When organizations discuss about roadmap for digital transformation the biggest hurdle is our existing legacy ecosystem. We spend time responding to issues rather than maturing our infrastructure.

Only 12% of organizations are solely using modern technologies. Those with legacy tools are focused more on survival than transformation. A third (33%) of companies are using 20 or more legacy tools, adding complexity and hindering agility. 90% of IT decision makers say legacy systems are holding their organizations back from using digital technologies to innovate or make operational efficiencies.

Legacy systems dependency is a big barrier for business agility- Companies depending exclusively on legacy systems are at risk of falling behind on the agility curve. Some companies simply can’t invest in advanced digital technologies because their current legacy toolset doesn’t support them.

Until now, IT departments have been able to make Legacy applications work by delivering through remote desktop or server- based computing solutions. As a result, they take longer to adopt digital transformation.

barriers in your journey of digital transformation –

1. Legacy systems were not developed to support the implementation and adoption of Digital transformation.
2. Existing legacy interfaces, developed in a world of daily batch calls, are not fit for purpose for today’s digital channels that require real-time data.
3. Number of digital transformation initiatives and the speed with which they must be delivered cannot be supported by legacy systems.
4. Existing complex IT infrastructure cannot support digitalization
5. Lack of visionary leadership

6. Inability to explain influential business drivers to begin the transformation and ROI
7. IT staff are too busy to learn new technologies
8. Not having complete end-to-end IT visibility
9. Trying modernization with legacy systems
10. Inability to understand business impact in order to prioritize tasks

Business Drivers to influence the modernization of legacy systems –

1. Product strategy and objectives— speed to market, distribution driven
2. Technological relevance/risk—required to access enabling technologies
3. Service enablement—digitizing services (enhanced user experience)
4. Expense reduction
5. Growth (policy/contract volumes, new markets, new distribution model, new geographies)
6. Quality of systems—improve service levels and standards
7. Human capital risk—availability of intellectual capital
8. Compliance/regulatory requirements
9. Divestiture, merger, or acquisition

Considerations when making a decision to modernize legacy systems-

1. Fit-Gap Analysis
2. Time to Implement
3. Vendor risk
4. Related integration capabilities
5. Technology currency
6. TCOI (Total cost of ownership)
7. Maintenance cost
8. Global capabilities
9. 3rd party recommendations
10. ROI

How does the legacy modernization journey begin?

Common approaches that organizations take when dealing with legacy systems-

• Total transformation – This is where everything obsolete is shown the bin.
• Gradual replacement – This is a component-bycomponent approach to modernization.
• Duct tape approach – This is where companies use small fixes here and there to amend things on the verge of breaking.

• API-led connectivity and AIOps enabled monitoring – In order to create an agile, futureproof architecture that supports a long-term strategy for legacy modernization, organizations must move beyond point-to-point integration and embrace a new approach: API-led connectivity and AIOps enabled monitoring.

Conclusion– API-led connectivity and AIOps enabled monitoring is the way to go to remove the stumbling blocks created by legacy systems in your journey of digital transformation. Traditional architectural approaches centered on point-to-point integration are unable to address legacy modernization well.

The path to transformative IT Ops anchors on modernizing management tools as part of a broader strategy toward AIOps. For those that haven’t started, consider yourself late.