Legacy modernization
Lemraj modernizes business-critical systems that are too important to rewrite from scratch and too expensive to keep running unchanged.
Who it's for
This service is for organisations carrying one or more of the following:
- An on-premises monolith that the business depends on, where every change is slow, expensive, or risky.
- A system on a stack approaching end-of-life support — older .NET frameworks, unsupported database engines, legacy application servers, vendor platforms with no clear roadmap.
- An integration estate built up over a decade of point-to-point connections, where nobody on the team can fully describe the system map.
- A vendor product that no longer fits the business but cannot be ripped out without breaking adjacent processes.
We typically engage with CTOs, IT directors, and enterprise architects in insurance and financial services, Dutch and EU public-sector programmes, and enterprises with complex integration estates.
What's included
A modernization engagement at Lemraj usually includes some combination of:
- Assessment. Architecture and dependency mapping of the existing system, with a frank read on technical debt, operational cost, and risk concentration.
- Target architecture. A target state designed for the constraints you actually have — compliance regime, change-control process, in-house operating capacity, integration boundaries.
- Strangler-pattern delivery. Incremental replacement of subsystems behind stable interfaces, so the business keeps running while the underneath changes.
- Data and integration migration. Schema, message contracts, and event flows redesigned to support the target state without losing history.
- Operational handover. Runbooks, observability, and rollback paths designed before code, not as an afterthought.
- Decommissioning plan. A clear set of conditions under which the legacy system is switched off — not "someday".
We do not do big-bang rewrites. We do not start a modernization without a way to stop one safely.
How we engage
- Typical timing: 2–4 week paid discovery, then 3–6 months for a focused modernization, or 6–12 months for a phased programme.
- Team shape: Solo lead architect for assessments and small modernizations; lead architect plus senior associates for larger programmes.
- Contracting: Time and materials with defined scope, milestones, and a written off-ramp at the end of each phase. Fixed-fee discovery for the entry-point engagement.
- Engagement size: From €25,000.
Outcomes
We report outcomes in business terms, not vanity metrics. Where outcomes are subject to client NDA, we say so.
A typical modernization engagement produces:
- A documented target architecture and phased delivery plan, owned by the client and not dependent on Lemraj's continued involvement.
- Replacement of one or more subsystems running in production with reduced operating risk, lower change cost, and a clear path to retiring the rest.
- An operations team that can run the new architecture without Lemraj on call.
Specific quantitative outcomes — transaction volumes, latency, batch windows, cost reductions — are available on request, subject to the relevant client NDA.