Systems modernization without losing what your system already knows
For companies whose current system has started to hold the operation back. Solvers understands what works, what no longer serves and what must be preserved: rules, exceptions, integrations and ways of working built over time. From there, we assess with you whether it is better to keep, evolve in stages or replace, and we plan the transition.
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Signs that the system has started to limit the business
- Necessary changes become hard to make. A new business rule or a process change requires increasingly laborious workarounds.
- Parallel controls become part of the routine. Spreadsheets and manual checks make up for what the system can't keep track of.
- The tools don't exchange the information needed. The team retypes data or checks several places to complete a task.
- Operation depends on poorly documented knowledge. Few people can explain certain rules or exceptions, and changes become more delicate.
- The system no longer adequately supports the operation. The assessment may involve access, security, performance and other needs identified in the diagnosis.
The age of the technology alone doesn't determine the decision. These signs don't prove that everything needs to be rebuilt.
What goes into a modernization project
- Analysis of what the system does today: processes, rules, users, data and integrations; code, architecture, infrastructure, access, security and performance as the project requires.
- Identification of what is not documented, such as checks made by experienced people and special approval conditions.
- Priorities and a first delivery with verifiable objectives, making clear what changes, what stays and who validates.
- Planning for the old and new systems to coexist, when technically feasible, with the exchange of information between them.
- Data migration with agreed checking criteria and, depending on the project, test migrations.
- Testing and user acceptance in a controlled environment, with defined acceptance criteria and approvers.
- A planned go-live and follow-up of the affected workflows, as set out in the contracted scope.
From analyzing the current system to evolution, in stages
Before changing anything, we talk to the users and identify what the system does today.
- 01
Understand
What the system does today: processes, rules, users, data and integrations, including what is not documented.
- 02
Prioritize
Verifiable objectives and a first delivery, organized with the client by impact, urgency, risks and dependencies.
- 03
Plan coexistence
Which system handles each part of the process and how information flows between the old and the new.
- 04
Migrate data
What will be moved and the checking criteria, agreed with the people responsible for the information.
- 05
Test
User acceptance in a controlled environment with people who know the process: what changed and what must keep working.
- 06
Go live
A sequence known to everyone involved, owners, checks and, if needed, a planned downtime window.
- 07
Follow up
The affected workflows and users' difficulties, to guide adjustments and the next stages.
What an old system still has to teach
A system's main asset isn't always in its screens. It may be in a calculation rule, an approval exception or the way information from different areas relates.
It's also important to tell a necessary rule from a workaround that arose from a tool limitation. Not everything should be reproduced as is, but nothing relevant should disappear for lack of understanding. Even when the decision is to replace, the previous system remains an important source of knowledge.
And the transition is part of the project: avoiding interruptions is a planning goal, not a promise. If downtime is needed, it is identified, agreed and prepared with the people involved.
Approvals in spreadsheets, records in the system
Imagine a company whose system handles records and orders well, but which uses spreadsheets to track approvals. The team also has to retype part of the information in another tool.
Before proposing a full replacement, the assessment seeks to understand whether it is possible to preserve records and orders, connect the tools and improve the approval workflow. If technical conditions allow, this could be a first stage with clear limits: understanding the rules and owners, defining the delivery, assessing the exchange of information with the existing system, deciding which data to transfer and validating the workflow with users before the routine changes. If there are constraints that prevent this evolution, the analysis may point to another path.
Fictitious example, to illustrate the method. It does not represent a client case or result.
Questions about systems modernization
Do I need to replace the whole system?
Not necessarily. There are three alternatives to consider: keep it and fix specific points, evolve it in stages or replace it. The choice relates the business need, the system constraints and the risks of the change. An integration difficulty, for example, may be concentrated in a specific part of the workflow.
Is it possible to modernize without stopping the operation?
Avoiding interruptions is a planning goal, not a promise that applies to every project. Depending on technical conditions, downtime may be necessary. In that case, the window is planned with the client, and we also assess how to restore the operation if the change does not work as expected.
How is data migrated?
Before the transfer, we identify what will be moved, where it comes from and what adjustments are needed, and we agree on the checking criteria with the people responsible for the information. Depending on the project, test migrations and checks of consistency, relationships, relevant totals and essential records are carried out. A correct record count is not enough to prove that the migration met the business needs.
Can the old and new systems run at the same time?
When technically feasible, yes. For that, it is necessary to define which system handles each part of the process and how information flows between them. Coexistence is not assumed: its feasibility is assessed before it guides the sequence of deliveries.
What happens after go-live?
We follow the affected workflows and the difficulties users encounter, to identify adjustments and guide the next stages. The terms for follow-up, support and evolution are defined in the contracted scope; there is no single timeframe that fits every project.
Learn more
Articles on the Solvers blog, in Portuguese:
What does your system need to keep up with?
Tell us which task has become hardest, who is affected, which parallel controls exist and what must keep working during the change. From there, we assess the alternatives and priorities together.
Talk about your system →Or write to contato@solvers.com.br.