In the corporate IT solutions segment, approaches to infrastructure updates are shifting. The era of high-risk "big bang" migrations is giving way to an orchestration-first strategy. This allows for modernizing legacy ECM systems without interrupting operations by separating the interface layer from physical data storage.
The legacy ECM trap: why "big bang" migration threatens business
Large enterprises are often held hostage by monolithic legacy systems. Maintaining them is a financial burden, and their closed architecture hinders the adoption of modern tools. At the same time, replacing the system entirely through massive data transfers carries critical risks. Attempting to move millions of documents and their relationships in one go threatens metadata integrity and can lead to business process downtime.
This issue is particularly acute when assessing information security. According to the NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) 2.0 methodology, risk management requires strict control, particularly during the identification and protection phases (Identify, Protect). A full migration creates temporary security "blind spots": access rights may not yet be synchronized, and audit trails may be broken between old and new platforms. Instead of risky transfers of terabytes of information, it is more prudent to use an architecture that avoids prolonged downtime.
The facade architecture: separating user interface and legacy storage
To solve the legacy system problem, IT architects use the facade pattern. Its essence lies in creating an integration layer that takes over current business logic, while the legacy ECM system becomes a passive system of record for historical data.
This approach is implemented through the following practical steps:
- Implementing a facade layer: Requests for new documents are directed to a modern interface, while requests for archived data are proxied to the existing legacy repository.
- Metadata synchronization without file migration: The integration layer handles only metadata. The physical files (BLOB objects) remain in the old storage, reducing infrastructure load.
- Phased decommissioning of modules: The organization replaces specific workflows with new services in stages, leaving the old system as an archive.
It is worth noting that the facade approach does not eliminate the need for data cleansing in the future, but merely defers it, allowing the process to be carried out in stages. Furthermore, creating such a facade requires deep integration and is not a simple "no-code" solution.
Metadata orchestration: uniting old and new environments
The key to implementing the facade strategy is a unified domain metadata model. It describes data structure, access rights, and document lifecycles, uniting old and new systems. Building such a layer requires a technological foundation capable of working with heterogeneous databases and generating REST API.
An example of such a foundation is the low-code platform UnityBase, a joint development by companies in the Intecracy Group alliance (where InBase is a key, but not sole, developer). The platform provides a DBMS-agnostic ORM that allows for simultaneous interaction with a new database and proxying requests to legacy SQL ECM databases.
Enterprise products such as Megapolis.DocNet and Scriptum.DMS function on the basis of UnityBase. Thanks to the platform, these solutions can act as a modern frontend and process orchestrator, working on top of the retained legacy system.
Step-by-step IDP implementation: automating document processing
Modern Intelligent Information Management (IIM) strategy, according to the AIIM association, prioritizes moving away from manual data entry in favor of automated classification and Intelligent Document Processing (IDP) technologies.
Thanks to the facade architecture, IDP implementation becomes possible without prior cleansing of the entire archive. New document flows arriving through exchange channels are immediately processed by AI services (e.g., within Megapolis.DocNet or Scriptum.DMS). However, no algorithm will work effectively without structured metadata. The domain model at the integration layer level provides the necessary ontology and validation rules upon which recognition services are deployed.
Legal validity and security: compliance with legislation and standards
Any architectural changes must comply with legal regulations. Under the Law of Ukraine "On Electronic Documents and Electronic Document Management," the legal validity of an electronic document is maintained provided that mandatory attributes are present, regardless of changes to the storage platform. The facade strategy ensures that the integrity of attributes and qualified electronic signatures (QES) remains intact during request proxying.
The international standard ISO/TR 22957:2018 regulates the implementation of enterprise content management technologies, requiring clear business analysis and phased selection of tools to minimize risks. Using solutions based on UnityBase in commercial editions (Enterprise or Defence) supports these requirements through:
- Strict access control (RBAC, RLS, ACL).
- End-to-end audit trails of user actions in both new and proxied systems.
- Built-in support for cryptographic standards and signature visualization.
Comparative analysis of ECM modernization strategies
| Comparison parameter | "Big Bang" strategy (Full migration) | "Facade" strategy (Orchestration on UnityBase) |
|---|---|---|
| Risk of business process downtime | High (requires maintenance windows and registration stops) | Minimal (old system runs in background mode) |
| Speed of IDP/AI implementation | Low (only after full cleansing and data transfer) | High (can be connected to new document flows immediately) |
| Data cleansing costs | Required immediately for the entire archive volume | Deferred (cleansing occurs only for active processes) |
| Infrastructure requirements | Double capacity for parallel storage of two DB copies | Optimal (load is distributed via the integration layer) |
FAQ
How to maintain the legal validity of documents when moving to a new ECM according to Ukrainian legislation?
The Law of Ukraine "On Electronic Documents and Electronic Document Management" stipulates that the legal validity of a document is preserved if mandatory attributes (including QES) are present, regardless of changes to the storage platform. The facade architecture ensures the integrity of signatures and metadata, as original files are safely proxied without violating their binary structure.
Can Intelligent Document Processing (IDP) be implemented if metadata in the old system is unstructured?
Yes, but it requires orchestration. AI and IDP cannot work effectively without structured data. The integration layer based on UnityBase forms a domain metadata model that serves as a framework for structuring information, after which new document flows can be processed by algorithms.
What requirements of the ISO/TR 22957:2018 standard should be considered when choosing a new platform for the integration layer?
The ISO/TR 22957:2018 standard emphasizes the importance of phased implementation, detailed business process analysis, and risk control. The technological foundation must support content lifecycle management, clear access separation (e.g., RBAC and RLS), and the maintenance of a continuous audit trail.