Is Your Legacy System Hurting Your Legacy?

CIOs and CTOs: Your job isn’t easy. Between constantly evolving business strategies, dramatic talent shifts, and a sea of so-called solutions, running the tech side of your business is an intense, high stakes juggling act that can feel overwhelming.

But it’s in these moments – when you’re facing a tough challenge and an opportunity starts to emerge – that you realize that decisions you make will have a big impact on both the business and your career. If you’re in one of those moments now, I'm here to tell you: GO FOR IT. And here's why.

Becoming a Leader That Gets Remembered

Every executive is remembered for something. Whether that’s being a trusted leader, tech visionary, true collaborator, or a strategic genius, the decisions you make will not only impact your reputation and career but will also drive the future of the company.

Ultimately, your professional legacy matters, but it’s also deeply connected to something bigger.

In your career, three key legacies often overlap and influence each other: the technology legacy, the business legacy, and your professional legacy – each with its own unique challenges and opportunities.

● The technology legacy is your ability to lead technological and cultural change. You might be faced with an aging tech stack or a crumbling infrastructure, and you need to decide whether it's time to upgrade or replace certain systems. Or maybe your company is adopting new technologies and you must figure out how these will affect the business.

● The business legacy is your ability to grow the business, shape strategy, and align technology with organizational goals. Are you taking advantage of new technologies like automation and AI to enhance processes and boost revenue? Or are you figuring out how to stay competitive as a small player in a large market? Whatever it is, you need to be able to react nimbly and make decisions quickly.

● Your professional legacy is all about your reputation as an executive. Are you known for being approachable and understanding the needs of others, even if it means shifting priorities or timelines? Or are you seen as a strategic leader who makes bold moves that pay off? Knowing how you want your legacy to be viewed can help keep your priorities clear and guide your decision-making – now, and in the future.

 ​Knowing how you want your legacy to be viewed can help keep your priorities clear and guide your decision-making – now and in the future. 

It’s important to note that every choice matters, and the ones you make today will impact how you’re remembered, whether you’re with a business for two years or two decades.

Navigating the Modernization Multiverse

As an IT leader, it’s important to ensure you’re adapting to emerging technologies, so you don’t run into problems down the line. In business there are many paths you can choose to help you achieve your goals. These include:

● Re-platforming: The most radical move for companies, re-platforming can generate the biggest impact for you and your company – if you're prepared for the huge undertaking.

● Migrating to the cloud: Moving your legacy system to the cloud offers several benefits, including improved scalability and flexibility.

● Modernizing applications: A less transformative route, this option can help you quickly optimize existing systems and improve efficiency with minimal disruption.

● Automating processes: Automation can shake things up for your business, but it won't work without quality testing first, which may require more expertise and people than you currently have.

● Modernizing in place: Modernizing tools and applications in place can help your business move toward modernization without turning IT upside-down. This option is best for those who are not ready to fully dive into the modernization journey but want to remain proactive for when it’s ultimately time to make the move.

Your legacy system isn't going to support your business needs forever. As technology continues to advance, modernization becomes inevitable – it's just the timing that makes the difference.

Once your old, complex platform doesn't offer enough flexibility, costs too much, or can no longer keep up with your business, optimization and migration start to look much more appealing.

Defining (or Redefining) Your Legacy

You’d think I would understand legacies well, having been around mainframes most of my life and growing up with a father that ran a global IT consultancy. But these legacies were just chapters in the story.

Since becoming the CEO of CPT Global, I’ve come to understand legacies much better and realized there are countless opportunities to shape your legacy or redefine it – through your actions, the way you lead people, and how you leverage technology.

When it comes to your own legacy – and all the pieces that help define it – here is how I and other executives that I’ve spoken with over the years have been able to find success:

● Be bold and decisive. Whether you’re making tech-related business decisions, taking risks to change the industry landscape, or tackling sensitive projects with your team, be bold in everything you do.

● Embrace new opportunities. If a new strategy or technology can benefit your company or help drive growth, don’t be afraid to take the leap and adopt it.

● Lead with empathy, insight, and trust. Understanding your employees – their strengths, goals, and challenges – is critical to building a successful business. Be sure to create an environment that fosters collaboration, trust, and transparency in your team.

And here’s what you should be doing when at the beginning of your modernization journey.

● Dig into why you need to modernize. Sometimes, this is just about catching up with the competition or ensuring that your organization can stay afloat for another year. Other times, it's about giving yourself and your team the time and opportunities to innovate, problem-solve, and create.

● Talk to leaders that have modernized successfully. Learning from others' experiences can be invaluable when it comes to strategy. Whether you reach out to colleagues or talk to an experienced consultancy firm, there's a wealth of knowledge out there just waiting for you.

● Focus on the benefits of modernization. Modernization isn't just about keeping up with technology, it's also about increasing efficiency, profitability, and customer satisfaction. Focus on the wins your business can achieve with modernization rather than the nitty-gritty details that can stall progress.

● Don't let fear or uncertainty hold you back. Yes, modernization can be a big undertaking, but it's worth it for the long-term health of your business and career. Don't let yourself be limited by the unknown when the future rewards could be great.

Remember, the decisions you make impact the business, but also create your legacy. Don’t be afraid to take advantage of the opportunities out there so your work will always be remembered.