69: Breaking Free from Vendor Lock-In: A New Playbook for Modernising Legacy Systems

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When your CTO dies and no one can read the code, you realize the real problem was never the software.

In this episode, I sit down with Matteo Di Battista and Marcello Modica, two Italian innovators who’ve spent decades helping companies escape the grip of outdated ERP systems. From IBM mainframes to cloud-native development, they’ve seen how technical debt and siloed knowledge can quietly strangle growth.

We get into what happens when your tech stack outlives your people, why monoliths breed fragility, and how breaking systems into small, pluggable services changes everything. It’s not just about new tools—it’s about a new kind of teamwork that keeps knowledge alive even when key players leave.

Because modernization isn’t just a tech upgrade—it’s a survival strategy.

You’ll Learn:

[00:00] Introduction

[05:32] Why monolithic ERP systems quietly trap companies in technical debt

[09:47] What happens when a CTO’s death exposes a company’s hidden knowledge silos

[12:18] The moment you know it’s time to modernize your software before it collapses

[15:44] How low-code and visual tools can close the gap between design and delivery

[18:56] Why developers are becoming replaceable, and what that means for software teams

[23:51] How building a shared development community protects both companies and clients

[26:28] The real reason developers resist change even when innovation would make life easier

[33:42] What the new network API standard means for identity, payments, and fraud prevention

[45:37] How converting old databases into REST APIs transforms legacy systems into living platforms

You can connect on LinkedIn with both Matteo and Marcello, and their work though wavemaker.com and oneclickapp.it.

Find more from Adam on LinkedIn and YouTube, and check out Adam's CTO coaching company here.