Change takes quarters
A small business change can depend on lengthy release cycles, scarce specialists and complex regression testing.
Application Modernisation
Modernise legacy applications without losing control
A modernisation decision is not automatically a replacement decision. We assess what should stay, what needs to change and how to deliver the next improvement without putting critical operations at unnecessary risk.
Ready for what comes next: Modernisation can also create the foundation for intelligent applications and governed AI-enabled workflows, where the business value and controls justify them.
Modernise around the core
Retain
Core systems and business logic that still work
Connect
Integration, reliable data and built-in controls
Modernise
Applications and workflows people rely on
The principle: Preserve what creates value. Change what limits progress. Replace only when the evidence supports it.
Recognised OutSystems Partner Capability
8 countries
100+ consultants
400+ certifications
Enterprise experience across financial services, telecommunications, healthcare, retail, logistics, manufacturing, energy and utilities, and insurance.
Recognise the constraint
Where legacy shows up in the business
Legacy pressure is often felt as delay, manual work, scarce skills and rising change costs — not as a single line in the technology budget.
Maintenance consumes the budget
Keeping existing systems running takes resources that could otherwise support new business capability.
Critical knowledge is at risk
The people who understand essential legacy logic may be retiring or moving on, with too little documentation left behind.
Integration relies on manual work
Exports, spreadsheets and re-keying stand in for connected systems, introducing delay and making errors harder to trace.
Choose the right route
Modernise around the core, not for the sake of replacement
Modernisation starts with a portfolio decision: what is worth keeping, what needs improving and what should be replaced or retired. Only then do we commit to delivery.
Assess the portfolio
Understand business value, dependencies and cost. Document existing rules—including logic that lives only in old code—and validate them with the people who own the process.
Outcome → A defensible portfolio decision
Define the target architecture
Compare retaining, integrating, re-platforming, rebuilding or replacing selected components. Define reliable data access, security and a supportable target architecture.
Outcome → Architecture that holds
Sequence by value
Prioritise a bounded first release. Where required, run old and new components together and plan a tested cutover before retiring anything.
Outcome → Value delivered in stages
A practical delivery route
From legacy estate to modernised capability
Six stages connect a clear decision to controlled delivery. The first three establish whether the next investment makes sense.
Decision · Understand before committing
Assess
Confirm business value, cost, risk and dependencies.
Classify
Retain, improve, rebuild, replace, retire or re-platform.
Architect
Validate existing rules, data, integration and controls.
Delivery · Release and improve
Build
Deliver and test useful changes in manageable releases.
Migrate
Plan parallel running, data checks and safe cutover.
Operate
Monitor, support and improve live applications.
Every stage has an owner, decision evidence and a defined next commitment.
Cost and control
The economics have to hold
Modernisation is justified by the cost of running and changing a system — and the risk it creates — not simply by how old it is.
We compare today's run and change costs against the proposed future state, including integration, migration and any period when old and new systems operate together. Security, support ownership and maintainability are designed in from the outset.
See our approach to technology and governanceMake the cost-to-value choice visible
Current stateCost to operateCost and effort to changeTechnical and skills riskBusiness impact of delay
Proposed stateTarget operating costsMigration and overlap costsSecurity and support needsExpected, testable improvement
A clear investment decision, not a promise of automatic savings.
Controls at every stage
Governance built in
Value, architecture, security, data, delivery, AI and cost are addressed from the first decision — not added as a final checkpoint before production.
- 01Value
- 02Architecture
- 03Security
- 04Data
- 05Delivery
- 06AI
- 07Cost
Delivery evidence
Modernisation that leads to working outcomes
A relevant example of legacy modernisation delivered by Indigo, using OutSystems technology available at the time.
Direct Indigo delivery · South Africa
Bility Insurance Platform (Pontis)
The challenge: A legacy case-management system was expensive to change and had to remain operational through migration.
The response: Indigo moved the platform to OutSystems 11 and built reusable workflows and integrations.
+30% workflow automation20% lower total cost of ownership
Another modernisation route: Indigo's Social Support Authority engagement addressed technical debt through six coordinated workstreams covering architecture, data governance, reporting, platform upgrades, user experience and code efficiency. No quantified uplift is claimed.
One priority. A credible first decision.
Decide what to modernise, and in what order
Start with an Application Modernisation Review. Together we can examine what should stay, what needs to change, the dependencies involved and where a first controlled release could demonstrate value.