Legacy Modernization
Your old system is
someone else's opportunity.
We fix it first.
We rescue failing projects, take over abandoned codebases, and migrate monoliths to architectures built for the next decade. Phased. Safe. No big-bang rewrites.
Legacy systems don't fail overnight. They fail slowly, then all at once.
It starts with one module no one dares touch. Then a dependency that can't be upgraded. Then a senior developer who "was the only one who understood it" leaving the company. By the time you call us, there's usually a mix of: outdated frameworks with known CVEs, zero test coverage, a database schema that doubles as business logic, and deployment that requires manual steps only one person knows.
We've walked into all of it. We're not here to judge your previous choices — we're here to fix the system.
Get a codebase auditDoes this sound familiar?
- Deployments require a specific person and a 10-step document
- One part of the codebase is off-limits because "last time someone touched it, everything broke"
- Your team spends more time fighting the framework than building features
- You're on an end-of-life stack with unpatched vulnerabilities
- The previous agency disappeared or delivered something unusable
- You can't onboard new developers in under a month
- Your infrastructure is a set of manually-provisioned servers with no IaC
Modernization services
From emergency rescue to multi-year re-architecture — we scope each engagement to what the system actually needs, not what sounds impressive in a proposal.
Codebase Audit & Rescue Plan
Two-week forensic review of your codebase. We document what exists, what is broken, what is a security risk, and what can be saved. You receive a written report with a prioritized action list — no fluff.
Project Takeover
We onboard onto your existing codebase — however messy — stabilize it, and take over full ownership. You hand over the keys and stop worrying. We document everything as we go so you're never locked into us.
Monolith Decomposition
Incrementally carve out domains from your monolith using the strangler fig pattern. Each extracted service gets proper APIs, independent deployments, and its own CI/CD pipeline — without touching the rest.
Stack Migration
Move from PHP to Node/Java, from AngularJS to React, from bare-metal to Kubernetes — without rewriting the entire product. We identify the fastest migration path and execute it in parallel with your current team.
Database Modernization
Schema redesign, stored procedure extraction, index tuning, and migration to managed cloud databases. We eliminate the fragility of hand-crafted SQL and raw stored procedures while preserving every byte of your data.
E-commerce Re-platforming
Migrate from legacy Magento, PrestaShop, or custom PHP shops to Shopify, headless commerce, or a modern stack. We transfer products, orders, customers, and SEO equity — nothing gets left behind.
We take over. We don't just advise.
We've seen every flavor of legacy
PHP 5 monoliths from 2009. Java EE applications running on WebLogic. AngularJS frontends glued together with jQuery. Hand-rolled ORMs with 900-line stored procedures. We know how to navigate messy code because we have been inside all of it.
No big-bang rewrites
We refuse to sell you a full rewrite unless it is genuinely the only path forward. Rewrites take longer than planned, cost more than scoped, and deliver a product that is identical to what you had — just newer. Phased modernization ships value every sprint.
We take accountability
When we take over your project, we become the responsible party. Not a consultant who hands you a report. We fix things. We own the outcome. If we break something during migration — which is rare — we fix it on our time, not yours.
Transparent about trade-offs
We won't tell you what you want to hear. If the codebase is beyond saving, we say so. If the migration will take 6 months, not 3, we tell you upfront. Clients come back to us because we call the hard truth before it becomes an expensive surprise.
From audit to modern architecture
Audit & Discovery
We get access, run our forensic toolchain, interview your team, and produce a written audit report with findings, risks, and recommended modernization path.
Rescue & Stabilization
Critical bugs and security vulnerabilities first. We get your system healthy before we modernize it. You won't be waiting for a modernization milestone to fix what's actively on fire.
Phased Modernization
We work in 2-week sprints, each delivering a working increment. Domain extraction, stack upgrade, database migration — executed in order of business impact, not technical preference.
Handover or Retention
At any point you can take ownership back with full documentation, or retain us for continued development. We write documentation as we go, not at the end.
Projects we've rescued
Real modernizations. Real outcomes. Every case study below was a system someone had given up on.
Optienergia — Commission Platform
Replaced a failing legacy CRM for a Polish energy brokerage with a purpose-built commission settlement platform. Angular, Java Spring, PostgreSQL. Live in 4 months.
Read case study → E-commerce MigrationBatycki — PrestaShop to Shopify
Migrated a luxury furniture brand from an aging PrestaShop instance to Shopify Plus — zero data loss, full SEO equity transfer, no downtime. Custom theme built from scratch.
Read case study → Legacy PHP RescueeBikeZilla — PrestaShop Recovery
Rescued a critically failing e-commerce store with a broken merchant module, misconfigured multi-currency, and no staging environment. Stabilized in 9 days.
Read case study →Questions we get asked before every engagement
Can you take over a project that another agency or team abandoned?
Yes — and we do it often. Rescuing projects abandoned by other vendors is one of our specialties. We start with a codebase audit, document what we find, then present a realistic recovery plan. We've inherited projects in Java, PHP, Node, React, Angular, and Rails — in varying states of disrepair. If there's a working core, we'll find it.
Do you do full rewrites or phased modernization?
We almost always recommend phased modernization over full rewrites. Big-bang rewrites are expensive, high-risk, and take months before delivering any value. We prefer the strangler fig pattern: replace one domain at a time, keep the existing system running in parallel, and cut over incrementally. That said, if the existing code is genuinely irredeemable, we'll tell you honestly.
How do you ensure zero downtime during migration?
Through a combination of blue-green deployments, feature flags, database dual-write strategies, and traffic splitting. We plan every migration like a surgical operation: what stays up, what gets cut, what the rollback looks like. We've never taken a client system down unplanned during a migration.
What legacy stacks have you worked with?
PHP 5/7 (custom frameworks, old Symfony/Laravel, Zend), Java EE (WebLogic, JBoss, WildFly), old Spring MVC, AngularJS, jQuery-heavy frontends, PrestaShop, Magento 1, classic ASP, and bespoke CMS systems. If it runs in production somewhere, we have probably seen it.
How long does a typical modernization take?
Depends on scope. A focused rescue of a broken module can be done in 2–4 weeks. Full platform re-architecture for a mid-size enterprise typically runs 3–9 months in phased chunks. We deliver working increments every sprint — you're never waiting months to see progress.
Do you improve the database as part of modernization?
Yes. Schema normalization, query optimization, index audits, and migration to managed cloud databases (RDS, Cloud SQL, PlanetScale) are standard parts of our modernization engagements. We also move stored procedure logic into the application layer where it belongs.
What does a codebase audit cover?
A full audit covers: architecture review, dependency vulnerability scan, cyclomatic complexity analysis, test coverage assessment, security hotspot identification, infrastructure review, and a prioritized roadmap. Delivered as a written report with recommendations within 2 weeks of access.
Ready to stop firefighting your own codebase?
Start with a 2-week audit. We'll tell you exactly what you're dealing with — and what it takes to fix it.