What replacing desktop software involves
Replacing desktop software means moving a business system off a single Windows PC and into a browser, so it works from any device. The data is extracted, checked and moved across, and the new system is built around how your team works today. We do this for UK businesses whose software has outlived its supplier.
Signs it is time
- Only one computer can run it, and everyone queues for that desk.
- The supplier has stopped updating it, or stopped answering.
- Backups are a USB stick, and someone has to remember to do them.
- Nothing else can talk to it, so figures are typed into the accounts by hand.
- Working from home or the van means ringing the office.
- It needs an old version of Windows that IT would like to retire.
Getting the data out when there is no API
Most desktop software was never designed to share its data. There is no API to call, so this is a migration job. We find where the data lives (often a local database file), work out its structure, and write an extraction we can run again and again.
That work happens first, as a short discovery spike, before any price for the build is fixed. If the data can't be got out cleanly, you hear about it before the build starts. The details are on discovery spikes.
How the move runs
Extract
Pull customers, records, history and open work out of the old system, and count what we find.
Build
Build the replacement around how your team works, with a demo every week from the second week.
Rehearse
Run the migration against a copy, more than once, and compare the counts on both sides.
Run both
Keep the old program running alongside the new one until the figures agree and the team is happy.
Switch off
Move the final data across, then switch the old program off. Its data is kept in an archive.
Before and after
| Desktop program | Browser-based system | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it runs | One PC in the office | Any device with a browser, including the workshop tablet |
| Backups | Whoever remembers the USB stick | Automatic, off site, restorable |
| Accounts | Typed in again, or exported by hand | Sent to Xero or Sage automatically |
| Customers | Phone for updates | Can be given their own portal |
| Changes | Whatever the supplier will still do | Yours to change; the code is in your name |
Questions about replacing desktop software
Can you get data out of software with no export?
Usually, yes. Most desktop programs keep their data in a local database file we can read once we understand its structure. We prove this in a short discovery spike before quoting for the build.
Will we lose our history?
No. Customers, records and past work move across with their dates. We count records on both sides before switching, and the old data is kept in an archive.
Do we have to stop work while you switch?
No. The old program keeps running alongside the new system until the figures agree. The final move happens at a quiet time you choose, usually over a weekend.
What if the supplier offers a cloud version?
Look at it first. If it does what you need, moving to it is usually cheaper than a rebuild, and we'll say so. A bespoke replacement makes sense when the cloud version doesn't fit, or doesn't exist.
Tell us what the program does
On a free call, tell us what the software is and what the business uses it for. We'll tell you how we would get the data out, and whether a replacement is worth it.