Legacy Governance: The Alternative Offered by the Secondary Market

It is difficult for companies to constantly invest in the latest software versions. As a consequence, they accumulate technical debt and develop their future projects on a legacy system composed of obsolete but still stable and efficient solutions, and more recent software components. In this context, the secondary market offers companies an interesting alternative to maintaining a good balance between their various technological components. 

Legacy: What Legacy for Companies?

In the era of digital transformation, managing legacy and technical debt involves major competitiveness challenges for companies. How, indeed, can companies promote agile processes without completely overhauling their information system, partly composed of mainframe or ASX-type solutions? According to Gartner's recommendations: by favoring a "bimodal IT" approach!

The Cost of Legacy Governance

The Second-Hand Market: An Economical and Reliable Response

However, the "all or nothing" clauses in support contracts force companies to maintain these legacy bases at the same level as their more recent systems, even when publishers have stopped their support, considering these products as "end of life." Yet many companies continue to use very old versions of databases... which remain very efficient. In 2019, 93% of IT managers still considered using their mainframe in the long term [2].

In this respect, and despite pressure from publishers, companies have every interest in turning to the secondary market and the strong synergy it offers with all the ecosystem's players.

First asset of the secondary market: the reliability of purchased licenses. Indeed, the marketplace acts as a true trusted third party and ensures the quality of the solutions offered upfront. Thus, companies can positively respond to software compliance requirements.

Another advantage of the second-hand market: the choice of maintenance. It is either possible to reactivate the maintenance of the acquired second-hand solution (recommended in the case of more complex software) with the publisher, or to manage it directly internally (in the case of simpler business software, or for which updates and security patches are applied automatically).

But there is also the possibility of resorting to new players: third-party maintainers, very responsive and qualitative, and at very attractive rates. In the case of second-hand solution acquisition, it will be necessary to consult them beforehand to choose the most suitable offer and accurately calculate the TCO.

Legacy and the technical debt associated with it are therefore not inevitable. Among the alternatives considered, the second-hand market presents the best balance between quality, compliance, and competitiveness.

[1] According to a study conducted by IDG (International Data Group) for the low-code development platform Appian, October 2018 – https://www.developpez.com/actu/228268/Etude-50-pourcent-des-projets-de-developpement-d-applications-se-soldent-par-un-echec-cela-est-il-du-a-la-lenteur-des-codeurs-et-la-dette-technique/

[2] According to a BMC study, 2019 – The Next Wave of Mainframe Success: Insights from the 2019 Survey.