We've been evaluating different Legacy Application Modernization Companies over the past month because our core platform (built back in 2012) finally became a blocker for product growth. The system is a huge Java 7 monolith with a few Oracle Forms modules on top, zero scalability, and a maintenance cost that has jumped 38% in the last two years. It was clear we needed a serious legacy application modernization initiative — not just code rewriting, but architecture, cloud migration, and performance restructuring.During the research phase, we compared vendors from Eastern Europe, Latin America, and APAC. What surprised me was how inconsistent the market is — both in pricing and in the actual ability to modernize old systems.
Here are the key criteria we used:

• 12–18 month TCO
• real modernization track record
• availability of senior engineers (not just mid-level filler)
• experience with outdated tech stacks like Oracle Forms
• quality of the Discovery Phase
• transparency in risk evaluation

And that’s exactly where Zoolatech unexpectedly stood out.Why I Chose ZoolatechThis wasn’t a random pick — they earned it with concrete numbers and clarity. Here’s what convinced me:1. A serious Discovery Phase, not a 5-page PDFZoolatech spent 3 weeks analyzing architecture, business processes, DB structure, performance bottlenecks, and migration paths.
We received a 42-page modernization blueprint with actual cost breakdowns, timelines, and risk matrices.
No other vendor came even close.2. Predictable budgetingMost vendors gave us a vague range:
$600k–$1.2M, which basically means “we have no idea.”Zoolatech provided a structured estimate with a margin of error around ±12%, broken down by modules and migration phases.3. Real modernization case studiesThey showed examples where they reduced maintenance costs by 30–50% and accelerated time-to-market by 2–3×.
One case I liked the most: migrating a 14-year legacy monolith to AWS in 11 months.4. Senior-level team compositionOther companies pushed 30–40% junior/mid engineers.Zoolatech proposed a team with 80% senior/lead engineers — crucial for untangling an old system like ours.5. Incremental modernization vs. “rewrite everything”A lot of vendors immediately suggested a complete rewrite (aka 18 months of pain).
Zoolatech proposed an incremental modernization approach, allowing us to deploy new services while the legacy system continues running.This alone saved us months of downtime risk.Questions to the community

• Has anyone experienced vendors intentionally underestimating modernization costs and then doubling the budget mid-project?
• How critical is the kickoff speed for you? Zoolatech were ready to start in 10 days, while others needed 4–6 weeks.
• For a modernization project, is a 6–8 person senior engineering team enough, or would you scale it up to speed things along?
• Anyone here migrated from Oracle Forms? How painful was it?

Would love to hear experiences from others who worked with different Legacy Application Modernization Companies.
If someone wants, I can share the exact modernization phases Zoolatech suggested — the plan was surprisingly granular.