On average, 31% of an organisation’s technology is made up of legacy systems. That’s despite the many drawbacks and negative connotations of relying on legacy systems for day-to-day operations.

What is a legacy system? A legacy system is a piece of software or an application that’s built on an outdated technology but plays a vital part of a business’s operations. Despite being important to a business’s core functions, the system itself might be slow, hard to integrate with newer systems or not always able to cope with high demand.

An example would be a management system still in use today that was built on .NET 5, which stopped being supported in May 2022. Any system built on this platform would be classed as a ‘legacy’ because there are newer, supported versions of .NET that can be used.

"It fits the brief, so why does it need improving?"

Improving a legacy system is often like restoring an old car. Rather than scrapping your old banger and going for a newer, faster model, you’ve instead opted to keep your pride and joy, fine-tune its performance and restore the bodywork.

Sometimes, like a legacy system, the performance of the car does the job (despite its older mechanics), yet the exterior leaves a lot to be desired.

This blog looks at the importance of UX (user experience) and UI (user interface) in your internal systems, what it means for your company and how you can give your system a modern look and feel.

Impact of Outdated Systems

The impact of an outdated-looking legacy system goes far beyond the aesthetics. It can cause impacts in a variety of ways, ranging from employee productivity to customer loyalty and market competitiveness.

The low user-friendliness can make it hard for even your most senior staff to navigate through your system, slowing down their productivity, making them more prone to errors and impacting their ability to get work done quickly. Your staff’s dissatisfaction can then create problems with morale in your workforce which lead to problems retaining staff.

It could take longer to train new staff, or even put people off the company altogether after seeing an older system. This reputational damage wouldn’t just stay internally; there is a chance this will spread to your customers who might find it hard to use your website, driving them away from your business and going to a competitor.

Can't Afford A New System Or Major Upgrade? Here's How To Improve Your UI/UX

We’ve compared legacy system modernisation to classic restoration before. In that article, we spoke about how you can integrate third-party bolt-ons to a legacy in the same way you can add a turbo and other modifications to a car to improve its performance.

However, you might not be in a position where you need to invest in the performance or functionality of your legacy system; you just want to improve the look and feel by giving your current system a modern interface.

We have done this for many organisations, who thought we had actually built them a brand-new system because of how well we transformed the look of their existing one.

Improving your UX and UI can lead to multiple benefits for your company, including:

• Increased productivity among staff
• Increased user, staff and customer satisfaction
• Higher conversion of customers
• More streamlined ways of working
• Great for company image
• Reduced training time

Our Modernisation Process: Client-Centric Approach

We follow a step-by-step process. We consult with you at the very beginning, ask for a full demonstration of your system(s) to fully understand the importance of each part of your system and how it fits in with your wider company operations.

The solution we propose is uniquely tailored to your budget, taking into account your systems core roles and how it fits into your wider business operations.

"We have been working with PSP for many years. We have recently engaged with the team to upgrade and extend some of our systems. This has been, quite possibly, the most painless process of this type we have been through! The team has been extremely accommodating, helpful, professional and has stuck to timelines and budgets entirely. A faultless performance." Gavin Gill, Group Head of Quality and Compliance, Flamingo Group

Meet Your Legacy System Modernisation Partner

Achieving a modern look and feel for your legacy system is easier than you might think. One of the key benefits of our legacy system modernisation is that you are in full control of the scope and the cost.

We provide both agile legacy system support for companies who want to ensure the reliable running of their critical systems, as well as application modernisation for businesses who are ready to upgrade their software or looking to move it onto the cloud.

To find out more, visit our legacy system modernisation page or book a legacy system consultation today.

Email: letstalk@psp-it.co.uk or phone 01775 722377.