Why Legacy Systems Still Matter (and How to Modernize Without Breaking Everything)

If you work in retirement tech, you already know: legacy systems are everywhere. COBOL still powers a surprising share of the financial world, and that old AS/400 box in the corner? It's still quietly closing trades and reconciling accounts like it's 1997. But here’s the truth—legacy systems aren't the problem. They're often the most reliable, battle-tested part of your infrastructure.

The real challenge?

Modernizing around them without breaking everything. Too often, companies fall into one of two traps:

• Paralysis—afraid to touch legacy code, fearing outages or regression bugs

• Overkill—ripping and replacing everything, often at enormous cost and risk

Neither is ideal.

At Convergent, we take a smarter path.

We believe in building around legacy, not through it. We help recordkeeping and retirement firms:

• Wrap legacy cores in modern APIs and microservices

• Automate surrounding workflows without rewriting stable engines

• Make legacy data accessible to new platforms, tools, and user experiences

This approach unlocks agility—without jeopardizing what's already working. It’s not about tearing down—it’s about translating proven strengths into modern capabilities. Our teams are experts at bridging generations of tech. We integrate modern infrastructure with decades-old logic, enabling:

• Faster rollouts

• Safer upgrades

• Fewer late-night “what just broke?” calls

The future of retirement tech won’t be a clean slate—it’ll be a smart, layered evolution. The firms that win will be those that modernize without disruption.

Want to modernize without the meltdown? Let’s talk.