Modernizing Legacy Systems: When to Seek Help and Top Considerations for Manufacturers

Legacy software can be a silent threat that is slowing down innovation, blocking hardware upgrades, and putting compliance at risk. This is especially true in regulated industries like medical manufacturing, where outdated embedded systems can limit the ability to enhance product performance or maintain certifications.

In this blog post, we draw from a recent case study involving the modernization of autoclave device software. The project exposed several critical challenges that manufacturers face when dealing with legacy embedded systems and the strategies that can successfully overcome them.

You’ll learn:

• When to seek professional services for legacy software modernization
• The top considerations you need to plan for before diving into such a transformation

Let’s dive right into it.

1. Quick Project Recap: Modernizing Firmware for a MedTech Manufacturer

In this project, DAC.digital team collaborated with a partner and a MedTech manufacturer specializing in infection control devices, specifically autoclaves. The company needed to modernize their embedded software to enable upcoming hardware upgrades and improve maintainability.

Their existing firmware was built on outdated, monolithic code, written in C, with no unit testing, manual build processes, and an obsolete compiler. This made even minor updates risky, let alone the integration of new features or components.

“Our strength lies in our experience with embedded development. We can take over complex legacy code, migrate it to modern tools, thoroughly test and refactor it and implement new functionalities. A key aspect of our work is development of embedded code that is maintainable and future-proof.”

Adam Łuczak, Embedded Engineer at DAC.digital

Our modernization work included:

• Code refactoring and establishing a unit testing framework
• Migrating to a modern compiler and toolchain
• Implementing a CI pipeline for automated builds and testing
• Integrating static code analysis and code coverage tools
• Supporting hardware changes, including a processor and touchscreen upgrade

By modernizing their firmware architecture and development workflow, we helped the client reduce technical debt.

Read the full case study here: How MedTech Giant Will Avoid Legacy Code Issues Stopping Them from Upgrading Their Hardware.

2. When to Seek Embedded System Modernization Services

Modernizing embedded software is often triggered by real business pain such as outdated firmware or preparing for a major hardware redesign. Based on our recent autoclave modernization project, here are the key situations where seeking external expertise becomes critical.

Legacy Code is Hindering Product Changes

• You want to upgrade hardware but the firmware is tightly coupled to old platforms.
• Your developers struggle to modify or debug the existing codebase due to poor documentation, outdated languages or tools.
• Any change leads to instability, regressions, or significant risk of failure.

Example Trigger: A new touchscreen model needs integration, but firmware is hardcoded for a discontinued version.

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Upcoming Hardware Redesign

• You’re preparing to launch a new version of a product that reuses some code or architecture.
• The old software cannot easily scale or support new hardware platforms.
• You need a future-proof architecture that supports modular updates and testing.

Example Trigger: A product line refresh includes updated microcontrollers or new communication protocols.

No CI/CD or Automated Testing in Place

• Your firmware/embedded projects lack automated testing, build pipelines, or structured issue tracking.
• Releases are done manually, inconsistently, or with unpredictable quality.
• Failures in the field are hard to reproduce and trace due to poor versioning and traceability.

Example Trigger: Field failures trace back to untested or misconfigured builds.

You Lack In-House Embedded Expertise

• Your team doesn’t have enough experience with modern toolchains, embedded testing, or safe migration of legacy firmware.
• You’re concerned about knowledge loss, especially if firmware was written years ago by now-departed engineers.
• You need outside help to boost internal capabilities without starting from scratch.

Example Trigger: Senior embedded developer retires, and documentation is sparse or outdated.

You Need to Reduce Technical Debt and Risk

• Your software has accumulated technical debt over the years and is becoming risky or costly to maintain.
• Teams are spending too much time fixing bugs, and too little time on innovation or quality improvements.
• Product delays or rework are occurring due to unreliable firmware performance.

Example Trigger: Product launch delayed twice due to firmware issues late in the test phase.

Looking for Embedded System Upgrade for Your Business?

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3. Top Considerations When Modernizing Legacy Data Systems

Working with our clients, our DevOps experts saw firsthand how technical challenges like compiler migration and lack of automated testing can quickly escalate into compliance risks and delayed product upgrades. These insights apply broadly to any manufacturer relying on embedded systems.

In this section, we’ll walk through the top considerations every company should address before starting a system modernization project.

Business Objectives

• What are you trying to achieve? Cost savings? Performance? Compliance? Scalability?
• Align the modernization effort with clear, measurable business goals.

Data Assessment and Quality

• What data do you have? Where is it? What formats? What’s critical?
• Assess data quality, duplication, inconsistencies, and corruption.
• Document data lineage (where it originates, how it’s transformed, and who uses it.)

Architecture Readiness

• Evaluate your current system: is it monolithic, tightly coupled, hardcoded?
• Identify technical debt: outdated databases (e.g., SQL 2005), unsupported APIs, hardcoded ETL scripts.
• Decide whether to:
  • Rehost (lift and shift),
  • Replatform (change runtime),
  • Refactor (code-level changes),
  • Rebuild (start fresh).

Data Migration Strategy

• Plan for zero/low downtime migrations, especially for production systems.
• Handle data mapping, transformation, and schema compatibility between old and new systems.
• Use migration tools with rollback capabilities and extensive testing before go-live.

Integration with Existing Systems

• Legacy systems rarely live in isolation. You need to check how do they connect to ERP, MES, CRM, or reporting platforms.
• Ensure your modernized solution can interface with these systems using APIs, message queues, or connectors.

Automation and DevOps

• Leverage CI/CD pipelines for deploying and maintaining new data pipelines or infrastructure.
• Introduce automated testing, data validation, and monitoring to ensure long-term stability.

Cloud vs On-prem Decisions

• Evaluate if cloud infrastructure (e.g., AWS, Azure, GCP) meets your needs for scalability, cost, and compliance.
• Consider hybrid or multi-cloud strategies if needed for redundancy or data residency.

Documentation and Knowledge Transfer

• Capture legacy system behavior before it disappears (if it’s not already undocumented).
• Document new architecture, data models, and operational procedures clearly.
• Involve end users, analysts, and operations early. Get feedback and buy-in.
• Train teams on the new system and ensure the transition is supported operationally.

4. What Every Manufacturer Should Know About Modernizing Embedded Systems

Regardless of industry, the companies that invest in sustainable, testable, and scalable embedded software today are the ones best positioned to innovate tomorrow.

Outside Expertise Can Accelerate the Process (and De-Risk It)

If your internal team lacks embedded modernization experience, external partners can provide the frameworks, tooling, and domain-specific knowledge you need to move forward safely and efficiently.

Modernization Should Be Modular and Measurable

You don’t need to rip out and rebuild everything. A phased, modular approach, that is refactoring component by component, reduces risk and allows progress tracking.

Legacy Code Is a Business Risk

Outdated embedded software can stall product innovation, delay time-to-market, and create significant operational risk. As hardware evolves, tightly coupled, undocumented code becomes a bottleneck for scaling or adapting your product.

Documentation and Knowledge Transfer Are Just as Important as Code

Many legacy systems are maintained by just a few experienced engineers, or worse, no one at all. If that knowledge isn’t captured before modernization begins, you risk breaking critical functionality or spending months reverse-engineering your own product.

Without Testing and CI, You’re Operating Blind

Embedded systems must be testable, traceable, and repeatable. If you’re still relying on manual builds or “test it on the real device” workflows, you’re exposed to regressions, quality issues, and delayed defect detection.

5. Hire Us for Firmware Modernization Consulting Services

Struggling with outdated embedded firmware that blocks hardware upgrades and puts compliance at risk? Our expert team specializes in modernizing legacy embedded systems—refactoring code, setting up automated testing, migrating to modern toolchains, and ensuring full regulatory compliance.

With proven experience, we help manufacturers reduce technical debt and accelerate innovation safely. Partner with us to transform your legacy firmware into a maintainable, scalable foundation ready for tomorrow’s challenges.

Looking for Embedded System Upgrade for Your Business?

Contact us