Brainbox Consulting » Technology

How to identify legacy applications, reduce risk, and modernize infrastructure

In business, change is a given and flexibility is a smart strategy for staying ahead. The allure of new technology can be strong, especially since most people assume that applications will be upgraded within about three years anyway. The reality, though, is that tools often last far longer. As the rate of technological innovation continues to increase, the reality of working with software and hardware—old, new, and everything in-between—is changing. It’s important to be aware of what legacy applications are—and how to handle them in your organization.

What are legacy applications?

Techopedia defines legacy applications as “applications, platforms, hardware setups, programming languages, and other technologies that have been superseded by newer options.” In the business context, legacy indicates the age of the technology used to support the software or hardware, not necessarily the importance of the function the technology provides. Legacy systems are still in use because they provide essential business functions, regardless of their supportability. This can complicate the decision of how and when to upgrade.

Issues

No matter how vital the business function associated with legacy tools, there are some undeniable issues associated:

• Maintenance and support costs. This includes hardware (lifecycle, replacement availability, etc.); the operating system and software itself; and anything with support no longer in place.

• Lack of ability to scale and change. Outdated applications are not flexible and unable to support dynamic business needs.

• Knowledge management required. Team members must learn old technologies to provide support.

You might be asking: if legacy applications are so troublesome, why are so many still in use?

Why companies don’t update legacy applications

Read the reasons why.

Improve data quality with an Agile approach to data management

How accurate are the data visualizations and business intelligence (BI) reports that your company depends on for daily business insight and strategy? In our increasingly data-driven world, companies who can leverage data and analytics to optimize performance achieve a competitive advantage. Businesses have an influx of big data and a multitude of impressive analytics tools to choose from that can help visualize data from every angle and perspective possible.

There is a glaring gap in this path to optimized performance, though. Analytics are only as accurate and valuable as your data is high-quality and usable. Unfortunately, in many cases, data management practices are struggling to keep up with the high velocity of data and the growing demands of real-time analytics. In turn, data quality suffers, trust in the data becomes compromised, and analytical reporting efforts are slowed to a crawl.

Read more on Agile Master Data Management here.

Unlocking the benefits of IoT data with analytics

IoT devices are all around us with the promise of making our lives easier and more efficient. In manufacturing plants, IoT sensors monitor machine performance, leading to more streamlined workflow and well-maintained machines. In retail, wearable IoT devices give employees quick access to inventory information and the ability to complete customer transactions at any spot in the store, leading to improved customer service. Thanks to the advent of IoT, this is all possible by connecting previously unconnected devices to the internet and exchanging data. The benefits have driven consumer and business adoption, resulting in even more IoT devices coming to market over the past several years. Billions of these gadgets have been purchased already, and the market growth of IoT devices is expected to accelerate over the next few years.

Learn more about incorporating IoT analytics into business processes.

Data integration post-acquisition

In June 2017, our client, a biotechnology company found itself in a scenario that is becoming more common in business across all industries; they were acquired. The deal put the trailblazing company in a position to not only scale and grow its business, but also expand access to their current and other future immunotherapy drugs to the Asian market.

This acquisition presented a huge growth potential, while also being a complex transaction affecting many business components. Changes to financial systems, IT solutions, and overall organizational structure began to take place. The company’s Seattle-based Medical & Operations team began exploring how to successfully separate its data and analytics systems from their previous parent company, while continuing daily business operations and preparing for the future growth made possible by the acquisition. They needed to migrate their operational data into a new system within a defined timeline and with minimal impact to their business and their ongoing research. They were looking for a partner to build a new data warehouse and reporting platform post-acquisition, including the extraction and then the integration of their essential data.

The biotech company partnered with our team because our expert teams are highly skilled and knowledgeable at delivering enterprise data warehouses (EDWs) and business intelligence (BI) solutions. Applying our own proven frameworks and methodologies, we implement current best practices towards all IT and BI solutions. We focus on clarity to drive simple, efficient and fully integrated customer outcomes that allow for improved business insights and foster a culture of data-driven decisions.

Predictive analytics supports school district

Making Futures Bright: Predictive Analytics Helping Educators Identify At-Risk Students

High school graduation and continued education are some of the top factors in determining adult success. Corona Norco Unified School District in Southern California was facing challenges familiar to other school districts across the country. How do they successfully educate and prepare children for post-graduation life and also intervene and provide extra guidance to those at risk of dropping out? High school dropout brings with it an increased risk of living a life in poverty, being unemployed, and even incarceration. Despite the remarkable work of educators, as a nation, we still have about 16% of students slipping through the cracks and not receiving a high school diploma. It’s not always easy for educators to identify every child who is at risk. Fortunately, partnering with Corona Norco, we were able to leverage the predictive abilities of machine learning to build digital, low-cost tools that improved visibility of both student and school performance.

We recently wrapped up a project, completed in 6 weeks, with Corona Norco Unified School District in Southern California. Read the full story here.

Data management and governance best practices

Data management and governance best practices for creating a 360° view of your business

If your role involves overseeing multiple groups or departments, you’re probably uncomfortably familiar with this scenario: You meet with one team in the morning to discuss customer data from their part of the company. In the afternoon, you’re reviewing team two’s data, and while it makes sense standing on its own, something isn’t jiving with what you saw that morning. It’s disconcerting to say the least, and could point to some major problems with how your organization manages, processes, and interprets data.

The importance of data management can’t be understated. Data should be accessible and actionable, meaning that it’s structured in a way that you can actually use it to make decisions about your business and better support your customers. If your organization is struggling, it may be time to rethink your processes and infrastructure, and implement a well-defined data governance strategy and architecture to manage it.

Learn the reasons that you might need a new data strategy and how learning the story buried in your data could be a game changer.

Technology Enhances Success of Nonprofits

How can a nonprofit organization scale while already feeling overwhelmed by the particularly challenging factors involved in operating within the nonprofit sector? Whether the focus of a foundation’s mission is on art, health, education, environment, social justice, etc., many nonprofits operate within tight budgetary constraints while striving to achieve lofty missions and solve complex problems of the world. Investment in technology can maximize success in achieving the nonprofit’s mission, while streamlining operations, effectively managing resources and increasing fundraising efforts in organizations of all sizes. From simple cloudbased management systems to complex customized platforms, tech solutions can benefit nonprofits in multiple ways.

Read the rest of the story here.

Category: Technology