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ProtoComet
ProtoComet

  • We've seen your legacy code. We know how to modernize it

    From assessment and roadmap to transformation and optimization, we help organizations transform legacy Microsoft and .NET applications into cloud-native platforms, with 20 years of first-hand legacy expertise and AI-accelerated delivery.

If any of this sounds familiar, you’re in the right place.

Legacy applications rarely fail loudly. They get a little slower and more expensive to change every quarter, until one of these forces the conversation.

Newer engineers won’t touch it

The person who understood it has moved on. WebForms and WCF skills are hard to hire, and the people you hire want to work on something else.

AI is on the roadmap, & the architecture can’t support it

The data sits behind stored procedures and a single database, with no clean APIs to build on. The AI work stalls before it starts.

End of support is forcing the conversation

The Windows Server, SQL Server or .NET versions underneath are out of support or close to it. A customer’s security questionnaire flags it, and a simple upgrade won’t fix it.

A previous migration attempt stalled

Not because the team was weak. The estimate was based on what the application looks like, not on what it depends on, and the surprises turned up halfway through.

Every sprint is slower than it should be

A small change touches a sp, a shared service and a scheduled job. Each feature costs more than the last, and the roadmap slips without anyone deciding it should.

You need a plan leadership can approve

Your board, investors or leadership want real numbers before they commit: what it costs, how long it takes, what changes first. Not a range so wide it means nothing.

The Lived Advantage

Most would know the destination. 
We know where you're starting from.

We have lived the full .NET lifecycle since it's inception. ProtoComet brings experience across both legacy Microsoft stacks and modern cloud-native .NET systems. From VB6 and early .NET Framework applications through to modern .NET Core, Azure-based architectures, and contemporary engineering practices.

That combination matters in modernization work. Many teams are strong in either maintaining legacy systems or building modern platforms, but successful modernization usually requires understanding both worlds at the same time: the realities of long-running production systems, and the practical path toward modern architecture.


 Legacy DNA

We've written .NET Framework code, not just read about it. That first-hand knowledge prevents the costly surprises that derail most migrations.

Azure-first delivery

Every modernized system is designed for Azure from the ground up — scalable, secure, observable, and ready for what comes next.

AI-accelerated & AI-ready

We use AI tooling to reduce delivery time by 30–50%. And modernized system is assessed for AI readiness — so you can actually use it when the time comes.

What senior-led means in practice

  • One person, start to finish. The senior consultant on your first call runs the engagement through to handover.

  • No hidden junior layer. Work isn't passed to a less experienced team once it starts. When the scale needs it, we bring in specialist engineers who work to the same design.

  • Decisions made by the person accountable for them. Whoever assesses your applications also designs the architecture and signs off each cutover.

  • Hands-on where it helps. Pilots and the hardest parts of a migration are worked on directly, alongside your team.

How an engagement typically starts

Most clients begin with a short call and a fixed-price assessment. You decide what happens next once the roadmap is in your hands.

1
Discovery Call
Free · 30 minutes

We talk about your .NET applications: what's working, what isn't, and what's urgent. No pitch, and no obligation to go further.


2
Legacy Health Check
Tier 0 · Fixed Price · 1-3 Weeks

An AI-powered assessment of your codebase, dependencies and cloud readiness, with every application scored. Most clients start here.


3
Modernization Roadmap
Tier 1 · Fixed Price

A 6R verdict and effort estimate for each application, and a phased plan you can act on straight away, including what to leave alone


4
Deliver at the level that fits
Tier 2-5 · Your Call

Architecture, a pilot, full implementation or ongoing advisory. Stop at any exit point, because nothing is priced to push you further.


All six tiers, and what you hold at each exit point, are set out below.

Six tiers. Stop after any of them.

Every tier ends with something you own and can act on without us. Most clients start at Tier 0. 

Tiers 1, 3 and 5 are natural places to pause, because each completes a stage: a plan, a proven architecture, and a governed estate

Assessment & Roadmap

Read the full page

0
Tier

Legacy Health Check

Every application in scope scored across five dimensions: security, scalability, observability, DevOps maturity and data portability. AI readiness is one signal inside the score, not the whole of it.


You receive: a score for every application across the five dimensions, a dependency map, and a short findings report on the main risks.
Answers: what do we actually have, how healthy is each piece, and which of it matters.
Fixed price
Typically 1–2 weeks. Most clients start here.

1
Tier

Modernization Roadmap

Each application classified under the 6Rs, sequenced into waves by risk and dependency, and costed as a range. Includes the applications that should be retired or left alone, in writing.


You receive: a 6R verdict with reasoning for each application, a phased roadmap with cost ranges, and what to retire or leave alone, with a date to revisit.
Answers: in what order, at what cost, and what we should not touch this year
Fixed price
Follows Tier 0 directly. Natural pause point.

Architecture & Pilot

Read the full page

2
Tier

Target Architecture

The Azure target state for your estate, with migration patterns chosen per 6R class and every decision recorded with its alternatives. Designed around your constraints, not a reference diagram.


You receive: the target design, a record of each decision and the alternatives considered, and a specification for the Azure environment.
Answers: what does "modern" concretely mean for this estate, and what will it cost to run?
Fixed price
Architecture decisions written by the person accountable for them.

3
Tier

Pilot Modernization

One load-bearing but bounded workload moved to the target architecture and run in production, in parallel with the legacy path, until the numbers are real.


You receive: one workload running in production, its actual cost, performance and effort compared with the estimate, and a go, no-go or re-plan recommendation.
Answers: does the architecture hold under actual load, and what did the estimate miss?
Fixed price
Scoped once Tier 2 is agreed. Natural pause point.

Implementation & Governance

Read the full page

4
Tier

End-to-End Implementation

The remaining waves delivered against the roadmap, with a named senior bench under ProtoComet's architecture authority, parallel running per wave and a cutover gate nobody can wave through.


You receive: each wave moved, switched over and the old system shut down, with runbooks written with your team and a cost check per wave.

Answers: how do we get it done without the estimate drifting?
Fixed price per wave, or time and materials
Fixed where the scope is proven. Monthly stop point either way.

5
Tier

Post-Cutover Governance
A monthly cadence of architecture review, cost reconciliation and drift check, so the estate you paid to modernize is still modern in three years.

You receive: a monthly report on architecture drift, cost against budget, and what should change next.
Answers: who owns this now, and how do we stop the new estate ageing the way the old one did?
Retainer
Defined monthly cadence. Ongoing for as long as it is useful.

How every application gets a verdict

We use Microsoft's 6Rs of application modernization, checked in a fixed order from least effort to most. The first option that fits becomes the verdict, so effort goes only where it is needed. This applies to each application, or to each part of one large system, such as the reporting module, the WCF layer or the batch jobs.

1.Retire

Is anyone still using it?


If usage has dried up or the function now lives elsewhere, the application is switched off and its data archived. Easy savings without any migration work.

Checked first

2.Retain

Is now the wrong time to change it?


When cost, dependencies or risk outweigh the gain this year, it stays as it is. We write down the conditions that would change that answer and set a date to look again.

Revisit date set

3.Rehost

Is the infrastructure the only problem?


Lift and shift to Azure virtual machines with no code changes. A quick way off ageing servers, and often a first step towards a deeper move later.

Fast, low risk

4.Replatform

Can it run on cloud with small code changes?


Lift, tinker and shift onto App Service and Azure SQL. The servers go away and the core logic stays the same, with better performance and scaling.

Often the best value

5.Refactor

Is the code holding it back?


The code changes while the application behaves the same for its users: WCF moved to APIs, logic taken out of SPs, .NET Framework upgraded to modern .NET.

Higher effort, higher impact

6.Rebuild

Would changing it cost more than starting again?


A fresh build on cloud-native services, often split into smaller services. Where an off-the-shelf product would do the job for less, the roadmap says so.

Checked last

Questions clients typically ask

Short, direct answers. Where the answer depends on your situation, we say what it depends on.
No, and most clients do not. You can stop after any tier, and Tiers 1, 3 and 5 are natural pause points where a whole stage is complete. An engagement can sensibly end at Tier 1, when the roadmap shows the applications need less work than expected or that the timing is wrong. We count that as a good result.
Possibly not. Send it over and we'll read it before any call. If it maps dependencies and gives a reasoned verdict for each application, we can start at Tier 1 or Tier 2 from it. If it's a high-level maturity score with a recommendation to migrate everything, parts of it will need redoing, and we'll tell you exactly which parts and why.
Then that is what the roadmap says, in writing, with the conditions that would change it and a date to look again. An assessment that concludes "retain for two years" has done its job, and its fixed price stays the same however short the answer is.
Yes. ProtoComet owns the roadmap and the architecture decisions. Your existing partner can deliver waves to that design, run the Azure environment, or take over ongoing governance later. You keep the relationships that already work.

It depends on the number and size of your applications, so we quote after the discovery call. Tiers 0 to 3 are fixed price, and you'll have the number in writing before you commit to anything.

Each move is planned so the old and new versions run side by side until the new one is proven under real use. The switch-over then happens in a window agreed with you, with a tested way back if anything goes wrong.

Start with a conversation

Thirty minutes on what you are running, what it is costing you, and whether modernization is even the right answer this year. If it is not, you will hear that.

Book a free legacy health check call