Government & Utilities 8 months

Legacy Application Modernisation (Perth Case Study)

Transforming a 20-year legacy system into a stable, secure platform (Perth) A government utility provider needed to keep critical billing and customer systems running while upgrading old technology. Results delivered: - 99.95% reliability (up from 97%) - 70% lower maintenance costs - 5x faster delivery of new features - 0 security incidents after migration

Government Utility Provider

Application ModernizationCloud MigrationDevOpsCustom Software DevelopmentDatabase Development

18+ Years in Custom Software

Secure Integrations

Fixed-Price Quotes

Perth Based. Australia Wide.

99.95%System reliability (up from 97%)

70%Reduction in maintenance costs

5xFaster new feature delivery

0Security incidents post-migration

Understanding the Problem

The Challenge

A government utility provider was running critical billing and customer management systems on 20-year-old technology. The legacy systems were increasingly unreliable, security patches were unavailable, and finding developers with relevant skills was nearly impossible. Previous modernisation attempts had failed due to complexity and risk aversion. The organisation needed a pragmatic approach that minimised disruption to essential services.

Strategic Implementation

The Solution

We employed a strangler fig pattern to incrementally modernise the legacy systems without big-bang replacement. Starting with lower-risk modules, we built modern microservices that gradually replaced legacy functionality while maintaining seamless integration. The new architecture runs on AWS with containerised workloads, automated deployments, and comprehensive monitoring. A React-based admin interface replaced the legacy green-screen terminals, dramatically improving staff productivity.

Technologies Used

ReactNode.jsPostgreSQLAWSDockerTerraform.NET CoreRedis

How We Did It

Our Approach

Legacy Analysis

5 weeks

Reverse-engineered legacy systems, documented business rules, and mapped dependencies.

Architecture Design

3 weeks

Designed microservices architecture with strangler pattern for incremental migration.

Incremental Build

20 weeks

Built and deployed modules incrementally, validating each against legacy behaviour.

Cutover & Decommission

4 weeks

Completed migration, validated data integrity, and decommissioned legacy systems.

HELLO PEOPLE's incremental approach was exactly what we needed. Each phase delivered value while reducing risk. We've gone from dreading system changes to confidently releasing improvements regularly.
Director of Information TechnologyGovernment Utility Provider

Measurable Outcomes