In the process of renewing IT applications within your organisation, many organisations still struggle with older systems that need to remain available. We call these 'legacy systems', such as an outdated case management system, DMS or specialist application. Although these systems have proven their usefulness in the past, they often come with hidden costs that can have a significant impact on your organisation's results. Understanding these costs of legacy systems is crucial for those who want to optimise their IT spending and promote organisational efficiency. Here are five reasons why your organisation's legacy systems cost more than you think.
- Unnecessarily high IT expenditure
Licences, servers and management hours for a system that no one actively uses: it adds up without you noticing. Every month that you keep the old platform running, you pay twice – for your modern solution and for the historical data. On top of that, there is the inefficiency of manual searches when you do need an old file.
- Maintenance and support costs
Technology is evolving, making it increasingly challenging to maintain legacy systems. Imagine you are asked to provide access to an old file in response to a Freedom of Information request. You spend so much time searching for personal data in various, sometimes outdated source systems that it takes away from your other core responsibilities. This drives up operational costs. Or it may even be necessary to seek specialist knowledge for support, leading to higher labour costs. Finding qualified professionals who understand older systems can also be difficult.
- Limited flexibility
Legacy systems are rigid and do not scale with changing requirements. As organisations grow and evolve, data management requirements also become more complex. New regulations impose different requirements on systems, management options and changing external information requests (e.g. the Open Government Act). Legacy systems often struggle to integrate and connect with newer technologies, creating silos of information that hinder data exchange between departments. Colleagues start building and maintaining shadow archives and storing duplicate files, which compromises information quality. This makes it more difficult to maintain an overview of current and accurate data. This lack of flexibility can limit an organisation's agility and responsiveness, ultimately affecting efficiency, decisiveness and regulatory compliance.
- Compliance risks and financial penalties
In an era of strict regulations, compliance is a critical concern for organisations. Legacy systems make it difficult to comply with current (and changing) laws and regulations, such as the Archives Act, which was updated earlier this year. This exposes your organisation to legal and financial risks. Practical experience shows that when purchasing a new solution, such as a new case management system, the decision is sometimes made to transfer the entire outdated dataset to the new cloud system. Because the classification is missing, the problem is merely shifted: the data remains unstructured. Or sometimes it is structured but poorly classified or incomplete and does not comply with industry standard formats such as TMLO/MDTO. This eats up storage space and still does not comply with the law. The failure to archive remains, the data is not archive-worthy, it requires a large amount of costly storage space and it still does not comply with laws and regulations. What's more, by copying poorly structured data and confidential information, you risk making this data more widely accessible than intended. This emphasises the importance of effective and controlled management of sensitive data. By relying on outdated systems, organisations can unintentionally create compliance gaps that could have been avoided with modern solutions.
- Missed opportunities for optimisation
With a well-designed system, you benefit from insight into and control over your data. By sticking to legacy systems, organisations can miss out on valuable insights and data-driven decision-making capabilities. You also spend more time on the core tasks related to these systems (Woo and Wep processes, archiving, destruction, and data classification or metadata tagging).
The solution: MY-LEX Legacy® & Insight®
With MY-LEX Legacy®, you can easily decommission outdated systems and avoid high and unnecessary IT expenses. You keep all data secure and accessible within a single, centralised, modern platform, immediately eliminating expensive licences and maintenance costs for old systems. Connectors and integrations with MY-LEX Pro® make source systems efficiently searchable, cleaned up and structured according to industry standards such as TMLO/MDTO. This reduces maintenance costs and prevents compliance risks because data can be managed, destroyed or exported in accordance with the Archives Act. Open API standards guarantee flexibility and help achieve additional savings by enabling legacy systems to be phased out quickly and permanently.
MY-LEX Insight® also saves time and money by providing clear insight into the quality and accessibility of data. Through advanced analysis of structured and unstructured data, MY-LEX Insight® identifies missing or incomplete data, duplicates and GDPR-sensitive information, preventing costly risks and fines. Authorisations, rights and roles are made transparent, providing insight into unwanted access to sensitive information and enabling proactive measures to be taken.
We help organisations streamline operations, improve compliance and increase overall efficiency. Contact us for more information.
Addressing legacy system costs for future success
Legacy systems may have been reliable in the past, but the hidden costs associated with their maintenance and operation can be significant. From inefficiencies and compliance risks to rising maintenance costs and missed opportunities for optimisation, it is essential for key stakeholders to carefully evaluate their dependence on these outdated systems. By investing in modern solutions such as MY-LEX, organisations can improve efficiency, reduce costs and mitigate risks, ultimately positioning themselves for long-term success in an increasingly competitive environment.
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