Replace an ageing system before it fails you
The problem
A lot of good businesses are quietly running on software that's out of support. A Microsoft Access database built years ago. An on-prem application whose original developer has long since moved on. A system that works, until the one machine it runs on dies, or Windows updates break it, or the person who knew how to fix it retires.
The risk with legacy systems isn't that they're old. It's that they're fragile and unsupported, and the cost of them failing lands at the worst possible moment. Replacing one on your own terms is far cheaper than replacing it in a crisis.
We migrate legacy systems to modern, supported, maintainable software, keeping everything that works about the old system and fixing the things that don't.
Sound familiar?
The signs it's time
It runs on one specific machine
If that PC dies, the system dies with it. There's no easy way to move it and no one entirely sure how it was set up.
Microsoft Access is at the heart of it
Access served businesses well for years, but it's a poor fit for multi-user, business-critical work today, and increasingly awkward to support.
The original developer is gone
No documentation, no source, no one to call. Every change is a gamble and you're putting off the ones you need.
It won't integrate with anything modern
You can't connect it to your accounts package, your website or anything cloud-based, so it's an island.
How we do it
Our approach
Senior, methodical, and shaped around your business, not a template.
- 1
We document what the old system does
Before touching anything, we understand the existing system's behaviour and business rules, including the undocumented ones, so nothing important is lost.
- 2
We migrate the data carefully
Years of records moved into a clean, modern database, validated and reconciled so you can trust the new system from day one.
- 3
We rebuild it as maintainable software
Modern, supported technology, properly documented, with the source code handed to you. No more single-machine, single-person risk.
- 4
We plan a safe cutover
The old system stays available until the new one is proven. No big-bang switch with everything crossed.
The outcome
What you get out of it
The point isn't the software, it's the time, accuracy and headroom it gives you back.
- An end to single-machine, single-person risk
- A supported system you can actually change
- Data preserved and cleaned in the move
- The ability to integrate with modern tools
Illustration
What this looks like in practice
A composite example of how these projects usually run, not an account of a specific client. Every business is different, so treat it as the shape of the work rather than a quote.
The situation
A manufacturer's job tracking runs on a Microsoft Access database built for them in the early 2000s. It works, in the sense that it has not stopped. It lives on one PC in the corner of the office, it is backed up by someone remembering to copy a file to a memory stick, and the person who wrote it retired years ago with no documentation and no source. Every request to change it gets postponed, because nobody is confident it can be changed safely.
What we would typically build
- A documented account of what the old system actually does first, including the business rules nobody wrote down, because that is usually where the risk sits.
- A modern, supported database and application to replace it, running on a server rather than one machine in the corner.
- Every record migrated across, validated and reconciled against the old system so the numbers can be checked rather than trusted.
- Integrations the old system could never support, so it stops being an island cut off from the accounts package and the website.
- The source code and documentation handed over, so the next person to touch it is not in the position you were in.
What changes
The business stops carrying a risk it cannot quantify: no single machine to lose, no file to forget to back up, and no change that has to be talked out of because it might break something. The old system stays running until the new one has proven itself, so there is no single switchover to hold your breath through.
Questions
Frequently asked
Let's talk about your process.
A free 60-minute audit, no obligation. We'll tell you honestly whether this is worth building and roughly what it would cost.