Legacy modernization readiness quiz.
Find out whether an old system needs modernizing now, how, and whether your business is ready. The legacy modernization readiness quiz follows the frameworks architects use (business value against technical risk, and the retire, replace, rebuild or refactor choice). Answer twelve questions and get the plan that fits, the approach to take and the answer behind it.
- Twelve questions, about five minutes
- The approach: retire, replace, rebuild or refactor
- Names the answers behind every call
A worked example
- A day down
- Operations stop
- Vendor support
- Already ended
- Who can change it
- One contractor
- Business rules
- In people’s heads
Stabilize first
The plan that fits
67%
Urgency
Improve it in place
The approach
Made-up answers, to show what the tool returns. Use your own below.
Twelve questions about your old system.
1Business value
How much of the business stops if this system is down for a day?
How the quiz scores.
Three groups of questions, because what a system is worth, how risky it is and how ready you are to change it are different questions. Each answer scores 0 to 3.
Business value
What a day without it would cost, how well it fits the way you work and how unusual its work is. A system the business would barely miss is a candidate to retire.
Urgency
Five questions on support, who can change it, what a change costs, how it shares data and where it stands on security. The total is shown as a percentage.
Readiness
Four questions on goal, owner and budget, written business rules, data quality and whether old and new can run side by side. Higher means more ready.
The plan
Each score is high at 50% or more. Urgent and ready: start now. Urgent, not ready: stabilize first. Ready, not urgent: modernize in steps. Neither: prepare.
The approach
From the first rule that fits: retire what nobody would miss, replace standard work with a product, rebuild what nobody can change, move an unsupported platform first, otherwise refactor in steps, keep and watch it, or improve it in place where old and new cannot run together. The result names the answer that decided it.
Start with a free first step.
Show us the system everyone is afraid to touch. On day five you have a map of what it really does, the module to replace first and a fixed price, before anyone changes a line.
What you hold when it ends
Free, 5 days
- A map of what the old system does, including the undocumented parts
- The module that is safest to replace first
- A fixed price and a timeline for it
The map of your old system is yours, even if someone else does the replacing.
Legacy modernization questions.
What people ask before and after using it.
How do I know if a legacy system needs modernizing?
Look at risk and cost. Warning signs are software or a vendor out of support, only one person who can change the code, changes that break other things, staff retyping data between systems and security gaps nobody has checked. The quiz on this page scores these for you.
Should we rebuild the system or modernize it in stages?
Usually in stages. Replacing one part at a time keeps the business running and spreads the cost, and each step proves itself before the next. A full rebuild fits when the system is small, or when its core can no longer be changed safely at all.
What should we do before starting a modernization project?
Write down the business rules the system carries, check the quality of its data and name one sponsor with a budget. These are the readiness questions in the quiz; each one you settle first makes the project shorter and safer.
Is my answer data stored?
Not unless you choose to email yourself the report. The quiz runs in your browser. If you send the report, we keep your email address and answers so a person can follow up once, and you can ask us to delete them at any time.
Free project estimate
Get a second opinion on your old system.
Tell us what the system does and what worries you about it. A founder replies within 4 business hours with a first view of the options.
What you get back
- An indicative budget range
- A realistic timeline
- What moves the cost up or down
- A reply within 4 business hours
- Answered by a founder
- NDA on request, before you share details
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