Upside Down on Legacy Systems?
Think Overall ROI.

Many companies have some type of older application that performs a mission-critical function.

You know the one.

• Customized over time to serve particular needs
• Nightmare when it’s time to connect to other systems
• And, an expensive bottleneck as new systems and processes are brought online

If you’re on the fence about replacing an older application, consider the incremental benefits of the update combined with your other modern systems. It might give you the justification you need.

Newer applications are designed to integrate with – well – other newer technologies. That is a large part of their value. Any time you force them to connect with older systems their value is reduced and so for that matter is the value of the legacy application.

So much so, that you could be upside down on your overall ROI.

Today a much wider number of systems are working together across the organization and their value in part is based on aggregation.

Think about CRMs. For a long time, their function was tightly tied to the sales process and thus the measurement for ROI.

Today, CRMs are an integral part of the company, often serving as a central application for almost all business data and information. What started essentially as a customer database and prospecting tool has expanded to a platform that directly and indirectly impacts most of the company’s day-to-day business. CRMs are just one example.

A significant benefit to newer application models such as SaaS is frequent upgrades. They happen often, sometimes without advance notice, and deliver new features literally overnight. The overall benefit of a SaaS application (in this case) is diluted by the work needed elsewhere if other systems take time to integrate.

Think about the big picture and overall ROI. The math might surprise you.