Issue
The client is a mid-sized retail power and gas company carrying a $1M+ annual legacy development and support budget.
The client questioned whether continuing to develop its in-house systems was justified:
- Legacy development and support ran in excess of $1 million per year.
- The systems could not even produce a daily P&L except via spreadsheets.
- The client needed an objective basis to decide what to keep and what to replace.
Solution
MidDel measured the legacy estate against a structured RFP, then integrated the result:
- Reviewed all gas and power business processes and segmented functionality by business need.
- Scored in-house systems against the RFP and managed vendor demos, from six vendors to a two-vendor short list to one pilot.
- As System Integrator, integrated the client's customized retail invoicing with the selected ETRM software.
Result
About half the legacy systems were shown to warrant replacement; projected savings exceed $15 million over ten years against a $1M-plus annual legacy budget.
The fact-based split - replace what is not differentiated, keep what is - gave the business full transparency into daily operations and P&L.
“Your consultant has been doing great work on the project. I know without their efforts, we would not have made it to where we are today. Their dedication in the face of adversity has been great to see.”
Product Portfolio Manager
Energy Company
Key Takeaways
- You cannot judge a legacy system in the abstract - score it against a real RFP. Measuring more than $1 million a year of in-house tools against structured requirements showed about half should be replaced and half retained, a fact-based split projected to save over $15 million across ten years.
- Keep what is genuinely differentiated, replace what is not. Integrating customized retail invoicing with new packaged ETRM software was the cost-effective middle path - transferable to any firm deciding how much of a costly legacy stack to keep.
Ready to do the same?
Spending seven figures a year maintaining legacy trading systems? MidDel benchmarks them against a structured RFP so you replace only what you should. Let's talk.
