Protecting Business Transactions by Upgrading Legacy Software

The Benefits

Improved system reliability

by migrating legacy Delphi applications and databases to modern Windows and InterBase platforms.

Enhanced performance and scalability

by replacing outdated database components with FireDAC components.

Stronger security and business continuity

by ensuring applications run on supported operating systems with ongoing vendor support.

Project Overview

A Minnesota-based company specializing in barcode solutions relied on three Delphi applications originally built in the 1990s to manage customer accounts, barcode orders, and administration. While these systems had served the business well for decades, they were still running on outdated Windows XP servers and 32-bit processors.

With aging hardware and unsupported software, leadership grew concerned about reliability and business continuity. The question became clear: Was it time to invest in upgrading the applications to run on a modern Windows operating system?

The client currently had 3 Delphi applications that they used to order barcodes:

An application used by management staff to create, update, and delete customer accounts and the default specifications for account information.
An application used by employees to create, update, and delete barcode orders.
An application used by administrators to track order processing and view processing logs.

All three of these applications needed to be considered in the upgrade.

Goals

Ensure business continuity by migrating Delphi applications from Windows XP to a modern operating system.

Maintain functionality across customer management, barcode ordering, and administration applications.

Reduce risk of transaction loss and downtime by modernizing servers and databases.

Approach

SCS, a trusted partner for more than 20 years, was engaged to lead the modernization effort. The project required moving from Delphi 3 to Delphi 12, which would allow users to run modern Windows operating systems. Before this could be done, there were several challenges to address:

Knowledge Transfer: The current staff didn’t have much depth with the current Delphi coding language. They needed time to read and learn how to update code in the new Delphi 12 software. We addressed this with custom training for the teams.
Database Conversion: Transferring data from the applications into the new applications wasn’t going to be a simple click. There was not a direct upgrade path for the data in the current architecture. This meant that we needed to restore the original database file and create a custom data migration solution. It also meant custom processes to update data to correct formats - like changing the date, time, and date timestamp formats.
Component, SQL, and UI Updates: Legacy Borland Database Engine components were replaced with FireDAC components to enable compatibility with modern InterBase. SQL queries were rewritten so that data could be accessed seamlessly. We also made some UI tweaks and re-configurations so that the applications were easy to read and use.

The Results

The first of the three applications was successfully migrated, and production data from May 2025 was loaded onto a modern Windows 2019 server with InterBase 2020.

The result: the client now has a modern, easy-to-use system. During this process, both SCS and the client learned a few things:

Waiting too long to update software applications may cost more than regular software application maintenance.
Before updating software, look for equivalent software components from the old code that will be needed in the new code. Find out if equivalent components exist.
Plan for development time. If the code is running on the same processor size, then the update should not take long. On the other hand, if the machine to transport code to is on a different processor architecture, there may be some obstacles to overcome.

By modernizing these legacy systems, the client is now positioned for long-term stability and can continue delivering barcode solutions without disruption.

Improve Your Performance and Profitability Today

SCS uses best-in-class tools to deliver database, reporting and data platform and analytics solutions. We partner with your team to develop custom solutions. Discover how we can transform your siloed data systems into a cohesive, intelligent system.

Get a Quote

Case Study: