A Customer's Journey Through Modernization Challenges
Working with legacy systems often feels like navigating a labyrinth of outdated tools, custom programming, and unsupported hardware. A recent project with a long-time customer brought these challenges to life, showcasing the complexities of upgrading legacy systems to newer versions.
The Situation: A System Stuck in the Past
The customer’s system had been running on Step 7 and WinCC Flex 2008 for decades. While it had served them well, time had caught up with it. Their hardware was aging, the software was outdated, and Siemens had long since shifted to the more modern TIA Portal platform. They knew they needed to modernize, but migrating their system was daunting.
Their hesitation came at a cost. Over the years, Siemens phased out many tools and patches that could have eased the migration. Now, bringing their system up to date required a fragmented, labor-intensive path.
The Challenges of Moving Forward
Upgrading the customer’s system presented several significant obstacles, each requiring careful attention and effort to resolve.
Obsolete Tools and Fragmented Projects
The first challenge was the lack of tools to seamlessly bridge the gap between Step 7 and TIA Portal V16. Several factors complicated the process:
- Separated project structures: HMI projects in WinCC Flex 2008 were stored separately from Step 7, requiring manual effort to unify them.
- Outdated patches: Many essential patches worked only with older operating systems, such as Windows XP or early versions of Windows 7.
- Virtual environments were needed: To access older patches and tools, virtual machines had to be set up to simulate outdated environments, which required hours of preparation.
Custom Code and Outdated Scripts
The system’s reliance on custom programming created additional challenges:
- VB scripts no longer supported: The HMI screens relied heavily on VB scripts, but WinCC Unified does not support them. Addressing this required:
- Completely replacing or re-engineering the scripts.
- Using Siemens’ tools and recommendations to guide the process.
- Legacy ladder logic: Programs written in Step 7 included outdated programming blocks that couldn’t migrate directly. This required:
- Identifying these blocks in the code.
- Replacing them with updated equivalents compatible with TIA Portal.
- Testing and validating changes to maintain functionality.
- VB scripts no longer supported: The HMI screens relied heavily on VB scripts, but WinCC Unified does not support them. Addressing this required:
Hardware Compatibility Issues
Legacy hardware posed a separate but equally significant challenge. Key issues included:
- Driver availability: Finding drivers for older hardware was difficult, as the manufacturer no longer supported many.
- Lack of modern connectivity: Older HMIs and controllers lacked compatibility with the communication protocols required by TIA Portal.
- Retrofitting risks: Modifying legacy hardware to work with updated software introduced risks like system instability and reduced performance.
Addressing these challenges required technical expertise, creativity, and significant time and resources. Despite the obstacles, the migration process was essential to ensuring long-term reliability.
A Piecemeal Migration Path
Upgrading the system required a layered approach:
- Incremental migrations: Projects were migrated through multiple intermediate software versions to ensure compatibility with TIA Portal.
- ProTools hurdles: Screens created in ProTools faced an additional challenge: only the final version of ProTools with Service Pack 2 could migrate to WinCC Flex 2008, while projects updated with Service Pack 3 could not.
- Extensive testing: Each stage required rigorous testing to ensure no data or functionality was lost during the transition.
The team worked methodically through these steps to modernize the system.
The Cost of Waiting
What could have been a manageable upgrade years ago became a massive undertaking. The delayed migration now requires:
- 200+ hours of engineering time for the migration itself.
- Additional time for testing and validating each step.
- Re-engineering efforts for custom code and hardware, further inflating costs.
The customer faces a difficult choice: proceed with the complex migration or scrap the system and start fresh with a complete overhaul.
The Takeaway: Modernization Can’t Wait
This story highlights the risks of delaying modernization. Legacy systems, while functional, are ticking time bombs. As tools and hardware become obsolete, the cost and effort of upgrading older systems to newer versions grow exponentially.
For this customer, the migration process was a wake-up call. Staying current isn’t just about keeping up with technology—it’s about protecting operations from downtime and unnecessary costs.
Final Thoughts
The lesson is clear: don’t wait until it’s too late to modernize. Whether it’s updating a single project or overhauling an entire system, planning ahead saves time, money, and frustration. Upgrading older systems to newer versions is never easy, but starting early makes the process far less painful—and sets the stage for long-term success.
Don’t let outdated systems hold your operations back. Take the first step toward modernization today. Contact us to explore how we can streamline your transition to newer platforms and future-proof your business.
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