// Modernize
Legacy application modernization, without starting over
We modernize legacy applications page by page while your current system keeps running. Your existing system holds years of business rules and data; the trouble is everything around them: screens that are hard to use, pages that break on a phone, code only one person understands. Operations teams, plants and contractor networks bring us in to fix that, and you talk directly to the U.S.-based engineers doing the work.
// Sound familiar?
Signs it’s time to modernize your legacy application
If one of these sounds like your week, the old system is costing you more than it should.
“Our existing system is difficult to use.”
New hires need someone sitting beside them, people keep cheat sheets next to their monitors, and simple tasks take a dozen clicks. Start with the screens people touch most often.
Read the modernization guide →“Our contractors need to do this from their phones.”
The system was built for desktop screens, so people in the field wait until they’re back at a computer, or call the office instead. A responsive retrofit fixes that one page at a time.
Make it mobile-friendly →“Only one person understands it.”
The rules that run your operation live in old code and one person’s memory. Before anything changes, the system’s behavior needs to be written down so it isn’t lost when that person leaves.
Get a second team on it →“It can’t connect to anything.”
Orders get retyped into accounting, reports are built by copy and paste, and every new tool adds another spreadsheet. An API or integration can fix that without replacing the whole system.
Connect your systems →// Paths
Legacy application modernization services, by the problem you’re solving
Our web application modernization services start from the problem, not a standard package. Pick the path that fixes yours with the least disruption; some systems need more than one over time. Not sure? Browse all our services or describe the system to an engineer.
Mobile retrofit
Make it work on phones
Rework the screens field staff, contractors or customers struggle with so they work at phone width: forms, searches, status pages, photo uploads. Busiest pages first.
Mobile-friendly web apps →Classic ASP
Built on Classic ASP?
If your system still runs on Classic ASP and VBScript pages, we plan a phased move off it that carries over the business rules buried in the old code.
Classic ASP migration →Stalled project
Stuck or abandoned upgrade
A previous developer or agency started the upgrade and stopped. We assess what works and what’s missing, then help you decide whether to finish it or restart it.
Software project rescue →Integrations & reporting
Connect it to your other systems
Add an API or integration so the old system stops being an island: orders flow to accounting, data lands in SQL Server for Tableau reports, and nobody retypes between screens.
API integration services →Stabilize first
Keep it running while you plan
Sometimes the right first step is to fix the bugs that hurt, document how the system works and keep it supported. Modernization can follow when the budget is ready.
Maintenance and support →Rewrite
Rewrite, when it really is the right call
If the business rules no longer match how you work, or the platform can’t reasonably be updated, a planned rebuild beats more years of patching. We’ll tell you plainly if that’s where you are.
Custom software development →// Our method
Modernize a legacy web application without a rewrite: page by page
A full rewrite asks you to freeze the old system, rebuild everything, then switch everyone over on one day. Until then you’re paying for software nobody can use yet, and if the rewrite missed a rule nobody wrote down, you find out after the switch.
Working page by page turns that around. We pick the page causing the most trouble, rebuild it so it’s easy to use on any screen, release it, and move to the next. People keep using the rest of the system as they always have, and each release is small enough to check properly.
We’re modernizing Amusement Advantage’s existing contractor portal page by page, so contractors can register, find and apply for assignments, check status, update their information and upload photos from their phones. Each page is tested on a staging copy before production, and we provide ongoing maintenance.
Modernization · Contractor portal
A contractor portal made mobile-friendly, page by page
We’re modernizing Amusement Advantage’s existing contractor portal for its network of 60,000+ contractors. Mobile-responsive pages now cover about 90% of the contractor workflow, with 20–30% fewer support requests for login, opportunity search and assignment status.
Engaging Effortless Presence was one of the best decisions I have ever made as a business owner. They are one of our most valued vendors and readily earned a spot in my lifeboat!
Scot Carson
Chief Experience Officer, Amusement Advantage
// Continuity
What stays: your data, reports and the way people work
Legacy system modernization doesn’t have to mean moving everything behind the screens. Your database holds years of history, and your reports, exports and other applications were built against it. Moving that data is a project with its own risks, so keeping your database and reporting where they are is the default plan unless there’s a strong reason to move them.
Before changing a page, we map what reads and writes the database: dashboards, scheduled exports, connected applications, the spreadsheet someone in finance refreshes every Monday. If a change would break one of them, we want to know before it ships.
We also keep what people depend on. Bookmarked and emailed links redirect to the new pages, and field names and the order of steps stay familiar. What changes first is what hurts: the screens with the most complaints, the forms that fail on a phone, the steps people have learned to work around.
If the database itself is the problem, we’ll say so and plan that move as a separate phase instead of bundling it into the screen work.
// Engagement
How a legacy modernization engagement runs
Step 1
Engineer-led assessment
Your first call is with an engineer. We walk through the system with you: who uses it and on what devices, which screens cause the most trouble, what it connects to, and where the business rules live.
Step 2
Page inventory and phased plan
We list every page, form, report and integration, note what reads and writes the database, and group the work into phases. The first phase goes after what hurts most, sized so you can judge the approach on real pages before planning the next.
Step 3
Small releases, checked before production
Modernized pages go live in small batches while the rest of the system keeps working as before. Each batch is small enough to review and test properly before it reaches production.
Step 4
Maintenance by the same crew
The engineers who modernize the system host and maintain it afterward, so what they learned about your rules and data stays with the people looking after it.
// Selected work
Selected work from our crew
After launch, software still needs looking after. Beyond modernization work, our crew runs our own platform and hosts and maintains a confidential client’s careers website. See all case studies.
Our own platform · Restaurants
A platform we designed, built and still run
Just A Menu keeps QR menus, TV menu boards, print, websites and an API in sync from one dashboard, plus the JAM Player hardware.
Hosting · Maintenance
A national careers website, hosted and maintained
We host and maintain the careers website for a national retail chain. The client is confidential, so we don’t name it.
// Credentials
The basics, before you ask.
Since 2018
Building and supporting software
Orlando, FL
100% U.S.-based team, clients nationwide
SAP Ariba
Registered supplier
NDAs welcome
Happy to sign before you share details
Top Web Design Companies
DesignRush
// FAQ
Legacy application modernization FAQ
Should we rewrite or modernize what we have?
Usually modernize first: rewrites risk losing business rules buried in old code. If a rewrite really is the better path, the engineer on your first call will explain why. Our rewrite or refactor scorecard walks through the same questions.
Can you modernize without disrupting the people who use it every day?
That’s the reason to work page by page: the existing system keeps running while modernized pages replace old ones, one at a time. It’s how we’re modernizing Amusement Advantage’s contractor portal, with each page tested on a staging copy before production.
How much does legacy application modernization cost?
It depends on how many screens and workflows change, the integrations involved, data cleanup and how much you want done at once. Working page by page lets you fund it in phases. Your first call is with an engineer who can scope a sensible first phase. Our guide to what drives custom software cost covers the main factors.
What if only one person understands how the current system works?
Then documenting it comes first. We read the code and the database, sit down with that person while they’re still around, and write down the rules the system enforces before any page changes. If they’ve already left, our software handover checklist lists what to recover.
Can you keep our database and reports working?
Keeping your data and reporting in place is the default plan unless there’s a strong reason to move them. We map what reads the database, including dashboards, scheduled exports and connected applications, before changing anything.
Who maintains it afterward?
The same crew that modernizes it hosts and maintains it, and you keep talking directly to the engineers who know your system. See maintenance and support for what that covers.
// Keep exploring
More on legacy software modernization
Free tool
Rewrite vs refactor scorecard
Rewrite vs refactor? Score your legacy application on value, pressure, risk, data and readiness, and get a recommended path with the reasons behind it.
Use the free tool →Guide
Modernize an old web app
How to modernize an old web application without a risky rewrite: page by page, starting with the screens people use most, each tested on a staging copy.
Read more →Service
Mobile-friendly retrofits
Make your existing web app or portal mobile-friendly without a rebuild: page by page, the way we’re modernizing Amusement Advantage’s contractor portal.
Read more →// Bring us in
Tell us about the software your business runs on.
A new build, a system that’s hard to use, a stuck project or a prototype that needs to go live. An engineer, not a salesperson, will get back to you.
202-88-MAGIC · or email info@effortlesspresence.com