Many legacy systems that have evolved over decades have some of the following characteristics:

• Excessive disk and tape usage that leads to higher storage costs
• Historical defects for which workaround e.g. like data fix scripts are used on a regular basis
• Long term pending change requests
• Redundant files/ tables/ fields that contribute to higher infrastructure costs

Typically, owing to existing production support load, these issues are considered a low priority and can remain open for years. Hiring scarce mainframe contractors may not be a cost-effective answer.

NIIT involvement with large legacy clients has enabled it to design a formal methodology for improvement of legacy systems. Given the high cost of legacy infrastructure, these programmes have in many cases given Return on Investment in as little as one year. NIIT's Insight tool framework is used extensively for impact analysis and assessment. The vast bulk of the activities happen from offshore.