I spend an awful lot of my working life adding new features and improvements to a legacy database system.

A legacy system is an old method, technology, computer system, or application program, “of, relating to, or being a previous or outdated computer system.” Often a pejorative term, referencing a system as “ legacy ” often implies that the system is out of date or in need of replacement.

My particular legacy system is Microsoft Access. We use Microsoft Access to provide the front end for all our internal databases. The particular technology we use is ADP files which are only supported in Access 2000, 2003 or 2010.

Microsoft has already dropped support for Access 2000 and 2003, and support for 2010 is due to be dropped in 2020.

So why am I coding myself into a corner? Its simple for every feature or improvement I create in Access, I increase the amount of features I need to create or port to a new front end.

This is a very depressing thought, everything I create will need creating again. I am not saving myself work but increasing the amount of work I need to do again.

The bad news is that my employers like almost all businesses demand results and like a good employee I have been delivering them. I have been promised the mythical “when we are quiet” you can work on rebuilding the database front end. I know this will likely never happen so what are my options.

Do nothing I have warned my managers that this work needs doing and it is up to them to give me the resources I need. This is not an acceptable option. Firstly I am not future proofing the business, 2020 will be here before we know it. Also I am not developing myself as a developer, as the only experience I am getting is with Legacy technology that has expired or will do very soon. No one wants to employ someone who only has legacy experience.

Do something I need to keep delivering results and doing what is asked of me. Like any good engineer I should be multiplying my estimates by four, meaning that I have some time that can be used for looking at the bigger picture. This is a win-win option really. Employer gets a solution that is future proof, Employee gets valuable experience in up to date technology.

What do you think? Have you been tied to legacy technology? Why not leave a comment below.