation and a lower total cost of ownership.

Scale as business needs change

Adapt and enhance the capabilities of your apps to meet user and business requirements that evolve. By leveraging microservices, changes specific to a business unit can be made without impacting other components.

Deliver world-class user experiences

Create applications with multiple experiences, including web-based, PWA, and native mobile apps optimized for offline use — all providing exceptional, unified experiences.

Drive innovation

Chudovo simplifies the process of continuously refining and enhancing your business applications. You can quickly explore new ideas and adjust strategies through an experimental and adaptive approach.

How to successfully migrate a legacy application

Legacy data processing may differ according to factors such as team methodology, size of data to be shifted, timeline, etc., as each legacy program is distinct from a technical point of view. Hence, inspecting system infrastructure needs, correlations, integrations, data requirements, security, and compliance regulations are imperative. Nevertheless, the subsequent steps are the shared base for most data migration projects.

Create a migration strategy

Migrating legacy databases requires a specific strategy to implement a new software solution successfully. This strategy should include the following key points: Scope: A high-level overview of the databases to be migrated, the business processes affected, and the timeline. Approach: Determine whether data will be migrated in one go or gradually, considering the technical requirements and timeline. It is essential to choose the appropriate tools for the legacy database migration and document them in the project. It includes determining which tools the development team will utilize. These are the essential elements of a data migration strategy, though it is possible to have other relevant details for the project.

Create a data backup

Backing up your data is essential to guarantee that you can restore the original database in case of any difficulties during the migration. Even though your team is highly experienced and has successfully done multiple data migration projects, it's always safer to take this precautionary measure to avoid potential data loss.

Preparing the target environment

Before migrating legacy data to a new environment, preparing the target system for the migration is essential. Depending on the type of storage chosen, the specifics of this preparation process vary; however, generally, the target system needs to be operational and prepared to receive data.

Test the data migration

Once all preparations are completed, testing the migration process with a small sample of the old data is advisable. It will ensure that all steps were followed correctly and that the data is transitioning as expected. It will also allow for correcting any issues or removing any obstacles that may have gone unnoticed before the process.

Data migration

The primary step of the process is to test the data and, once successful, begin migrating the remaining information. Utilizing an automated migration solution available on the market is a good idea.

Distinct types of migration

There are two distinct types of migration: lift-and-shift and business transformation:

01

Lift-and-shift

Lift-and-shift is transferring an outdated system initiated by the IT department. It usually occurs when engineers determine that the current software could be more convenient and impede the business's smooth operation.
02

Business transformation

On the other hand, business transformation is a response to an inefficient software platform that impacts the business's functioning. For example, suppose a rapidly growing company uses a monolithic architecture that can no longer scale. In that case, it may switch to microservices to gain more flexibility and capacity for expanding operations.

The benefits you can expect if you decide to migrate:

Cost optimization

Transitioning legacy data to a new environment is essential if you want to maintain this data and avoid costly expenses. Although there may be an initial investment, the long-term cost savings make it worthwhile.

Investing in IT infrastructure is costly and a significant part of the IT budget. Keeping outdated hardware is like having an old car - the longer you keep it, the more expensive it is to maintain. By migrating your legacy application to the cloud, you take advantage of the cloud provider's infrastructure, decreasing your maintenance, software, and licensing costs. Plus, you only pay for what you use, reducing unnecessary IT costs.

Enhanced data accessibility.

Systems that are not up to date and designed to fulfill the current demand for data accessibility cannot provide the necessary level of data availability that today's organizations need. Accessing an old database from different devices can take time and effort, making it hard to find the required information. It may feel like a minor issue, but it can damage a company's ability to stay afloat in the ever-changing environment. With the migration of old data, these changes are possible for many businesses.

Limitless scaling

Businesses today focus more on their digital presence and IT assets. However, outdated databases can lead to difficulties with scaling and hinder progress toward desired goals. It can result from inadequate software that does not meet the company's needs.

Migrating data from legacy databases to a new environment can help address the issue. Cloud-based systems can change and adapt to the company's requirements. Businesses can expand or reduce capacity through the cloud to accommodate more or fewer users and tasks as needed. With no significant hardware investments, cloud computing provides unlimited business growth potential.

Data protection

Generally, legacy applications need to be provided with robust security measures. It means that outdated applications may be unable to be updated, leaving your organization open to potential viruses, data loss, theft of confidential information, and identity theft. Additionally, there usually needs to be a reliable backup or data recovery system, making data restoration extremely difficult if loss or damage occurs.

FAQ

1. What is legacy data migration? Answer

Migrating legacy data involves transferring data from an outdated database to a more current one. This process usually consists of creating a strategy, backing up data, setting up the destination environment, testing, migrating, and monitoring.

2. How do I know when it's time for a legacy migration? Answer

Legacy data migration is the best way to move forward when your current storage environment is outdated. Many businesses use obsolete systems or unsupported infrastructure, preventing them from meeting changing customer and business requirements. Legacy migration allows organizations to transition to more up-to-date technology to keep up with the pace of their operations. Although replacing the entire monolith can be daunting, legacy migration is a viable option to modernize with the speed of your unique business.

3. How long does the migration process take? Answer

The length of the legacy data migration process is contingent upon numerous factors, including the volume of data needing to be transferred and the particular necessities and expectations. Typically, two methods can be followed: migrating all data at once or migrating small quantities of data bit by bit.

4. What are the best practices for legacy data migration? Answer

Creating a strategy for legacy data migration is crucial to success. A data audit should be conducted, data security should be ensured, and realistic estimates should be made at the planning stage. Establishing the process in advance is also vital for meeting objectives. All team members should share a vision of migration to ensure successful outcomes.

5. How else can legacy systems be modernized? Answer

There are two alternatives for organizations considering changes to their legacy systems and processes. Extending the current system is suitable for those with a functioning core infrastructure. It enables the addition of new, modern applications and processes without disrupting ongoing operations. Replacement of the legacy system is another, albeit a more time-consuming and resource-intensive approach. However, in some cases, this may be the optimal long-term solution.

Let's explore how our team can help you achieve your goals.