Maintaining IT infrastructure is always critical, but if those systems rely on legacy systems, the support structure behind it becomes even more critical. That means relying on the skills of individuals who understand older system architectures.
There’s a growing concern in the UK that the number of engineers capable of supporting platforms such as DEC, OpenVMS and Solaris is diminishing rapidly. This poses a significant risk to public sector bodies and defence contractors that depend on these technologies for core operations. According to the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education, the pipeline of new talent entering traditional systems engineering has narrowed over the last decade as training programmes prioritise contemporary cloud and virtualisation concepts.
Government guidance recognises this and the Civil Service Learning framework emphasises that skills retention is a strategic asset, particularly where proprietary systems hold unique configurations that cannot be easily replicated. When a specialist engineer leaves a role involving niche hardware, a layer of understanding regarding how specific components interact under load leaves with them. When unexpected faults occur and the available documentation does not reflect the actual state of the installed base, that’s when the weight of the situation really hits home. Trade publications have noted that recruitment for these roles now attracts significantly fewer applicants compared to mainstream IT support positions, creating a scarcity of labour that typically drives up costs and delays repairs, although this is not the case with but not in the case with MicroSystem Support.
For businesses in regulated sectors, the implication is even clearer. Some manufacturers have stopped providing direct support for products released two decades ago, so customers must find third-party specialists who maintain their own libraries of parts and firmware. This requires organisations to vet suppliers carefully to ensure they possess the necessary depth of experience. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology has previously highlighted the need for continuity plans that account for personnel turnover in critical roles, suggesting that succession planning should extend to the technical domain. Failing to address this skills gap leaves essential services vulnerable because they face the possibility that qualified engineers and resources are not available when necessary.
MSS fills this gap and does so without the typically high costs and delays. Being cost effective and responsive when it comes to legacy systems is what our customers have trusted us for over decades.
