[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":661},["ShallowReactive",2],{"page:index-navigation":3,"home:service-page:footer":9,"page:help-pages":244,"page:service-page":268,"blog-page-content":314,"blog-post-the-rebuild-decision-what-to-modernise-retain-or-retire-in-the-age-of-ai":341,"blog-author-the-rebuild-decision-what-to-modernise-retain-or-retire-in-the-age-of-ai":650},{"helpBlocks":4},[5,6,7,8],"advice","projects","people","support",{"groupedServices":10},[11],{"title":12,"groups":13},"Services",[14,55,96,135,172,208],{"title":15,"slug":16,"icon":17,"subtitle":18,"services":19},"Strategy","strategy","lucide:compass","Shaping AI and digital transformation strategies that help organisations prioritise investment, define practical roadmaps, strengthen governance, and build the operating models needed to adopt change with confidence.",[20,27,34,41,48],{"slug":21,"title":22,"subtitle":23,"description":24,"image":25,"icon":26},"ai-digital-strategy","AI & Digital Strategy","Supporting organisations through AI adoption and digital transformation","Assessing where AI and digital can deliver the greatest value, building the business case for investment and developing a prioritised roadmap grounded in what your organisation can deliver at pace and at scale.","\u002Fimg\u002Fservice-page\u002Fgen-ai.jpg","lucide:sparkles",{"slug":28,"title":29,"subtitle":30,"description":31,"image":32,"icon":33},"ai-digital-delivery","AI & Digital Delivery","Delivering strategic roadmaps to for digital and AI-enabled change","Providing the engineering, data science and AI capability needed to take complex AI and digital programmes from validated strategy through to successful delivery, for organisations that need both the technical depth and the delivery structure to execute consistently.","\u002Fimg\u002Fservice-page\u002Freporting.jpg","lucide:map",{"slug":35,"title":36,"subtitle":37,"description":38,"image":39,"icon":40},"ai-native-operating-models","AI Native Operating Models","Designing operating models that embed AI into teams, services and delivery","Designing and delivering AI-native operating model transformations across organisational structure, processes, workforce and technology, combining hands-on AI delivery experience with consulting expertise to deliver transformations focused on operational reality.","\u002Fimg\u002Fservice-page\u002Fcloud-design.jpg","lucide:building-2",{"slug":42,"title":43,"subtitle":44,"description":45,"image":46,"icon":47},"ai-data-maturity","AI & Data Maturity","Assessing organisational readiness and capability across AI and data","Delivering independent, evidence-based assessments of AI and data capability across people, process, technology and governance, identifying the most significant capability gaps and building a structured, prioritised plan to address them.","\u002Fimg\u002Fservice-page\u002Fanalytics.jpg","lucide:bar-chart-3",{"slug":49,"title":50,"subtitle":51,"description":52,"image":53,"icon":54},"governance-risk-security","Governance, Risk & Security","Establishing controls and frameworks for responsible, secure AI adoption","Helping organisations manage governance, risk and security across AI and digital programmes, from establishing AI governance frameworks and responsible AI policies to regulatory compliance and cyber security advisory.","\u002Fimg\u002Fservice-page\u002Fcloud-security.jpg","lucide:shield-check",{"title":56,"slug":57,"icon":58,"subtitle":59,"services":60},"Engineering","engineering","lucide:cog","Building large-scale, complex software platforms - from enterprise legacy modernisation, to greenfield projects, we deliver solutions that automate, streamline and simplify processes, meeting the needs of today and the future.",[61,68,75,82,89],{"slug":62,"title":63,"subtitle":64,"description":65,"image":66,"icon":67},"software-development-company-uk","Software Development","Engineering complex, mission critical software platforms","Designing and delivering large-scale, complex software platforms for enterprise and public sector organisations across industries, from initial discovery and design through to deployment and long-term support.","\u002Fimg\u002Fservice-page\u002Fsoftware-development.jpg","lucide:code",{"slug":69,"title":70,"subtitle":71,"description":72,"image":73,"icon":74},"ai-assisted-engineering","AI-Assisted Engineering","Accelerating software delivery with AI-enabled engineering practices","Embedding AI tools and practices across engineering teams to accelerate delivery, improve code quality and build lasting AI capability, from AI-assisted code generation and review to AI-powered testing and deployment automation.","\u002Fimg\u002Fservice-page\u002Fai-assisted-software-development.jpg","lucide:cpu",{"slug":76,"title":77,"subtitle":78,"description":79,"image":80,"icon":81},"systems-integration","Systems Integration","Integrating systems to operate as a single framework","Connecting core business systems so they operate as a single, coherent framework, covering ERP, CRM, finance and reporting platforms, with real-time data accuracy and the audit trails needed to manage complex enterprise environments reliably.","\u002Fimg\u002Fservice-page\u002Fsystem-intergration.jpg","lucide:git-merge",{"slug":83,"title":84,"subtitle":85,"description":86,"image":87,"icon":88},"mobile-development","Mobile Development","Delivering performant, scalable and robust user-driven mobile applications","Delivering performant, scalable and user-driven mobile applications for enterprise and public sector organisations, from cross-platform apps and PWAs to native iOS and Android solutions built for complex operational environments.","\u002Fimg\u002Fservice-page\u002Fmobile-development.jpg","lucide:smartphone",{"slug":90,"title":91,"subtitle":92,"description":93,"image":94,"icon":95},"front-end-development-company","Front End Development","Building intuitive and scalable user-focused digital experiences","Designing and building intuitive, accessible and performant front end applications, from UX strategy and prototyping through to full delivery, for organisations where digital experience is central to how they serve customers and teams.","\u002Fimg\u002Fservice-page\u002Ffront-end-software-development.jpg","lucide:layout",{"title":97,"slug":98,"icon":99,"subtitle":100,"services":101},"Testing","testing","lucide:check-circle","Helping organisations assure quality across platforms, products and services - from defining test approaches to automating validation, performance assurance and security-focused testing.",[102,108,115,122,129],{"slug":103,"title":104,"subtitle":105,"description":106,"image":32,"icon":107},"testing-strategy","Test Strategy","Defining scalable test approaches aligned to delivery goals and risk","Defining, auditing and improving software testing strategies for enterprise and public sector organisations, covering functional and non-functional testing, automation, tooling and team capability in a single coherent framework.","lucide:clipboard-check",{"slug":109,"title":110,"subtitle":111,"description":112,"image":113,"icon":114},"automated-testing","Automated Testing","Building automated test suites to improve quality, speed and confidence","Designing and delivering automated testing frameworks across end-to-end, API and performance testing, built around your technology stack and embedded directly into delivery pipelines for reliable, maintainable coverage at pace.","\u002Fimg\u002Fservice-page\u002Fdevops.jpg","lucide:bot",{"slug":116,"title":117,"subtitle":118,"description":119,"image":120,"icon":121},"performance-load-testing","Performance & Load Testing","Validating system performance, resilience and scalability under demand","Validating system performance under real-world demand for organisations where reliability, scalability and speed are business-critical, from pre-release testing and bottleneck identification through to continuous performance testing in delivery pipelines.","\u002Fimg\u002Fservice-page\u002Fcloud-native.jpg","lucide:gauge",{"slug":123,"title":124,"subtitle":125,"description":126,"image":127,"icon":128},"ai-testing-and-validation","AI Testing & Validation","Testing AI systems for quality, safety, reliability and expected outcomes","Validating AI models and systems across accuracy, reliability and deployment readiness, from pre-deployment model evaluation and independent AI assurance through to production monitoring and LLM red teaming.","\u002Fimg\u002Fservice-page\u002Fprototype.jpg","lucide:flask-conical",{"slug":130,"title":131,"subtitle":132,"description":133,"image":53,"icon":134},"security-testing","Security Testing","Identifying vulnerabilities and strengthening confidence in system security","Identifying and addressing security vulnerabilities across software systems, infrastructure, development practices and AI systems, covering penetration testing, threat modelling, vulnerability assessment and LLM red teaming.","lucide:shield",{"title":136,"slug":137,"icon":138,"subtitle":139,"services":140},"Data","data","lucide:database","Turning data into a valuable asset - from building centralised data platforms to delivering clear, accessible reporting and analytics, we enable teams to make faster, more informed decisions based on trusted data.",[141,146,152,159,165],{"slug":142,"title":143,"subtitle":144,"description":145,"image":32,"icon":47},"data-visualisation-consultancy","Data Visualisation & Reporting","Delivering custom reporting for data-driven decision making","Designing and delivering interactive dashboards, custom reports and real-time analytics aligned to your KPIs, giving operational and strategic teams the visibility they need to make informed, data-driven decisions.",{"slug":147,"title":148,"subtitle":149,"description":150,"image":46,"icon":151},"data-analytics-company","Data Analytics","Uncovering actionable insights for data-driven transformation","Analysing large-scale, complex datasets to surface trends, correlations and forecasts that inform decisions across sales, supply chain, operations and strategic planning, from predictive analytics to big data analysis.","lucide:line-chart",{"slug":153,"title":154,"subtitle":155,"description":156,"image":157,"icon":158},"data-migration-services","Data Migration","Delivering large migrations across architectures and environments","Delivering large-scale, complex data migrations across cloud, database and application systems, ensuring data is clean, accurate and reliable throughout transition with no disruption to operations or loss of data fidelity.","\u002Fimg\u002Fservice-page\u002Fmigration.jpg","lucide:database-backup",{"slug":160,"title":161,"subtitle":162,"description":163,"image":164,"icon":138},"data-engineering-services","Data Engineering","Engineering pipelines to consolidate, process and aggregate data","Building the scalable data pipelines, storage architectures and integration frameworks that consolidate, process and aggregate data across the organisation, providing the foundations for effective analytics and decision making.","\u002Fimg\u002Fservice-page\u002Fdata-engineering.jpg",{"slug":166,"title":167,"subtitle":168,"description":169,"image":170,"icon":171},"data-platform-consulting","Enterprise Data Products","Designing, delivering and optimising enterprise data platforms to provide unified data foundations","Designing, implementing and optimising enterprise data platforms using Snowflake, Databricks and Apache Spark, delivering unified, governed data foundations that support analytics, self-service insights and AI capability at scale.","\u002Fimg\u002Fservice-page\u002Fenterprise-data-products.jpg","lucide:layers",{"title":173,"slug":174,"icon":175,"subtitle":176,"services":177},"AI","ai","lucide:brain","Guiding organisations through the practical application of AI - from early experimentation to production-grade systems, we create solutions that improve services and enable organisations to make decisions better, faster and at scale.",[178,183,190,195,202],{"slug":179,"title":180,"subtitle":181,"description":182,"image":127,"icon":128},"ai-consultancy","Prototypes and PoCs","Validating AI opportunities through rapid experimentation and prototyping","Validating AI concepts through rapid prototyping and proof of concept delivery across language and conversation, vision and detection, and prediction and optimisation use cases, helping organisations de-risk AI investment before committing to full development.",{"slug":184,"title":185,"subtitle":186,"description":187,"image":188,"icon":189},"ai-machine-learning-company","Production AI","Designing and delivering production-ready AI solutions at scale","Taking validated AI models into production for enterprise and public sector organisations, addressing model performance, integration, MLOps and ongoing monitoring to ensure AI systems perform consistently in live environments over the long term.","\u002Fimg\u002Fservice-page\u002Fconcept-to-delivery.jpg","lucide:rocket",{"slug":191,"title":192,"subtitle":193,"description":194,"image":25,"icon":114},"agentic-ai","Agentic AI","Building agent-based AI systems that can reason, act and automate","Building, running and supporting agentic AI systems for enterprise and public sector organisations, executing multi-step workflows, coordinating across systems and completing complex tasks with minimal human intervention.",{"slug":196,"title":197,"subtitle":198,"description":199,"image":200,"icon":201},"ai-machine-learning-operations-consulting","AI Cloud Platforms\u002FServices","Providing platforms and services to build, deploy and scale trusted AI","Building, deploying and scaling AI solutions across Azure, AWS and Google Cloud, from developing solutions using pre-built APIs and managed AI services through to foundation model customisation and cloud AI optimisation.","\u002Fimg\u002Fservice-page\u002Fai-cloud.jpg","lucide:cloud-cog",{"slug":203,"title":204,"subtitle":205,"description":206,"image":207,"icon":175},"ai-machine-learning-consulting","Data Science and ML","Building data science and machine learning solutions tailored to real-world challenges","Delivering data science and machine learning solutions for enterprise and public sector organisations across forecasting and prediction, insight and discovery, and optimisation and recommendation use cases.","\u002Fimg\u002Fservice-page\u002Fml.jpg",{"title":209,"slug":210,"icon":211,"subtitle":212,"services":213},"Cloud","cloud","lucide:cloud","Supporting organisations in building secure, scalable cloud environments - whether migrating systems, modernising platforms, or optimising existing infrastructure, we focus on delivering cloud solutions that improve performance, resilience, and cost-efficiency.",[214,220,227,233,239],{"slug":215,"title":216,"subtitle":217,"description":218,"image":39,"icon":219},"cloud-architecture-consulting","Cloud Architecture & Design","Designing cloud solutions optimised for resilience and scale","Designing and architecting robust, scalable cloud solutions across public and hybrid cloud environments, from cloud strategy and planning through to implementation and ongoing optimisation, using Well-Architected Frameworks and infrastructure-as-code techniques.","lucide:network",{"slug":221,"title":222,"subtitle":223,"description":224,"image":225,"icon":226},"cloud-migration-consulting","Cloud Adoption & Migration","Migrating to cloud infrastructures to enhance accessibility, performance and scalability","Delivering seamless migration of systems, data and workloads to optimal cloud platforms with minimal disruption to operations, across Azure, AWS and Google Cloud, from initial assessment and adoption planning through to post-migration optimisation and support.","\u002Fimg\u002Fservice-page\u002Fcloud-adoption.jpg","lucide:cloud-upload",{"slug":228,"title":229,"subtitle":230,"description":231,"image":120,"icon":232},"cloud-application-development","Cloud Native Solutions","Building scalable and resilient cloud native solutions rapidly","Designing and building highly scalable, resilient cloud native applications that fully harness the advantages of dynamic cloud environments, from microservices architecture and containerisation through to automated CI\u002FCD pipelines and continuous delivery.","lucide:boxes",{"slug":234,"title":235,"subtitle":236,"description":237,"image":113,"icon":238},"devops-consulting-services","DevOps & Pipelines","Embedding automation through DevOps for continuous integration, delivery and deployment","Transforming how software is delivered and released through optimised CI\u002FCD pipelines, infrastructure-as-code and DevOps culture, enabling teams to ship updates frequently, reliably and at pace across complex enterprise and public sector programmes.","lucide:workflow",{"slug":240,"title":241,"subtitle":242,"description":243,"image":53,"icon":54},"cloud-security-consulting","Cloud Security","Securing cloud environments through architecture, automation and optimisation","Securing cloud environments and workloads through risk-based security architecture, automated controls and continuous monitoring, helping organisations adopt cloud securely while meeting compliance obligations across Azure, AWS and Google Cloud.",[245,250,256,262],{"path":246,"title":247,"blockDescription":248,"icon":74,"bgColour":249},"\u002Fhelp\u002Fadvice","Advise","Offering strategic advice, technology consultancy and support on end-to-end digital transformation.","#1174d6",{"path":251,"title":252,"blockDescription":253,"icon":254,"bgColour":255},"\u002Fhelp\u002Fpeople","Collaborate","Augment your internal teams with skilled, experienced specialists to accelerate delivery and reduce risk.","lucide:users","#F4743B",{"path":257,"title":258,"blockDescription":259,"icon":260,"bgColour":261},"\u002Fhelp\u002Fprojects","Deliver","Combining domain and technology expertise to build digital products and services at speed and scale.","lucide:kanban-square","#348d69",{"path":263,"title":264,"blockDescription":265,"icon":266,"bgColour":267},"\u002Fhelp\u002Fsupport","Maintain","Managed support and hosting services to keep business-critical platforms secure, resilient and scalable.","mdi:gauge","#A93F55",{"groupedServices":269},[270],{"title":12,"groups":271},[272,279,286,293,300,307],{"title":15,"slug":16,"icon":17,"subtitle":18,"services":273},[274,275,276,277,278],{"slug":21,"title":22,"subtitle":23,"description":24,"image":25,"icon":26},{"slug":28,"title":29,"subtitle":30,"description":31,"image":32,"icon":33},{"slug":35,"title":36,"subtitle":37,"description":38,"image":39,"icon":40},{"slug":42,"title":43,"subtitle":44,"description":45,"image":46,"icon":47},{"slug":49,"title":50,"subtitle":51,"description":52,"image":53,"icon":54},{"title":56,"slug":57,"icon":58,"subtitle":59,"services":280},[281,282,283,284,285],{"slug":62,"title":63,"subtitle":64,"description":65,"image":66,"icon":67},{"slug":69,"title":70,"subtitle":71,"description":72,"image":73,"icon":74},{"slug":76,"title":77,"subtitle":78,"description":79,"image":80,"icon":81},{"slug":83,"title":84,"subtitle":85,"description":86,"image":87,"icon":88},{"slug":90,"title":91,"subtitle":92,"description":93,"image":94,"icon":95},{"title":97,"slug":98,"icon":99,"subtitle":100,"services":287},[288,289,290,291,292],{"slug":103,"title":104,"subtitle":105,"description":106,"image":32,"icon":107},{"slug":109,"title":110,"subtitle":111,"description":112,"image":113,"icon":114},{"slug":116,"title":117,"subtitle":118,"description":119,"image":120,"icon":121},{"slug":123,"title":124,"subtitle":125,"description":126,"image":127,"icon":128},{"slug":130,"title":131,"subtitle":132,"description":133,"image":53,"icon":134},{"title":136,"slug":137,"icon":138,"subtitle":139,"services":294},[295,296,297,298,299],{"slug":142,"title":143,"subtitle":144,"description":145,"image":32,"icon":47},{"slug":147,"title":148,"subtitle":149,"description":150,"image":46,"icon":151},{"slug":153,"title":154,"subtitle":155,"description":156,"image":157,"icon":158},{"slug":160,"title":161,"subtitle":162,"description":163,"image":164,"icon":138},{"slug":166,"title":167,"subtitle":168,"description":169,"image":170,"icon":171},{"title":173,"slug":174,"icon":175,"subtitle":176,"services":301},[302,303,304,305,306],{"slug":179,"title":180,"subtitle":181,"description":182,"image":127,"icon":128},{"slug":184,"title":185,"subtitle":186,"description":187,"image":188,"icon":189},{"slug":191,"title":192,"subtitle":193,"description":194,"image":25,"icon":114},{"slug":196,"title":197,"subtitle":198,"description":199,"image":200,"icon":201},{"slug":203,"title":204,"subtitle":205,"description":206,"image":207,"icon":175},{"title":209,"slug":210,"icon":211,"subtitle":212,"services":308},[309,310,311,312,313],{"slug":215,"title":216,"subtitle":217,"description":218,"image":39,"icon":219},{"slug":221,"title":222,"subtitle":223,"description":224,"image":225,"icon":226},{"slug":228,"title":229,"subtitle":230,"description":231,"image":120,"icon":232},{"slug":234,"title":235,"subtitle":236,"description":237,"image":113,"icon":238},{"slug":240,"title":241,"subtitle":242,"description":243,"image":53,"icon":54},{"id":315,"title":316,"author":317,"blogTags":317,"body":318,"customExcerpt":317,"date":317,"description":322,"excerpt":317,"extension":325,"h1":326,"image":317,"meta":327,"navigation":328,"path":329,"readingStats":330,"seo":335,"stem":339,"__hash__":340},"insightsBlogPage\u002Finsights-blog-page.md","Insights Blog Page",null,{"type":319,"value":320,"toc":321},"minimark",[],{"title":322,"searchDepth":323,"depth":323,"links":324},"",2,[],"md","Insights on the latest industry developments and technology advancements within digital transformation.",{},true,"\u002Finsights-blog-page",{"text":331,"minutes":332,"time":333,"words":334},"1 min read",0.32,19200,64,{"title":336,"description":337,"keywords":338},"Industry Insights | Audacia ","The latest industry insights, research and developments in digital transformation for business leaders across industries from software development company Audacia.","Software development company, Software development blog, Bespoke software development news, Bespoke software development articles, Software development articles, Software development code","insights-blog-page","ya52brGhr6G8uhl8kc87eB-z-RvUW2jH_-Goj9QUuFI",{"id":342,"title":343,"author":344,"blogTags":345,"body":348,"customExcerpt":635,"date":636,"description":353,"excerpt":317,"extension":325,"h1":317,"image":637,"meta":638,"navigation":328,"path":639,"readingStats":640,"seo":645,"stem":648,"__hash__":649},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fthe-rebuild-decision-what-to-modernise-retain-or-retire-in-the-age-of-ai.md","What to Modernise, Retain or Retire in the Age of AI","Rhys Smith",[173,346,347],"Digital Transformation","Legacy IT",{"type":319,"value":349,"toc":626},[350,354,377,380,385,391,394,397,402,411,414,419,422,425,430,433,436,441,444,447,452,455,464,467,471,474,479,482,487,490,495,504,509,517,522,525,529,532,540,549,557,566,569,572,576,579,584,589,594,599,604,609,612,617,620,623],[351,352,353],"p",{},"Most technology portfolio discussions eventually arrive at the same question: should we build it or buy it? The question is familiar and easy to frame however it has become too narrow for the decisions that technology leaders now face. A typical organisation holds hundreds of capabilities, each at a different point of value, age and risk. Some deserve fresh investment, some are best left alone, and some should be switched off altogether. A two-option choice cannot describe that spread, and it tends to steer decisions towards the two routes that cost the most.",[351,355,356,357,364,365,370,371,376],{},"The price of getting these decisions wrong continues to rise. McKinsey ",[358,359,363],"a",{"href":360,"rel":361},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.mckinsey.com\u002Fcapabilities\u002Fquantumblack\u002Four-insights\u002Fai-for-it-modernization-faster-cheaper-and-better",[362],"nofollow","found"," that the direct cost of technology debt, once its effect on profit and loss is properly measured, can reach 40 to 50 percent of total investment spend. The UK public sector ",[358,366,369],{"href":367,"rel":368},"https:\u002F\u002Fassets.publishing.service.gov.uk\u002Fmedia\u002F678a47649752f24aa1573589\u002Fstate-of-digital-government.pdf",[362],"illustrates"," how quickly the problem compounds when decisions are deferred, with legacy technology making up an estimated 28% of central government systems in 2024, up from 26% the year before. ",[358,372,375],{"href":373,"rel":374},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.publictechnology.net\u002F2025\u002F03\u002F13\u002Fdefence-and-security\u002Flegacy-it-reviews-have-found-almost-80-government-systems-at-critical-risk-level\u002F",[362],"Visibility"," is part of the challenge, with around 15% of the organisations interviewed for the State of Digital Government review unable to describe their own legacy estate.",[351,378,379],{},"AI has added a further layer of complexity. It has changed the cost, speed and risk of several options at once, which means a decision made three years ago may no longer hold today. This article sets out six routes available for any capability, five tests for choosing between them, and the specific ways in which AI has shifted the balance.",[381,382,384],"h2",{"id":383},"six-routes-for-every-capability","Six routes for every capability",[351,386,387],{},[388,389,390],"strong",{},"Retain:",[351,392,393],{},"The first route is to retain a capability as it is, with routine maintenance. Retaining suits systems that are stable, meet current needs and face little demand for change. It is a legitimate decision in its own right, although it works best when it is made deliberately and paired with a date for review, so that \"retain\" does not quietly become \"neglect\".",[351,395,396],{},"Typical fit: Stable, low-change, acceptable risk",[351,398,399],{},[388,400,401],{},"Retire:",[351,403,404,405,410],{},"The second route, to retire, is the most overlooked in most portfolios. Retiring a capability means decommissioning it and either moving its users elsewhere or confirming they no longer need it. Duplicated tools, low-use reporting systems and applications kept alive for a handful of users are common candidates. AWS ",[358,406,409],{"href":407,"rel":408},"https:\u002F\u002Fdocs.aws.amazon.com\u002Fprescriptive-guidance\u002Flatest\u002Flarge-migration-guide\u002Fmigration-strategies.html",[362],"guidance"," offers a useful starting point, suggesting a closer look at applications where average CPU and memory use sits between 5 and 20 percent over 90 days, or where nothing has connected to the application over that period.",[351,412,413],{},"Typical fit: Low value, duplicated or low use",[351,415,416],{},[388,417,418],{},"Buy:",[351,420,421],{},"To buy is to adopt a packaged product or software as a service. This route suits capabilities that are common across an industry and where the organisation is comfortable adopting standard processes.",[351,423,424],{},"Typical fit: Common capability, standard process",[351,426,427],{},[388,428,429],{},"Configure:",[351,431,432],{},"Closely related, is the option to configure – extending a platform the organisation already owns, such as an ERP, CRM or low-code environment. Configuration is often faster and cheaper than any other route, yet it is easily overlooked because it rarely looks like a project worth a business case.",[351,434,435],{},"Typical fit: Owned platform can meet the need",[351,437,438],{},[388,439,440],{},"Modernise:",[351,442,443],{},"To modernise is to improve an existing system in stages, whether by moving it to a new platform, refactoring components or replacing parts incrementally while the rest continues to run. Modernisation suits systems whose core logic remains fit for purpose but whose underlying technology limits the pace of change.",[351,445,446],{},"Typical fit: Appropriate logic, limiting technology",[351,448,449],{},[388,450,451],{},"Rebuild:",[351,453,454],{},"Finally, to rebuild is to write the capability again from the ground up. Rebuilding offers the greatest control over the result, and with it the greatest delivery risk and the heaviest demand on the organisation's people and budget.",[351,456,457,458,463],{},"These routes will feel familiar to anyone who has planned a cloud migration, since the AWS \"7 Rs\" which ",[358,459,462],{"href":460,"rel":461},"https:\u002F\u002Fdocs.aws.amazon.com\u002Fprescriptive-guidance\u002Flatest\u002Fmigration-microsoft-workloads-aws\u002Fcloud-paths.html",[362],"build"," on a set of migration strategies Gartner identified in 2019. Those models were designed for moving workloads into the cloud. The six routes described here are broader, applying to any capability decision whether or not a cloud move forms part of it.",[351,465,466],{},"Typical fit: High value, high control, high capacity",[381,468,470],{"id":469},"five-tests-for-choosing-a-route","Five tests for choosing a route",[351,472,473],{},"Choosing well depends on judging every route against the same criteria. Consistent scoring gives leaders a defensible basis for the decision, a clear record for audit, and a way to compare very different options on equal terms.",[351,475,476],{},[388,477,478],{},"1. Business value",[351,480,481],{},"Leaders should ask whether the capability differentiates the organisation or is common to every competitor, how much revenue, service delivery or regulatory compliance depends on it, and what would happen if it were unavailable for a week. High-value, differentiating capabilities justify routes that preserve control, while low-value capabilities are strong candidates for retirement or a packaged product.",[351,483,484],{},[388,485,486],{},"2. Lifetime cost",[351,488,489],{},"This matters far more than the initial outlay, which is usually a small part of the total. A realistic lifetime view covers licences, hosting, support, specialist skills, integration, change requests and the eventual cost of exit, typically over a five to ten year horizon. It is worth paying particular attention to costs that rise over time, such as licence increases or the growing premium on scarce legacy skills, and to the cost of leaving a route once the organisation has committed to it.",[351,491,492],{},[388,493,494],{},"3. Control",[351,496,497,498,503],{},"This covers the roadmap, the data and the intellectual property. The key questions are whether the organisation needs to decide when and how the capability changes, whether it holds proprietary data or process knowledge, and how dependent a given route would make the organisation on a single supplier. McKinsey's ",[358,499,502],{"href":500,"rel":501},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.mckinsey.com\u002Fcapabilities\u002Fmckinsey-technology\u002Four-insights\u002Frecalibrating-technology-budgets-for-the-ai-era",[362],"analysis"," of technology budgets supports the value of retaining control over critical work: the organisations it describes as deliberate modernisers rely on internal teams for critical change projects, allocating 16 percent of their technology budgets to internal staff working on change.",[351,505,506],{},[388,507,508],{},"4. Risk",[351,510,511,512,516],{},"Risk spans delivery, operations, security and regulation. Leaders should consider how likely each route is to overrun or fail, the operational impact if a change goes wrong, and whether the capability depends on a small number of people who understand it. One question often proves decisive: can the system's current behaviour be documented and tested before anything changes? Our companion article on ",[358,513,515],{"href":514},"\u002Fblog\u002Ftest-debt-the-hidden-constraint-on-modernisation","test debt"," explores this in depth.",[351,518,519],{},[388,520,521],{},"5. Capacity for change",[351,523,524],{},"This is an assessment of the organisation itself. It asks whether teams have the skills and time a route demands, whether suppliers can support it alongside their other commitments, and whether the wider business can absorb the associated process and training change. In our experience, this test removes more options than any other. A rebuild that scores well on value and control will still struggle if the organisation cannot resource it.",[381,526,528],{"id":527},"what-ai-has-changed","What AI has changed",[351,530,531],{},"The six routes and five tests remain the same in an AI-enabled world. What AI has altered is the score each route earns against those tests, and six shifts matter most.",[351,533,534,535,539],{},"The first concerns discovery, which has always been one of the largest costs in any legacy decision. Before teams can decide what to do with a system, they must work out what it actually does, often with little documentation and few remaining experts. AI tools now carry much of that effort, with McKinsey ",[358,536,538],{"href":360,"rel":537},[362],"describing"," agents that work to derive the intent of legacy systems as the basis for modernisation. More effective and efficient discovery strengthens the case for modernisation and allows retirement to be planned with far greater confidence.",[351,541,542,543,548],{},"The second shift is in the cost of modernising and rebuilding, where the effort estimates behind many past decisions are now out of date. McKinsey ",[358,544,547],{"href":545,"rel":546},"https:\u002F\u002Fceros.mckinsey.com\u002F03-baig-desktop-2-2",[362],"reports"," that AI agents can deliver a 40 to 50 percent acceleration in modernisation timelines and a 40 percent cost reduction.",[351,550,551,552,556],{},"The third shift is a counterweight to the second, since faster delivery brings new stability risk. Google's DORA research ",[358,553,363],{"href":554,"rel":555},"https:\u002F\u002Fdora.dev\u002Finsights\u002Fbalancing-ai-tensions\u002F",[362]," that higher AI adoption is associated with increases in both delivery throughput and delivery instability, and describes AI as an amplifier that magnifies the strengths of high-performing organisations and the dysfunctions of struggling ones. An AI-assisted rebuild therefore needs stronger testing, review and release discipline than a conventional one, and organisations with weaker engineering practices should score the risk accordingly.",[351,558,559,560,565],{},"The fourth shift affects the buy and configure routes, as packaged software evolves at unprecedented speed. Gartner ",[358,561,564],{"href":562,"rel":563},"https:\u002F\u002Fgartner.com\u002Fen\u002Fnewsroom\u002Fpress-releases\u002F2025-08-26-gartner-predicts-40-percent-of-enterprise-apps-will-feature-task-specific-ai-agents-by-2026-up-from-less-than-5-percent-in-2025",[362],"predicts"," that 40% of enterprise applications will include task-specific AI agents by the end of 2026, up from less than 5% in 2025. This raises the value of packaged products and of platforms already in place, while also raising new questions under the control test, such as, who owns the data an agent learns from, how is agent behaviour governed, and what happens to that capability if the organisation later moves on.",[351,567,568],{},"The fifth shift is that control itself now carries more weight. AI draws its value from data and process knowledge, so capabilities that hold proprietary data, distinctive workflows or deep domain logic have become more strategically important than they were. Passing them to a supplier may also pass on the raw material for future AI advantage, which gives leaders good reason to revisit the control score for any capability where this applies.",[351,570,571],{},"The sixth shift opens up new retirement options. Some capabilities exist largely to move information between people or systems, such as manual triage queues, bespoke reporting tools and simple workflow applications. AI features within platforms the organisation already owns can now absorb many of these, so a portfolio review should include a deliberate search for capabilities whose job an existing platform could take over.",[381,573,575],{"id":574},"applying-the-framework","Applying the framework",[351,577,578],{},"A worked example shows how the tests interact when applied to a single decision. Consider a large insurer reviewing its policy administration platform, a fifteen-year-old system that is heavily customised and supported by a small team nearing retirement. The business wants to launch new products faster, and the platform has become the main constraint.",[351,580,581,583],{},[388,582,390],{}," Fails on risk: key-person dependency grows each year",[351,585,586,588],{},[388,587,401],{}," Fails on business value: the capability is core",[351,590,591,593],{},[388,592,418],{}," Strong on lifetime cost, weak on control of product rules",[351,595,596,598],{},[388,597,429],{}," Not viable: no owned platform covers policy administration",[351,600,601,603],{},[388,602,440],{}," Strong on value and control; AI-assisted discovery reduces risk",[351,605,606,608],{},[388,607,451],{}," Strong on control, fails on capacity for change",[351,610,611],{},"Modernisation emerges as the lead route, although the analysis becomes more useful when applied to individual components. The platform's reporting module duplicates the insurer's existing data platform and can be retired. The broker portal can be configured on the insurer's CRM. The product rules engine, which holds the insurer's pricing knowledge, is modernised in stages using AI-assisted code comprehension. A single capability ends up taking three separate routes, which is a common outcome - assessing components individually frequently produces a cheaper and safer plan than treating a system as one indivisible unit.",[613,614,616],"h3",{"id":615},"an-iterative-approach-to-review-and-decision","An iterative approach to review and decision",[351,618,619],{},"The economics behind route decisions are now moving faster than most review cycles. AI tooling improves every few months, and packaged products add significant capabilities each quarter, so a route that was right in 2023 may today be the second-best option.",[351,621,622],{},"Audacia's view is that route decisions should be recorded alongside their test scores and revisited on a fixed cycle, typically once a year for critical capabilities. That record makes clear which assumptions drove each choice, so when an assumption changes, such as the cost of modernisation or the maturity of a packaged product, the decision can be reopened based on evidence.",[351,624,625],{},"Across our delivery work, the strongest portfolio plans share three habits – they assess capabilities at component level as well as system level, they weigh capacity for change and they treat retain and retire as active decisions deserving the same detail as a rebuild. Organisations that adopt these habits spend less on the wrong routes and move faster on the right ones.",{"title":322,"searchDepth":323,"depth":323,"links":627},[628,629,630,631],{"id":383,"depth":323,"text":384},{"id":469,"depth":323,"text":470},{"id":527,"depth":323,"text":528},{"id":574,"depth":323,"text":575,"children":632},[633],{"id":615,"depth":634,"text":616},3,"AI has changed the cost, speed and risk of modernising, rebuilding and buying technology. This article sets out six routes for any capability, from retain and retire to modernise and rebuild, along with five tests for choosing between them and how AI has shifted the balance between routes.","2026-10-07T13:49:24.089Z","\u002Fimg\u002Fblog\u002Frebuilding-legacy-in-age-of-ai.png",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fthe-rebuild-decision-what-to-modernise-retain-or-retire-in-the-age-of-ai",{"text":641,"minutes":642,"time":643,"words":644},"11 min read",10.41,624600,2082,{"description":646,"title":647},"Technology consultancy Audacia explores how AI has changed the build versus buy decision, with six routes and five tests for every capability.","Legacy Modernisation in the Age of AI | Insights","blog\u002Fthe-rebuild-decision-what-to-modernise-retain-or-retire-in-the-age-of-ai","loKDCRloe0xrqnyf5esF4XVPIsyIkcSDOnDggSsqI98",{"id":651,"title":344,"bio":652,"extension":325,"image":653,"meta":654,"role":317,"stem":659,"__hash__":660},"author\u002Fauthors\u002Frhys-smith.md","Rhys Smith is a Principal Software Engineer at Audacia. He has experience leading the successful delivery of large-scale, complex projects for a range of clients - from a nationwide energy company to a large UK insurer. Rhys is also passionate about teaching and has been mentoring Audacia academy members as they learn the fundamentals of software development.","\u002Fimg\u002Fauthors\u002Frhys-smith.png",{"body":655},{"type":319,"value":656,"toc":657},[],{"title":322,"searchDepth":323,"depth":323,"links":658},[],"authors\u002Frhys-smith","AusIlrihPruM1yrJFPiDl_Mcd5C4pWQRMDtKgR4jbd4",1791385243561]