‘Draining’ and ‘Outdated’ Systems Common in over 60% of UK IT Organisations, Survey Finds

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Few want to take on the challenge of a legacy upgrade that delivers little immediate payback.

(PRWEB UK) 25 March 2014

The survey findings released in February and entitled: “Legacy modernisation: Don’t wait for disaster to strike” was conducted by Computing, the UK’s leading business technology publication, with support from MSM software, who specialise in custom software and bespoke development. It questioned 160 IT leaders across every size of organisation within the UK market.

Of the organisations dealing with legacy technologies, applications and operating systems – some being more than two decades old – a staggering 61% of those surveyed were still running Windows 95 or XP. Equally worrying, for Mac users, many hardware and applications are estimated to date back to the mid-1990s and are unlikely to be compatible with modern systems.

Computing said of the results:
“There’s a personal dimension to this, too. In some high-pressure, high-churn sectors, IT leaders may move from job to job swiftly as they build their reputations, meaning that few want to take on the challenge of a legacy upgrade that delivers little immediate payback.”

Interestingly, of those who were surveyed, 70% identified themselves as recently being involved in an IT modernisation programme, and yet were still said to be running a broad range of outdated systems.

Amongst the survey results, Computing stated:
“Using infrastructure, operating systems and applications that are past their sell-by date is just storing up trouble.”

The research included revelations about the most common problems associated with legacy software including the reasoning behind a reluctance to upgrade.

Key findings included but were not limited to:

• 61% of IT organisations are running Windows 95 or XP
• The most commonly used versions of Mac OS are 6 to 9.
• 12% are running DOS.
• 21% of IT departments say they run Solaris
• 19% claimed to be using an old or unsupported version of Linux.
• Over half of respondents cited cost of maintenance as the driving force towards internal modernisation
• 42% are encouraged to modernise their IT programme to drive towards virtualisation and/or the cloud

Thomas Coles, Chief Executive of MSM Software said:
“Organisations need to work with an expert partner who has a real expertise in legacy technologies and can maintain and enhance the legacy system in a cost-effective way until the organisation is in a position to replace them.

“Our clients operate in competitive markets and need to be able to innovate to compete. Legacy systems are not only a drain on the IT team’s precious time, but they can limit an organisation’s ability to bring new products and services to market quickly.

“By outsourcing the maintenance of legacy systems, IT teams are freed up to focus on the more strategic IT projects that enable organisations to compete effectively in their markets.”
For a full copy of the survey, visit the MSM Software Content Hub here.

About MSM Software

Established in 1998, MSM Software has since expanded its reach across England, with offices in London, Bristol and Exeter. The philosophy of the company is to provide quality individual business solutions through bespoke software development and support, in order to forge long-term strategic partnerships with its clients.

All MSM Software team members are permanently employed in the UK and are graduates with more than five years commercial experience. They are qualified as, or working towards, Microsoft Certified Professional Developer or better. Each member of staff is checked by the Criminal Records Bureau which allows MSM Software to work on sensitive matters.

For more information visit: http://www.msmsoftware.com.

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