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COOKIE POLICY
Modernizing a legacy sales platform in a large enterprise isn’t just a technical challenge, it’s a cultural and operational one.
On a recent project with a Fortune 500 organization, several past attempts to replace the aging ERP system failed. Why? Because those efforts treated modernization as a software delivery exercise, not an adoption journey.
When we kicked off this initiative, we knew this effort had to be different. This wasn’t just another rewrite or shiny UI layer. Our mission was to create a modern, flexible sales platform, while avoiding the traps that had derailed previous efforts.
The pattern was familiar: prior vendors proposed generic, “industry-standard” platforms that looked good in demos but demanded extensive configuration and imposed rigid workflows on frontline associates. These systems often introduced process changes that clashed with how sales reps actually worked on the floor. Even worse, they didn’t account for the cognitive load required to adapt to a new system or the operational risks of such disruption. No matter how well-intentioned the technology, if it asks too much from users or forces them to unlearn years of experience overnight, it will fail. And it did—multiple times.
We flipped the script.
From day one, we focused on adoption-first thinking. Before writing a single line of code, we studied how our client’s associates used the existing system and what pain points they lived with daily. We asked ourselves: “How can we improve their experience without asking them to fundamentally change how they work?”
This meant keeping processes familiar, interfaces intuitive, and operational changes minimal. The best compliment we could earn was, “This just works”—not “This feels new.”
From an architectural standpoint, we made a deliberate decision: build on the strengths our client already had.
They had invested heavily in a suite of performant, business-aware enterprise APIs, supported by a mature middleware team. These APIs were already tuned to the nuances of our client’s data and operations. Rather than replacing them or introducing entirely new paradigms, we emphasized reuse.
Where others might have introduced proprietary services or tech stacks with steep learning curves, we prioritized the familiar. We integrated with existing environments, followed established deployment practices, and worked closely with middleware teams to ensure the platform extended—not disrupted—their architecture.
Our philosophy wasn’t “we’re here to fix things.” It was “we’re here to help strengthen what you’ve already built.”
That meant taking the time to understand the why behind their current systems—not just the what. We dug into the business logic, integration patterns, and even the culture of how releases were handled. When needed, we partnered to evolve middleware APIs in ways that would serve both the legacy and future-facing platforms.
To keep delivery lean and adaptable, we organized our work into adoption groups, focused, testable units of functionality that allow for incremental rollout. These chunks map to specific workflows or user interactions and give stakeholders a clear way to evaluate impact, provide feedback, and pivot if needed.
This structure has allowed us to test the platform in real-world conditions and refine it with confidence.
At its core, modernization isn’t just about updating tech—it’s about earning adoption.
This project is succeeding not because we delivered a perfect system, but because we respected the ecosystem it would live in. By blending thoughtful UX, pragmatic reuse, and a collaborative delivery model, we’ve built something that associates want to use—and that’s the true benchmark of success.
Andrew Duncan is a Director of Software Engineering in Richmond, VA. He is a driven technologist focused on modern technology stacks and best practices. Andrew believes nothing is more rewarding than making software needs a reality with a focus on flexible, scalable and supportable code.
