The Ticking Clock
Every year you wait, the cost and risk increase exponentially.
1. Talent Shortage Is Accelerating
The average age of a COBOL developer is 55+. Delphi, PowerBuilder, and VB6 developers are retiring faster than they can be replaced.
2. Security Vulnerabilities Compound
Legacy frameworks no longer receive security patches. A single breach can cost more than the entire migration.
3. Maintenance Costs Only Go Up
Industry surveys have put the share of IT budget spent maintaining existing systems at 60-80% for years — money that is not going to anything new. The figure moves with who is counting and what they count as maintenance, so take it as an order of magnitude rather than a measurement of your estate: it is not ours, and we did not measure it.
4. The Integration Tax
Modern APIs and cloud services don't speak legacy protocols. Every integration requires custom middleware.
The Bottom Line
The best time to modernize was 5 years ago. The second best time is now. With AI-powered tools, the cost has never been lower.