Modernisation in controlled stages
Legacy software modernisation services
Keep the application your business depends on maintainable, secure and ready for change. UWS assesses the risks and modernises your software in controlled stages — with AI-assisted engineering and human review before every release.
- 16 years
- Engineering experience
- 20+ projects
- Modernisations delivered
- Existing processes and integrations preserved
- European AI engineering team · since 2010
01Who it is for
When modernisation becomes the more economical option
Unsupported components
Frameworks, libraries, or runtimes have passed their support window, and known vulnerabilities can no longer be closed by updates alone.
Releases carry risk
Every change touches code nobody fully owns. Testing effort grows faster than the feature work it protects.
Knowledge sits with individuals
Documentation is thin and continuity depends on single developers who know how the system behaves in practice.
Maintenance effort rises
Budget goes into keeping the current state alive instead of moving the product forward.
Support deadlines approaching
Runtime, database, or server components reach end of life on a fixed date, which sets the timeline for you.
Integration friction
New requirements are blocked by interfaces that were never designed for the systems you use today.
02Assessment
What the initial assessment delivers
The initial audit is free and does not commit you to a modernisation programme.
- Inventory of frameworks, libraries, interfaces, databases, and server components
- Dependencies and version status, including components without vendor support
- Identified risks — security, maintainability, operational — with an assessment of urgency
- Prioritised recommendations: what to keep, upgrade, replace, or rebuild
- A proposed modernisation path in stages, with sequence and indicative timing
03Implementation
What we change — and what stays as it is
Modernisation does not require a move to the cloud, a switch to microservices, or a full rewrite. We change what carries risk or blocks development, and keep what works.
Appropriate upgrades
Runtimes, frameworks, and libraries are brought to a supported baseline, in an order that keeps the system testable at every step.
Architecture and integrations
Structures and interfaces are adjusted where they hold back maintainability — established business processes and integrations remain intact.
Security
Identified security risks are reduced: dependency vulnerabilities, credential handling, access paths, and outdated transport or authentication mechanisms.
Deployment and validation
Build and deployment are modernised, migrations are planned into defined windows, and each stage is validated before release — with a rollback path.
04Security
Stronger application security through targeted modernisation
Modernisation is security work as well: supported components, resolved findings and reviewed releases reduce the attack surface and improve the conditions for secure operation. Nobody can promise complete security — remaining risks are assessed and named per project.
A supported baseline
Appropriate updates and upgrades of runtimes, frameworks, libraries and database or server components, so security updates are available again.
Resolving identified findings
Dependencies are audited, insecure configuration and credential handling are improved, and authentication, permissions or encryption are adjusted where the findings require it.
Verifying and keeping the improvements
Defined security checks run alongside functional tests, releases are traceable, the version state is documented — with optional ongoing maintenance.
These layers concern the security of your application. How we handle source code and AI tooling on our side is covered in the engineering controls section below.
05Proof
Finance and operations platform, four interconnected codebases
A business-critical finance and operations platform ran on outdated technology across four interconnected codebases. We modernised backend, frontend, security, and deployment in controlled, reversible stages — AI-assisted, with human review of every change.
- Starting situation
- Finance and operational workflows spanned a web application, backend services, accounting integration, file transfers, and reporting. Outdated technologies and a legacy deployment model increased security, support, and release risk.
- Scope
- Backend, frontend, security, and deployment across all four codebases, with the explicit goal of preserving established business processes and integrations.
- Approach
- Controlled, reversible stages with compatibility and validation gates. A dedicated read-only mode protected business data and external integrations during migration windows.
- Verified result
- Four out of four modules passed integrated validation, 270 database changesets were verified with no pending migrations, 13 credential-bearing values were moved into deployment secrets, and the final dependency audit reported no known vulnerabilities in the frontend dependencies.
- Current status
- The modernised platform is in production use. Support and ongoing development continue with the same team.
AI was used as a controlled engineering copilot. UWS retained ownership of architecture, security, business behaviour, and release decisions.
06Process
How a modernisation project runs
01
Understand
We work through the system with your team: business processes it carries, integrations it depends on, and the constraints that matter.
02
Assess
Components, dependencies, and version status are inventoried, and technical and security risks are identified.
03
Prioritise
Risks are ranked by urgency and business impact, so effort goes where it removes the most risk first.
04
Plan
A staged path defines sequence, migration windows, validation criteria, and the rollback option for each stage.
05
Implement and validate
Changes are implemented in parallel to ongoing operations, with tested transitions and human review before release.
06
Support
After modernisation we can continue support and development — as an option, not a condition.
07Technical capabilities
Where our verified experience lies
16 years of engineering experience and more than 20 delivered modernisation projects. The technologies below reflect systems we have actually modernised and continue to operate.
Java and Spring
Long-running Java applications, Spring and Spring Boot services, version and framework upgrades along a supported baseline.
Open-source components
Databases, application servers, build tooling, and libraries — including the migration of components that no longer receive updates.
Interfaces and data
Interfaces, file transfers, reporting, and database migrations, verified changeset by changeset.
Deployment and operations
Build and release pipelines, configuration and secret handling, and operating the modernised system afterwards.
08Engineering and security controls
How AI-assisted delivery stays under control
Approved tooling only
AI tools are agreed with you before the project starts, and used within the boundaries defined for your source code.
Human review
Engineers own every decision. AI supports code understanding, documentation, analysis, and preparation — it does not decide.
Source-code handling
We document where code is processed and under which arrangement, so your legal and security teams can assess it.
Testing and release decisions
Each stage passes defined validation before it is released, and the release decision stays with people — on your side and ours.
Rollback planning
Every migration step has a defined way back, planned before the step is taken rather than improvised afterwards.
09Questions buyers ask
Frequently asked questions
In most cases, yes. The assessment separates what to keep, upgrade, replace, or rebuild. A full rewrite is a decision we recommend only where the existing code cannot carry the required change.
Start with an assessment of your system
A free initial audit is usually enough to judge whether modernisation is the right next step for your application — and what a first stage would look like.