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28 Apr How to Modernise Legacy Systems with Low-Code Apps
As the world becomes more technologically advanced, the old becomes outdated and the new becomes the standard going forward. These older technologies are known as legacy systems and are incredibly common across businesses worldwide.
These technologies are helpful but have many flaws when it comes to the considerations that are important for our modern technological world. Often, they’ll have poor security when compared to the modern standard and generally feel pretty outdated — with their user experiences not having any of the conveniences and ease of use of newer applications.
One of the best ways to modernise these legacy systems is through the use of low-code apps. In this article, we’re going to go over the ins and outs of legacy systems, low-code applications and how you can get started with modernising your legacy applications today.
Challenges of Using Legacy Systems
To put it simply, the applications of the past don’t have any of the modern conveniences or needs that make modern applications so useful. This is why any business needs to make sure that the systems they have are up to date and modern, or there can be lots of issues throughout your organisation.
Security
Security is a massive challenge when it comes to legacy systems. As attacks get more powerful and more consistent and breaches become more common, your organisation’s security is a hugely important factor in ensuring that your business is both safe and secure.
Legacy systems don’t have these security provisions. With older systems, the security features are both less advanced and cater less to the needs of a modern system. With this, application modernisation is crucial for critical systems as this is a huge vulnerability and a flaw in your organisation’s security strategy.
Functionality
The older an application or system is, the less it will have modern features and tools to be able to function within the needs of a modern business. For less important systems and tools, this isn’t a large consideration. But, for more vital systems, this can push your whole organisation into disarray.
Modernising these systems to be more in line with the needs of a modern organisation becomes far more important when the system is integral to day-to-day operation. After all, lots of modern tools have functionalities that can introduce faster and more efficient methods to any system in comparison to legacy tools. With the implementation of AI into a lot of tools and systems, this is looking to be even more important going forward.
Compatibility
As these more modern tools become a part of your work ecosystem, older legacy systems will struggle to be compatible and work with them. This is why upgrading your legacy systems to be able to become compatible with newer technologies is crucial to success.
Some amazing legacy applications do work well in a modern ecosystem, but this is not the case for most of the legacy systems out there. Therefore, modernising your legacy systems futureproofs your infrastructure.
What are Low-Code Apps?
Low-Code Applications are applications that don’t require much (or any) code to use or build, which means that they can be implemented into your system with ease.
This means that you can turn your legacy systems into modern applications without needing to have dedicated programmers working for you. These low-code apps are built within development platforms that exist as engines to create them.
These applications can also be maintained regularly without code — just like they’re developed. There’s no need to have coders involved in the process at all, as everything is built to put ease of use first.
Microsoft PowerApps is the leading low-code development platform and can be used to build applications rapidly.
However, PowerApps takes this further by showcasing the true ‘power’ behind it — by hooking your app into the Microsoft Dataverse, you can share data throughout the whole power platform.
PowerApps — like the whole Power Platform — is also supported by a host of AI and automation features. In this example, a truck inspector can easily have a dashboard of all of their incoming jobs, while also being able to send out information throughout the inspection to the relevant parties automatically.
This is only possible with modern applications — legacy systems simply don’t have the capability to communicate data to one another, because that’s not what they’re built for. PowerApps can facilitate this seamlessly.
Low-code Apps are an essential part of the modern technological world. Large companies such as the Zurich Insurance Group, ARM, and Vodafone are all using Microsoft PowerApps in their organisation now to help enrich their systems and bring them into the modern day.
Legacy System Low-Code Modernisation Strategies
There are a few different strategies to use Low-Code Applications to be able to modernise legacy systems throughout your organisation.
Microsoft PowerApps is the perfect tool for undertaking all of these strategies, due to the aforementioned benefits of the Power Platform. If you’re looking to get started with modernising your legacy systems, get in touch with us today!
Encapsulation
Encapsulation is the process of leveraging and extending the legacy application features by encapsulating its data and function, to make them available as services via an API.
Essentially, this will still allow you to use the functions of the legacy system as intended, but will also mean that the legacy applications will only be accessible through API functionality rather than an application in itself.
Rebuilding
Rebuilding is the process of redesigning or rewriting the legacy system from the ground up. It’s essentially recreating the application in a new, modern form.
This is a longer process than encapsulation and often takes time, as rebuilding will require a development process (even utilising low code). However, this is often worth it as rebuilding results in an application with the same functionality — but with the benefits of a cloud-based application such as the ability to rapidly upgrade the system, or data integrations that allow seamless workflows across different cloud platforms.
Replacing
Sometimes, a system simply needs to be replaced. If the functionality of the original application just doesn’t work for you anymore, this is the only option.
The process of replacing means finding a new application that can fulfil the same needs as the legacy system and applying it to your organisation’s infrastructure.
Benefits of Using Low-Code App Development
There are tons of benefits to using low code to develop applications and systems as well as for application modernisation.
- No need for coding: Low-code removes the need for dedicated coders and programmers to build your application. This saves resources, especially on personnel.
- Utilise pre-existing infrastructure: Utilising low-code application development means that you can connect with other platforms and systems that you already use.
- Unbounded Data: Low code gives you the power of being able to move data between different platforms, especially using PowerApps. From spreadsheets to Microsoft applications, and even Zapier and other data automation tools, a low-code app unlocks the full potential of your data.
- Knowledge base: Tools like Microsoft PowerApps have an existing knowledge base where you can find answers to anything you need. Plus, providers like ourselves are quite knowledgeable about tools like PowerApps — so a helping hand is only one message away.
How We Can Help
Application Modernisation is very important for any modern business to be able to ensure their systems fulfil their needs. Legacy applications are — while often being quite useful — obsolete and have many challenges and complications. Utilising low code to modernise these systems is imperative.
If you’re looking to get started with legacy system modernisation, we’re here to help. Our experts will be able to handle the whole process and work with you to create the best low-code apps to perfectly suit your organisation.
Contact us today and see how we can help you!
