Technical debt mitigation · Legacy systems · Delphi · C# · Architecture
I help organizations mitigate technical debt in business-critical legacy systems — reducing risk and extending system lifetime without unnecessary rewrites. The system has been running for 15–20 years, makes money, and nobody wants to rewrite it from scratch — but it's also getting harder every year to find someone who understands it. You need a combination that's today extremely rare: architectural perspective, Delphi knowledge, and the ability to safely connect the system to the modern C#/.NET world.
Problem
The people who learned Delphi in its golden era are now retiring or have moved on. Schools don't teach Delphi anymore, so the supply of new developers is essentially zero. Companies with a critical Delphi system are caught in a trap: keep the increasingly rare, expensive experts around, or commit to a rewrite that's an order of magnitude more expensive and riskier than most leadership teams realize.
Embarcadero's pricing policy makes it worse, but it isn't the core of the problem — the real issue is that the pipeline of new people stopped, while the system keeps running processes the company genuinely depends on. A pure Delphi developer with no architectural range will keep the system alive, but won't give you a way out. A pure .NET architect, meanwhile, will often propose a rewrite without understanding why the system has run reliably for twenty years.
What does it cost me if I do nothing right now?
The system keeps running — until the last person who understands it leaves, or until a requirement comes along that the current system can't handle. At that point, a calm, managed modernization turns into an emergency rewrite under time pressure — an order of magnitude more expensive and riskier than the same work planned in advance.
What I offer
I understand the code that's kept a company afloat for 15–20 years — and why it hasn't been rewritten despite its age. I can tell what's actually fragile in the system and what just looks old.
I offer a way out and up — new modules, integrations, hybrid solutions — with no need to push the company into "throw it all away and rewrite from scratch."
I assess the system as a whole — where the Delphi core still has life left in it, where a hybrid model makes sense, and where gradual migration beats a risky big-bang rewrite.
This combination covers the whole life cycle of a legacy system — from maintenance, through stabilization, to gradual modernization — with one consistent perspective, instead of three different vendors who don't understand each other.
Specifically
Forms of collaboration
An independent assessment of your Delphi system's condition for a fixed price — where the risk is, how much longer the system can run with no changes, and what the realistic paths forward are.
About the development audit →Designing and leading a hybrid solution — the Delphi core stays, new parts are built in C#/.NET, connected through clearly designed integrations, with no halt to operations.
About system integration →Technical Debt Mitigator on a monthly retainer — for companies that want senior perspective within reach on an ongoing basis, not just a one-off engagement.
About Architect as a Service →Bonus for companies with 25+ employees
An architect who also knows Delphi and C# is rare enough on its own. I'm also disabled (OZP) and a registered provider of alternative performance under § 81 of Act No. 435/2004 Coll. — so the same work rescuing or modernizing your legacy system can also cover your company's legal obligation, instead of that money disappearing as a levy with nothing in return.
How alternative performance works →Next step
Write me a few lines about what your Delphi system does and what worries you about its future. We'll discuss whether an audit, gradual modernization, or ongoing support makes sense.
Describe your system →Jakub Lebeda · Company ID (IČO) 19074671 · +420 607 720 317