Companies are still relying on legacy systems that were never designed for the pace and scale of today’s market. They work, but they’re not agile enough and they’re expensive to maintain and slow to adapt. Companies sitting on legacy may be reluctant to change due to sunk investments and embedded processes, but if they continue to run critical workloads on outdated infrastructure, the cost becomes a false economy as a significant percentage of budgets are spent maintaining older systems. The statistics vary, but from Forrester to Gartner, upwards of 40% of IT budgets are spent on keeping legacy systems in shape.
“Legacy systems might seem reliable, but they are limiting productivity, security and competitiveness,” says Christo Greeff, Delivery Lead: App Modernisation at Mint Group. “The longer companies delay modernising, the more they lose in migration costs and missed opportunities.”
Modernising, on the other hand, can deliver substantial return on investment (ROI) and business value. According to McKinsey, companies using advanced modernisation and AI are seeing up to three times the EBITDA lift from their technology investments compared to companies that remain focused on legacy maintenance.[1]
Platforms like Microsoft Azure allow companies to move their focus from repairs to innovation. They deliver immediate savings by reducing hardware and energy costs and introducing automation across key areas that include development, testing and deployment. They also improve resilience and reduce the risks of downtime and integration issues.
Tackling this modernisation, however, takes planning. It needs to be strategic and layered to ensure it doesn’t impact operations or disrupt processes – and change management is essential.
“There are three ways you can approach this,” says Greeff. “You can opt into a lift-and-shift methodology, refactor your systems or rebuild them completely. Lift-and-shift means moving existing applications directly into Azure with minimal code changes, and it is fast, low-risk and has the benefit of immediately lowering infrastructure costs.”
Refactor is next. Performance is optimised by introducing modern cloud services such as Azure Functions, App Services and container instances to iteratively modernise infrastructure. Rebuild is a comprehensive redesign where applications are re-architected for micro-services, API management and advanced automation.
“The right route depends on your time, budget and appetite for change,” says Greeff. “If you have limited time or funding, lift-and-shift is a good start, but if you’re ready to innovate, then rebuild gives you the most long-term benefits.”
Azure’s hybrid-first architecture makes it easier to modernise without disruption. Companies can move workloads to the cloud while keeping sensitive operations connected on-premises. The platform includes enterprise-grade identity management through Azure Entra ID, full encryption for data at rest and in transit, and more than 90 global compliance certifications including ISO, HIPAA and GDPR. Security is also prioritised through ongoing R&D and the integration of Microsoft Defender for Cloud.
“We recently automated the quotation process for one of our insurance industry customers,” he says. “We used Azure Logic Apps and OpenAI and reduced a process that used to take 48 hours down to five minutes. This cut turnaround time by more than 90% and changed how the company used its time and skilled employees.”
Modernisation is not a one-off project, however. It is a continuous process that combines leadership alignment, structured governance and ongoing optimisation. Mint supports this through training, change management and clear success metrics that link technology outcomes directly to business value.
“Modernisation needs to be strategic and relevant, building a culture of improvement within the business, not just handing over a new system,” concludes Greeff. “Once a company has seen what modern applications can achieve, they never want to go back.”
The webinar that this article is based on, can be viewed here: https://za.mintgroup.net/resources/webinars/legacy-to-leading-edge-application-modernization/.
Share