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Maintaining legacy system integrity while integrating new technologies is a major challenge in platform engineering, according to nearly half (49%) of respondents in Qt Group's commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting.
In this blog, I’ll explore strategies to tackle these challenges, share best practices for integration, and help you prepare for what lies ahead.
What are the Main Legacy System Challenges?
Embedded software developers often face three significant challenges when navigating legacy systems. Let’s begin by walking you through them:
Managing Existing Code
Integrating new technology with outdated, massive codebases built in different languages and architectures is no easy task. Established automakers, for example, struggle to add self-driving tech while maintaining legacy systems. Managing these legacy systems often means dealing with dependencies and compatibility issues that slow development and innovation.
Compliance and Risk Management
Balancing innovation and functionality with strict regulatory and security requirements is another significant challenge. In industries like healthcare, every new feature must meet high system reliability and comply with safety standards, requiring rigorous testing.
Aging Workforce
As experienced engineers retire, it becomes harder to find new talent familiar with outdated technologies, like Fortran in banking. This knowledge gap risks creating technical debt, as newer engineers may not understand legacy codebases, potentially resulting in system downtime and performance issues.
What are the Best Practices for Integrating Legacy Systems?
There are ways to mitigate the complexities of legacy system integration. In our experience, at Qt Group, we recommend the following best practices:
Incremental Upgrades
When integrating new tools and third-party libraries, prioritize incremental upgrades over complete system overhauls. Leadership should invest in gradual innovation, ensuring that system changes remain adaptable in the long run. Avoid short-term profit-driven strategies, as these can prevent necessary updates and system improvements.
Sudden technology overhauls often fail, such as Nokia’s attempt to overhaul its system without a unified strategy to curate and seamlessly migrate an existing large developer ecosystem. In contrast, Apple and Android built strong communities that supported their platforms’ success. Integration should be gradual, with new technology integrated alongside existing systems to ensure a smooth transition.
Shift Left Testing
Start by testing new integrations on a low-risk system before full implementation. For example, companies might try a hybrid integration of Qt Quick for a new 3D rendering feature alongside an existing C++ backend. This allows teams to refine processes and build expertise without disrupting core operations, ensuring scalability and adaptability across main systems.
Support Change by Design
Designing the platform to be upgradable is a crucial yet often overlooked, aspect of long-term success. Many platforms fail because they do not plan for consistent updates—a common issue seen in how organizations manage Linux kernel updates. If a company periodically follows the upstream kernel, it is less likely to encounter significant problems during updates.
However, organizations that select a kernel version that is already outdated and attempt an upgrade only after several years often face a daunting full-system overhaul. Planning for periodic, incremental upgrades from the start reduces the risk of significant disruptions and ensures a smoother evolution of the system over time.
Tools That Speak the Same Language
Disconnected tools in embedded hardware often complicate integration, but a hybrid approach offers an effective solution. By adopting a mix of QML or Qt Quick with legacy backends, developers can address these issues. For example, a heart rate monitor that once relied on C++ widgets now requires a 3D interface. Integrating Qt Quick for rendering alongside the C++ backend delivers a seamless experience while preserving legacy investments.
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What are the key Legacy System Challenges Ahead?
The AI revolution is driving a surge of new chipsets, creating a fragmented hardware landscape. Companies need to support a growing number of platforms, from Apple’s custom chips to ARM-based Windows devices. If a system can’t adapt to new hardware, it risks obsolescence and losing competitive advantages.
Legacy system challenges also extend to cross-team workflows. Often, technology decisions are made in silos, which leads to friction across design, development, and QA teams. A successful product requires seamless collaboration across all departments, ensuring that workflows, tools, and processes integrate smoothly.
Optimizing across teams instead of local areas results in better productivity and scalability. A well-integrated workflow enables platform choices that remain maintainable and adaptable even as new technologies and updates emerge.
Regulatory changes like the EU’s Cyber Resilience Act and U.S. FDA requirements add further complexity. These regulations demand that devices provide long-term support and security patches, which puts pressure on embedded system teams to meet deadlines and maintain product integrity.
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Overcoming legacy system challenges in embedded software requires a strategic, incremental approach. With a thoughtful, collaborative approach, companies can retain investments in legacy systems while driving innovation and future growth.
