CodeFirst is a UK software company that maintains, takes over and modernises business software. We also build new systems at a fixed price.
United Kingdom
Joined August 2013
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A database upgraded to SQL Server 2019 from 2008, 2012 or 2014 may still run at its old compatibility level. Worth checking before the next upgrade, and worth testing on its own when you raise it.
No tests on your old system? Run last month's real orders through it, save the invoices, and compare after every change. Any difference is either intended or a regression. Someone has to say which.
SQL Server 2014 is in the final year of paid Extended Security Updates. They end on 12 July 2027, and there is no further year to buy. A database migration is easier to plan in October than in June.
Is the contractor who wrote your system retiring? Don't ask them for documentation. Have whoever takes over build, release and restore the system with them before their last day. The questions that come up are what no document captures.
Restoring the database is not the whole SQL Server upgrade. Agent jobs, SSIS packages, Reporting Services reports, linked servers and logins sit outside it and do not come across on restore. List them first.
.NET Framework 4.6.2 stops getting security fixes on 12 January 2027. Versions 4.7 to 4.8.1 remain supported for as long as the Windows version they run on. Worth knowing which one your older apps target.
Paying for bespoke software does not make you its owner. In the UK, copyright stays with the supplier unless a written, signed agreement assigns it to you. Worth checking before you need to change supplier.
An older business system rarely costs more because of its code. The cost rises around it: support fees, old licences, oversized servers, staff time on workarounds. List every cost against the part of the system it pays for. Some may pay for things nobody uses.
Umbraco 13 stops getting security fixes on 14 December 2026. If your website or portal runs on it, plan the move to Umbraco 17 now rather than in the last fortnight before Christmas.
Today, 13 October 2026, Office and Access 2021 reach end of support. Paid Extended Security Updates for Windows Server 2012 and 2012 R2 end today too, and Windows Server 2022 leaves mainstream support.
Slow business software is rarely fixed for long by a bigger server. A query scanning a growing table keeps getting slower. Measure where the time goes first: the database usually shows a few queries cause most of the waiting.
"The search should be fast" is not an acceptance criterion. Nobody can say whether it passed. "Results appear within two seconds for 50,000 customers" is one. Agree them before the build, not at delivery.
Windows Server 2016 stops getting free security updates on 12 January 2027. Before planning the upgrade, list everything else that runs on that server: scheduled jobs, file shares, links to other systems.
Moving an office server to the cloud is not always cheaper. A fair comparison covers five years and includes the costs that never appear on an invoice, like the time spent looking after the old server.
PHP 8.2 stops getting security fixes on 31 December 2026. If a business system still runs on it, now is the time to plan the move to PHP 8.4 or 8.5, not the last week of December.
A full rewrite of a working system delivers nothing until it is finished. Modernising one part at a time means each stage is in use as soon as it is done. That is usually the safer route.
