Modern enterprises operate in a fast-paced environment that demands rapid innovation and the adoption of advanced technologies. However, many organizations still rely on legacy systems that struggle to meet these rising expectations, creating potential security risks, high maintenance costs, and a shrinking pool of experts familiar with outdated technology stacks.

While modernizing these legacy systems is critical, it is also complex and costly due to obsolete technologies, limited technical expertise, and substantial investment requirements. FPT can be your trusted partner in navigating this transformation. With deep experience in legacy modernization and strong capabilities in leveraging generative AI, cloud computing, and automation, FPT delivers tailored solutions that help enterprises reduce modernization costs and improve operational efficiency.

Key challenges of legacy systems across domains

Legacy systems pose a range of structural and operational challenges that affect cost, efficiency, risk, agility, and security across industries.

High cost to operate and maintain

Legacy systems often incur high operational and maintenance costs due to outdated technology and infrastructure. These systems are generally less efficient, leading to higher resource consumption, slower performance, and increased operating expenses.

According to research, the average cost to operate and maintain a single legacy system is 30 million USD, with at least 1.14 trillion USD spent annually on maintaining existing IT investments.

Inefficiency due to isolated systems and lack of interoperability

Many legacy systems were originally designed as standalone solutions and lack the interoperability needed to communicate with other platforms or software applications. As a result, organizations may experience fragmented workflows, data silos, and manual processes that increase the time required to complete tasks.

Because legacy systems are often built on multiple layers of technology accumulated over many years, integrating them with newer systems such as cloud platforms, API-driven architectures, or real-time analytics tools can be complex and resource intensive.

High risks due to resource shortage

Legacy systems can create significant risk for organizations when there is a shortage of skilled resources to maintain and support them. According to Deloitte, companies have seen a 23% decline in their mainframe workforce over the past five years, with 63% of these positions remaining unfilled.

This shortage of expertise can lead to extended downtimes, slower incident response, and delays in resolving critical issues.

Latency and low responsiveness to business changes

Because legacy systems were built to handle specific tasks and processes, they often introduce latency and slow responsiveness. When companies need to adapt quickly whether by implementing new features, entering new channels, or responding to changing market conditions legacy systems frequently struggle to keep pace.

These platforms typically require manual workarounds and complex integrations to support new requirements, which hinders continuous innovation and slows down time to market.

Vulnerability and lack of integrity due to outdated documentation

Legacy formats may lack robust security features to protect sensitive data against modern threats. According to PwC, legacy systems are affecting organizations' ability to manage and respond to risk, with 36% of global businesses facing increased security vulnerabilities due to their inability to withstand increasingly sophisticated cyber risks.

Over time, the integrity of data stored in legacy systems can deteriorate as these platforms fail to support necessary updates and validations. In addition, outdated documentation and records may no longer align with current regulations or industry standards, creating compliance risks and increasing the likelihood of data breaches.

The road to modernization: FPT’s secret recipe for legacy transformation

Legacy modernization is no longer optional; it has become a strategic necessity for enterprises across every industry. To address this, FPT has developed a comprehensive and tailored approach built on three key pillars: Customization, Cost Optimization, and Expertise. Together, these elements form the foundation of our methodology for driving successful, large-scale digital transformation.

Customization: A tailored approach for every legacy system

Every legacy system is unique, so a one-size-fits-all solution is not viable. FPT provides a flexible modernization strategy that adapts to the specific requirements, constraints, and business priorities of each system. Our approach leverages multiple modernization paths, including:

  • Rewrite: Developing new applications from the ground up.
  • Rebuild: Updating and optimizing existing code for modern platforms.
  • Rehost: Transitioning legacy applications to new infrastructure without altering core functionality.
  • Remake: Reengineering systems to meet evolving business demands.
  • Replace: Migrating entirely to new software solutions or platforms when necessary.

Cost optimization and process efficiency with scalable delivery

Cost management and operational efficiency are critical success factors in any legacy modernization initiative. To maximize business value, FPT leverages a global delivery model that combines onshore, nearshore, and offshore resources with 24/7 availability.

This model enables clients to scale resources up or down based on project demands while maintaining cost control. It also helps ensure that the right expertise is always available at the right time, supporting continuous progress and minimizing disruption to business operations.

Deep expertise and a dedicated CoE for legacy modernization

Successful legacy modernization requires more than advanced tools - it demands proven expertise. FPT brings over 18 years of experience delivering legacy modernization projects for the BFSI sector, supported by a large pool of 2,500 experts with deep mainframe technology skills and strong domain knowledge.

Our dedicated Center of Excellence (CoE) for legacy modernization ensures that best practices, standardized methodologies, and quality benchmarks are consistently applied across projects. In addition, we invest in continuous professional development through initiatives such as the Cobol Academy, enabling our experts to stay at the forefront of evolving technologies and maintain long-term value for our clients.

Legacy modernization with xMainframe

Generative AI has moved far beyond a buzzword to become a transformative force across industries. In the context of legacy modernization, it plays a pivotal role by analyzing outdated code, identifying complex dependencies, and proposing optimal strategies to update or replace legacy systems. By automating much of this traditionally manual work, generative AI significantly reduces the time, cost, and complexity associated with modernization initiatives. According to Gartner, by 2027, GenAI tools will be able to explain legacy business applications and generate suitable replacements, cutting modernization costs by up to 70%.

Building on this generative AI wave, FPT harnesses its power to accelerate legacy system transformation with xMainframe, an advanced large language model (LLM) tailored to seamlessly understand and interact with mainframe environments and COBOL codebases. With this solution, enterprises can achieve accuracy rates of up to 97%, delivering performance that is around six times more efficient than earlier models such as ChatGPT 3.5 and 4. xMainframe has also proven highly effective for data extraction and report generation, particularly when handling unformatted input files. By automating these tasks, it shortens processing times from months to weeks, enabling faster and more efficient legacy modernization.

Powering legacy modernization with FPT

Many organizations struggle to modernize their legacy systems due to outdated technology stacks, a shortage of technical experts, and rising transformation costs. These challenges can slow down innovation, increase operational risk, and make it harder to stay competitive.

FPT serves as a trusted partner to navigate this complex journey. With deep expertise in legacy modernization and advanced capabilities in leveraging generative AI, cloud computing, and automation, we deliver tailored solutions that help enterprises reduce modernization costs and improve operational efficiency.

Find out more on how FPT can reimagine your legacy systems with AI.

Frequently Asked Questions

What modernization challenges do large enterprises face with legacy systems today, and where does FPT fit in? Enterprises struggle with outdated tech stacks, talent shortages, rising costs, security gaps, and slow change cycles. FPT positions itself as an AI- and cloud-enabled partner that understands complex legacy environments, offering tailored modernization strategies to reduce risk, control costs, and accelerate digital transformation.

How do legacy systems increase business costs and inefficiencies? Legacy platforms rely on outdated infrastructure, consume more resources, and are hard to integrate. They cause fragmented workflows, data silos, manual processes, and slower performance. This leads to high run costs, complex maintenance, longer lead times, and greater operational risk across business units.

What is FPT’s three-pillar legacy modernization approach and how does it reduce risk and cost? FPT’s approach combines deep customization for each legacy estate, cost optimization via a global delivery and scalable resourcing model, and proven expertise through a large mainframe talent pool and a dedicated modernization CoE. Together, these pillars deliver safer, faster, and more cost-effective transformation.

How do XMainframe and GenAI speed up legacy code analysis? xMainframe, FPT’s LLM for mainframes, uses generative AI to analyze legacy code, map dependencies, and suggest modernization options. It automates tasks that traditionally took months, improving accuracy and speed while sharply reducing analysis effort, risk, and cost in large modernization programs.

In what ways does FPT use AI, cloud, and automation to deliver end-to-end legacy modernization? FPT combines generative AI, cloud platforms, and automation to cover assessment, code analysis, remediation, migration, testing, and optimization. With global delivery, domain expertise, and specialized tools like xMainframe, FPT supports a full modernization journey from mainframe to modern, cloud-ready architectures.

What are the next steps if we want to explore FPT’s AI-driven legacy modernization offerings? You can start by requesting a discovery or assessment focused on your key legacy systems, costs, and risks. FPT will review your estate, propose tailored modernization options using AI and cloud, and outline roadmap, timelines, and business case so you can validate value and decide on a pilot.