Integration Hub · Legacy Rescue

Legacy Modernisation Consulting Services
so twenty years of data comes with you.

Audit, extract and rebuild only what matters. Old Access databases, unsupported custom apps, no-code prototypes and AI-built MVPs that work locally but won't ship, all rescued on a production stack with the data and the workflow preserved.

Legacy modernisation consulting services and legacy application modernisation for Australian businesses. You get a clear-eyed audit, a staged plan, and a team that will say honestly when the old system is fine and when it really has to go.

The Legacy Software & App Rescue Hub is that engagement. Fixed-price audit, fixed-price rebuild stages, and the old system keeps running until the new one is proven.

Book a 20-min scoping call Call 0425 531 127
  • Honest Audit recommendation, same price either way
  • Parallel Old + new run side-by-side through transition
  • Yours Code, hosting, documentation, full ownership
  • AU-wide Perth-based · servicing Australia
  • Fixed Audit and rebuild, both fixed-price
  • Access · SQL · No-code · AI-built Sources we rescue from
Australian owned and operated

Built here. Your data stays here.

  • No offshore development. Everything is written by our own team in Australia. Nothing is subcontracted overseas.
  • Your data stays onshore. Hosted in Australia, on infrastructure you own, under Australian law.
  • Every state, not just ours. Perth, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and everywhere between.

Old systems we rescue

Keep your data, lose the system holding it back

Access databases, Excel workbooks, VB6 and PHP apps, Dynamics NAV and GP, MYOB EXO and Pronto. We get the data and the business rules out safely and move them onto something that is supported, secure and connected.

Tell us what you run See every integration
Legacy Systems We Rescue

Find the old system you need to move off

Legacy application modernisation services, Access database rescue services and legacy system audit services for the old software that still runs your business, integrate it, extend it, or replace it. Each option below has a dedicated page.

What a rescue actually involves

Your business still runs on the old system

Access databases, unsupported PHP and desktop applications that one person understands. They are fragile and unsupported, and they are also load-bearing, which is why nobody has replaced them. The risk is not the technology, it is that the business logic exists nowhere else.

What you already run

  • Access database
  • Excel workbooks doing real work
  • Old PHP or desktop app
  • Undocumented business rules
  • Years of historical data
What we build

One modern system, same logic

The forms, queries and rules are recovered from the existing system and rebuilt as a web application. Your team keeps the workflow it already knows, and the history comes with it rather than being archived.

Get a fixed-price scope

What you get

  • Multiple people can use it at once, safely
  • The business rules are written down for the first time
  • Nothing depends on one machine or one person any more
What we build

Five steps to retire the old system safely

Every legacy modernisation consulting services engagement starts with an audit. Most extend into a staged rebuild covering data extraction, modern rebuild, prototype hardening and hosting handover. The honest legacy system audit up front is the most important part, sometimes the right answer is to leave the old system alone for now.

A clear-eyed look at what you have and what to do about it

What gets reviewed. The codebase (or the no-code app). The data structure. The integrations. The infrastructure. The dependencies. The security posture. The bus factor (how many people understand it).

What you receive. A risk register ranked by likelihood and impact. A data inventory with quality assessment. A modernisation roadmap with staged rebuild plan. A fixed-price quote for the next stage. A clear "do nothing" baseline so you can weigh the modernisation case against actual risk.

Extract the value; carry the history forward

Where data lives. Access databases, SQL Server / MySQL / Postgres, Excel and CSV, FoxPro / dBase, proprietary file formats, custom internal systems, vendor SaaS exports.

How it moves. Schema mapping to the new structure, with cleanup and validation at the door. Reference data (customers, products, accounts) deduplicated before it lands. Historical transactions preserved with relationships intact, not flattened into opening balances. Full audit trail of every record migrated, plus a reconciliation report against the source.

A new system that fits the same workflow, on a stack with a future

What we build with. React, Node, Postgres, AWS, proven, well-supported, well-staffed. Mobile where mobile makes sense. Web portals where web makes sense. Native integration with the platforms your business already uses (Xero, MYOB, ServiceM8, etc.).

How it goes live. Stage-by-stage. The most critical workflow first, running in parallel with the old system. Each stage proven before the next begins. The forms and screens your team already knows are preserved, improved where they obviously needed it, kept where they were fit for purpose. Cutover is a planned moment, not a leap of faith.

From Bubble / Replit / AI-built to production-grade

Common starting points. Bubble apps that hit performance ceilings. Replit-deployed prototypes that need to scale beyond hobby plans. Cursor / Claude Code / v0 / Lovable apps that look polished but have security and reliability gaps. Webflow + Make.com stacks that need to handle real transactions.

What we typically do. Audit the AI-generated or no-code code. Identify what to keep, what to rewrite, what to throw away. Move data to a proper database. Rebuild the backend on a production stack. Keep the UX your customers already know, same product, better foundations. Sometimes the cleanest path is a fresh build using the prototype as the spec; the audit tells us which.

Infrastructure that won't surprise you, support that doesn't depend on one person

Where it runs. AWS in your own account or ours. Backups, monitoring, alerting and security patching all configured properly. SSL, authentication, audit logging. Cost-controlled, we right-size the infrastructure, not over-provision.

Documentation and support. Architecture diagram, deployment guide, runbook for common issues, contact list, written so a new developer can pick it up. Optional monthly support agreement covers bug fixes, dependency updates, security patches and on-call response. The same team that built it stays available, but the documentation means you can take it elsewhere if circumstances change.

Capabilities catalogue

Every kind of legacy software & app rescue we take on

Every capability below has been delivered for a real Australian business, from a one-off Access database extraction to a full Bubble-prototype rebuild on AWS. If your scenario is not listed, ask, the audit will tell you honestly whether a rescue is the right move or whether the legacy system has more life left in it.

Database & spreadsheet rescue

Legacy ERP replacement & modernisation

Desktop app & web portal rebuilds

Cloud migration paths

Data extraction, transformation & validation

  • ETL from legacy databases, Access, SQL Server, MySQL, Postgres, FoxPro, dBase
  • Schema mapping with cleanup and validation at the door, bad data blocked, not reconciled later
  • Reference data deduplication, customers, products, accounts collapsed before they land
  • Historical transaction migration with full relationships preserved, not flattened into opening balances
  • Reconciliation reporting, source counts, destination counts, exceptions logged and signed off
  • Data quality assessment as part of the audit, gaps, anomalies and risks identified upfront
  • Audit trail of every record migrated, provable history for accountants and auditors
  • Parallel-run validation, old and new system reconciled daily before cutover commits

Legacy + modern hybrid workflows

  • API layer in front of legacy Access / SQL / FoxPro, modern apps read live data without rewriting the legacy system
  • Wrap a legacy desktop app with a modern web UI while the engine keeps running
  • Sync legacy data into Xero or MYOB so accounting stops being an island
  • Pipe legacy operational data into Power BI for live management reporting without a full rebuild
  • Keep mission-critical legacy alive on the corner server, but expose it via a controlled API
  • Staged retirement, legacy stays read-only after cutover; the new system writes; both reconcile
  • Hybrid hosting, managed cloud for the modern stack, on-prem for legacy until it can be retired safely
  • Documentation and handover so the hybrid is supportable by anyone, not just the original developer

Legacy system integration and rescue scope

  • Legacy system integration without a full rewrite
  • Legacy software integration for systems nobody wants to touch
  • Legacy system integration services with a tested rollback
  • Legacy application integration services across old and new stacks
  • Connect legacy system to cloud services safely
  • Legacy software modernisation services staged over releases
  • Integrate legacy system with cloud accounting and CRM
  • Old software integration services where the vendor has gone quiet
  • Legacy database integration services for Access, FoxPro and SQL
  • Modernise legacy business software while it keeps running
  • Legacy system replacement services planned around your trading year
  • Connect old system to Xero without replacing it first
  • Replace unsupported business software before it fails
  • Rescue unsupported legacy software that still runs the business
Case study

Sporting club: Access database from 2009 rescued to modern web app

A multi-site sporting club running its entire member, booking, fixture and competition operation on an Access database built in 2009. The original developer had moved on; bug fixes took weeks; reporting required SQL knowledge no committee member had. We audited the system, extracted 16 years of data with full history preserved, and rebuilt the critical workflows as a modern web app on AWS. The Access database ran in parallel for two months; the cutover weekend was uneventful.

Read the full case study
16 yrs Of data history preserved cleanly
12 wks Discovery to live cutover
Zero Data loss · zero downtime
3 → 30 Concurrent user ceiling lifted

We had an Access database from 2009 running the entire club. The original developer had moved overseas and stopped replying to emails. Every committee meeting included some version of, if that thing dies, we're stuffed. HELLO PEOPLE audited it, gave us an honest read on the risks, and proposed a staged rebuild that kept the old database running until the new system was proven. Sixteen years of data history preserved. The cutover weekend was a non-event. Worth every cent of the engagement.

Club President Multi-site sporting club, Perth
How It Works

How a rescue runs without stopping the business

Every engagement is different, but the delivery structure stays consistent.

  1. Discovery & scoping

    15-minute scoping call. We map the legacy system, its data, its users and the workflows it still runs. Fixed-price quote inside 48 hours.

  2. Design & mapping

    Extraction plan: schema mapping, business-logic capture, target architecture, cutover strategy. Documented and signed off before any code is written.

  3. Build & parallel-run

    New system built alongside the legacy one and parallel-run against production for two weeks. Every workflow validated and reconciled before cutover.

  4. Launch & handover

    Production cutover on a planned window. Team training, monitoring active, 30 days post-launch support. Documentation and source code handed over in full.

FAQs

What owners ask before replacing an old system

What are legacy modernisation consulting services?

Legacy modernisation consulting services audit aging business software (Access databases, VB6 desktop apps, custom internal systems, no-code prototypes, AI-built MVPs), extract the data and business logic, and rebuild the critical parts on a modern stack. HELLO PEOPLE is a Perth-based provider of legacy modernisation consulting services and legacy application modernisation services for Australian businesses, fixed-price audit, staged rebuild, old system runs in parallel until cutover.

How much do legacy software rescue services cost?

Every legacy software rescue services engagement is fixed-price scoped after a free 15-minute call, no hourly billing. An Audit & Roadmap is the smallest engagement (2 to 4 weeks); a Targeted Rescue rebuilding the critical part is the mid-tier (8 to 16 weeks); a Full Rescue Platform replacing the system entirely is 3 to 9 months in defined stages. AWS and other cloud costs are billed at cost separately.

How do you decide between rescuing the old system and rebuilding from scratch?

Our legacy system audit services answer that question directly. We look at code quality, data structure, business logic complexity, scale of change required and budget reality. Sometimes the right answer is "wrap an API around the old thing and leave it", sometimes it is "rebuild entirely". The audit price is the same either way; we give the honest recommendation and will not push a rebuild when an extension is the smarter move.

Do you offer Access database rescue services?

Yes, Access database rescue services are one of our most common engagements. We connect directly to the .accdb or .mdb file, audit the schema and VBA, extract the data and business logic, and rebuild as a modern web application (or wrap with an API layer if a full rebuild is not warranted yet). The Access database runs in parallel through the transition; the on-corner server can finally be retired.

Can you rescue Bubble, Replit, Lovable, Cursor or AI-built prototypes?

Yes, prototype hardening services are an increasingly common engagement. The pattern is usually: working prototype, paying customers, scale or security issue forcing the rebuild. We audit what is there, identify what to keep, and rebuild on a production stack (typically React, Node and Postgres on AWS) while preserving the UX customers already know. Same product to the user; rebuilt foundations underneath.

How long do legacy application modernisation services take?

Typical legacy application modernisation services in Australia run 2 to 4 weeks for an Audit & Roadmap, 8 to 16 weeks for a Targeted Rescue rebuilding the critical workflow, and 3 to 9 months in defined stages for a Full Rescue Platform. The first critical workflow is typically live inside the first month on rebuild engagements.

Will we lose data or history during the rebuild?

No. Data history is preserved cleanly, transactions, relationships, audit trail and customer notes all migrate intact. Where the destination structure differs from the source, we map explicitly and document the mapping. We do NOT flatten history into opening balances unless you specifically ask us to, and we will push back if that seems like the wrong call.

What happens to the old system during the rebuild?

It keeps running. No big-bang cutover. We extract data and rebuild critical workflows in parallel with the live system. As each workflow proves out on the new system, we cut that workflow over. The old system gets retired stage by stage, not in one risky weekend, the auditor and the insurer both get to see a controlled transition.

Tell us about the system nobody wants to touch

Tell us what the legacy system is (Access database, custom app, prototype, AI-built MVP), how long it has been running, who built it and what the trigger is, security audit, scale problem, departing developer, compliance deadline. We will respond with a legacy system audit scope and a fixed-price quote for the recommended next stage.

Prefer a quick chat? Call 0425 531 127. We answer the phone in Perth.