Across the utilities sector — from energy and water to gas — many organisations are still running on decades-old systems. These platforms may have been reliable once, but over time they’ve built up technical debt that’s becoming impossible to ignore.
Old infrastructure slows down innovation, drives up maintenance costs and increases the risk of outages. In an industry where reliability and safety are non-negotiable, that’s a serious problem. A system failure doesn’t just hurt profits — it can disrupt entire communities and even endanger public safety.
So, how do you modernise these mission-critical systems without breaking them? The answer lies in secure, phased, and well-governed modernisation — a strategy designed to reduce risk.
Let’s be honest: the fear of downtime is real. Utility providers often take an “if it isn’t broken, don’t touch it” approach, and for good reason. Many legacy systems are tightly interwoven, with little documentation and countless dependencies. Making a single change can have unexpected ripple effects.
But doing nothing is far riskier. As systems age, compliance becomes harder to maintain, and integration with new technologies becomes almost impossible. The longer you wait, the harder and costlier modernisation becomes.
That’s why legacy modernisation in utilities must be done step by step - not through a “big-bang” replacement, but through controlled, incremental transformation.
Think of modernisation like replacing the parts of a flying aircraft — it takes precision, timing and trust in your process.
The most effective approach is the Strangler Fig Pattern. Instead of tearing down the old system all at once, you build new components around it - APIs, microservices, or cloud-based modules - that gradually take over specific functions such as billing or metering.
As these modern components prove themselves, you slowly retire the old ones. This ensures stability, maintains compliance and gives you a clear rollback option if something goes wrong. The result? Progress without disruption.
The DevOps utilities sector has shown that transformation doesn’t have to mean chaos. DevOps brings automation, visibility and collaboration to every stage of modernisation.
In short, DevOps turns transformation into a repeatable, low-risk process.
When utilities modernise safely, the benefits go far beyond cleaner code. Teams gain the ability to deploy updates faster, integrate new technologies seamlessly and respond to regulatory changes with confidence.
Legacy modernisation in utilities is no longer a technical choice, it’s a strategic necessity. By pairing modern architecture with DevOps practices, the industry can finally move from fragile systems to flexible, future-ready platforms.
At Ottra, we help utilities modernise without the drama — bringing structure, security, and speed to every step of transformation.
Stop managing fragility. Start building resilience.