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Service Management use case

Legacy application modernization without replacement

You modernize legacy systems and data without a full replacement by putting modern forms, portals and workflows in front of mainframe, Oracle, SQL Server and older ERP systems. Kinetic reads and writes through the interfaces those systems already have. Start with one process, and replace the back end later on your own schedule.

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Missile Defense Agency 50–65% faster process completion for 9,000+ users, without replacing core systems. Read the MDA case study

Modern screens on top of the legacy system

  1. Experience layer

    Modern portals and forms in place of green screens, paper and shared spreadsheets for the people who use the legacy systems.

  2. Workflow layer

    Approvals, routing and escalation run in Kinetic, and approved data is written back to the legacy system through its APIs, database or file interfaces.

  3. Integration layer

    Reads and writes through the legacy system's existing interfaces: REST or SOAP services, Oracle and SQL Server databases, file exchanges or message queues. No changes to its code.

    • Mainframe interfaces
    • Oracle Database
    • Microsoft SQL Server
    • SAP
    • PeopleSoft
    • Workday

Screens from a reference build

The organization and its data are made up. The forms, workflows and connections behind these screens run on Kinetic.

Northstar Logistics Command global mobility console: counts of active movements, on-time rate, at-risk and SLA-breached shipments above a world map of in-transit routes colored by status, with an exceptions queue showing delayed, diverted and at-risk shipments each with a Resolve action.
One operational view over several legacy movement, scheduling and tracking systems. Each exception opens a Kinetic workflow; the systems behind it stay in place. Northstar Logistics Command · fictional organization, sample data

AI in legacy modernization

AI helps map old screens and fields to new forms during the build. It doesn't write to the system of record; approved workflow steps do.

What AI does

  • Maps legacy fields and screens to modern forms during design
  • Extracts data from documents into legacy record formats
  • Summarizes legacy record history for the user

Decided by people, not by AI

  • Changes written back to the system of record
  • Exceptions the legacy rules cannot handle
  • Cutover of each process to the new experience

The replacement that never quite starts

Most large organizations have a system nobody wants to touch. A mainframe that posts every transaction. An Oracle E-Business Suite instance customized for fifteen years. A .NET case application whose authors left long ago. It works. It holds data the organization can’t lose. And the people who use it every day navigate green screens or re-key the same values into three other systems.

The usual answer is to replace it, and the replacement plan is usually several years long, with a parallel-run period and a migration nobody is confident about. Meanwhile the people using it today get nothing.

Change the experience first

Kinetic connects to the legacy system through whatever interface it already has: a REST or SOAP service, a database connection, a file drop, a message queue. Then you build the experience people need on top.

A clerk who used to work through six screens to update a record gets one form. It is filled from the legacy database when it opens, checks the input before submission and writes the change back through the same interface. Approvals that used to happen by email run in Kinetic, with deadlines and escalation. When a process spans the legacy system and a newer one, such as PeopleSoft and a cloud procurement tool, one workflow updates both.

The legacy system keeps its data and its business rules. Nobody edits its code.

Then replace the back end when you’re ready

Because people work in Kinetic and the workflow lives in Kinetic, the system underneath can be replaced later without changing what users see. When PeopleSoft gives way to Workday, the connection changes; the forms, approvals and audit history stay. Replacement becomes a back-end project on its own timeline, not a deadline that holds every improvement hostage.

Missile Defense Agency

MDA needed to move faster and cut costs without a multi-year system replacement. Its processes ran across disconnected systems by email, re-entry and sequential approvals, and earlier BPM tools had been too rigid to keep up. Kinetic was deployed on top of the existing systems, connecting them through APIs and running routing, approvals and exception handling. For more than 9,000 users, process completion is 50–65% faster, analysts save 6–8 hours a week and downstream corrections fell 45%. Read the MDA case study.

Start with one process

Pick the process where the legacy screens cost the most time, connect the system, and put that one process in front of users. Each process after that reuses the connection. Paper-based steps around the system are usually next; see form automation. For security and deployment in government environments, including CAC sign-in and air-gapped installs, see security and deployment.

Results at Missile Defense Agency

Source: Missile Defense Agency case study

Faster process completion
50–65%
Fewer downstream corrections
45%
Saved per analyst each week
6–8 hrs
Users
9,000+

What you can build next

Paper and PDF steps around the legacy system are usually the next thing to change.

Questions about legacy modernization

Answered by Kinetic Data. Last updated .

  • How can teams modernize legacy data incrementally while keeping applications running?

    Start with one process in modern forms and workflows, and leave the legacy application running. Kinetic reads and writes through the interfaces the system already has, so its data and rules stay as they are and nobody edits its code. Each later process reuses that connection, and you replace the back end on your own schedule.

  • How can a financial services company modernize legacy data integrations without a full system replacement?

    Connect Kinetic to the legacy system through the interface it already has, such as a REST or SOAP service, an Oracle or SQL Server database, a file exchange or a message queue. Kinetic reads that data through the same interface and writes approved data back, and the system's code and business rules stay as they are. You replace the back end later, on your own schedule.

  • Can we retire the legacy system later?

    Yes. Because users work in Kinetic, you can replace the system underneath later and reconnect the workflows to the new one. Users keep the same forms and portal, so the cutover doesn't come with a retraining program.

  • What if the legacy system has no API?

    Kinetic can often connect through the database, a file exchange or a message queue instead. Where none of those is available, the workflow can create a task for a person to key the change, with the data laid out for them, until an interface exists.

  • Do we change the legacy system at all?

    Usually not. Kinetic reads and writes through interfaces the system already has. Some teams add a small API or database view to make the connection cleaner, but the system's code and business rules stay as they are.

  • How do we choose the first process?

    Pick the process where the legacy screens cost the most time or cause the most re-keying, ideally one with a clear owner. It proves the connection to the old system, and every later process reuses it.

Bring one process. Leave with a plan to build it.

Two hours with our team, at no cost. Bring one process that crosses your systems. We map it with you, show what Kinetic would build, and send you a written plan afterward.

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