Top 10 SMB Tech Issues: Legacy Infrastructure Still Running Core Ops
Published 15 July 2025
Issue 5: Legacy infrastructure still runs your most important services
That old server sitting in the corner? It’s not just a holdover — it’s running your finance system. Or your customer database. Or the middleware nobody dares to touch because “it just works.”
The problem
Most SMBs have at least one business-critical service still tied to ageing infrastructure — whether it’s an old Windows VM, unsupported database, or some duct-taped integration that only one person understands. These systems are often left alone because migrating them looks expensive, risky, or just inconvenient.
The real-world impact
- Security updates don’t get applied because you’re worried about breaking something
- You can’t scale, automate, or integrate with modern platforms
- Only one person knows how it works — and they’re thinking about leaving
What good looks like
Modernisation doesn’t have to mean full rebuild. It might mean containerising a legacy app, moving an old DB into RDS, or wrapping critical functions in an API. The goal is to reduce fragility and make core services easier to support, monitor and secure.
Where to start
- Identify what’s truly critical vs what’s just old
- Do a risk assessment: security, supportability, business continuity
- Prioritise based on cost of failure, not just age of tech
The takeaway
Legacy systems won’t bite you… until they do. If your business relies on them, you can’t afford to ignore them. There’s always a better option than hoping it doesn’t fall over this year.
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