You already know which systems are hurting you. The hard part is knowing which one to touch first.

Modernization programmes rarely fail because the replacement technology was wrong. They fail earlier than that, in the choosing — when the loudest system gets replaced while the quiet one with no support contract and a single person who understands it keeps running untouched.

This nine-page playbook gives you a repeatable way to decide what to change, in what order, for reasons you can defend when someone challenges the sequence. Which they will.

What is inside

A four-factor scoring model — business dependency, fragility, constraint on the business, and the cost of another year. Each system scored out of 20.
Four verdicts for every system — Keep, Improve, Replace or Retire, with the test for reaching each one. Retire is the verdict most often missed; Improve is the one most often skipped.
A printable inventory worksheet, plus an eleven-point checklist for making sure your list is actually complete before you score it
Four sequencing rules that override raw score — including why identity and access almost always go first
The shape of a sound first ninety days, week by week, with what should exist at the end of each block
Five ways this goes wrong, and eight questions to ask before committing to any replacement

Who this is for: owners and technology leaders carrying a mix of ageing systems who need to justify a sequence rather than react to whatever broke most recently.

Get the playbook

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General business guidance only. This playbook is a planning aid, not professional, legal, financial, security or regulatory advice, and it does not assess compliance with any standard or regulation. Modernization decisions involving personal data, regulated records, payment systems, safety-critical operations or contractual obligations carry requirements this framework does not evaluate — take qualified advice on your own circumstances before acting.