Modernizing a 20-year retail platform while preserving business continuity

Upgrading core merchandise and financial stock ledger from Island Pacific v1.5 (2001) to v19.1 — without touching high-volume sales or merchandise processing.

Sales disruption

1,280

Custom objects updated

~30%

Future upgrade cost cut

01 · Challenge

Where the program started.

The starting conditions matter — stakeholder alignment, technical debt, and operational reality all shape the path forward. Here's what we walked into.

Client: $5B global fashion retailer
Practice: IBM i Solutions
Focus: IBM i / Island Pacific

The starting point

A leading global specialty retailer, known for its expansive store footprint and digital presence, was operating on a legacy version of its core merchandise and financial stock ledger system — Island Pacific v1.5, implemented in 2001. With more than two decades of layered customizations and limited vendor support, the client faced increasing operational risk, maintenance complexity, and a growing gap in scalability. A future-ready upgrade was essential — and it had to be executed with zero business disruption, particularly across high-volume sales and merchandise processes.

02 · Approach

How SIS engaged.

A disciplined playbook — aligned with operations, built around the client's technical reality, and sequenced to protect the business at every step.

01Step 1

Upgrade to Island Pacific v19.1

SIS led the upgrade from v1.5 to v19.1, modernizing core retail operations and eliminating years of accumulated technical debt.

02Step 2

Proprietary custom-object analysis tool

Built a tool purpose-built for the complexity of 1,280 custom objects accumulated over 20 years — scanning and comparing core files to identify impacted objects, assessing modification needs, mapping custom fields, and enabling multi-developer collaboration with built-in version control.

03Step 3

Disciplined scope and risk management

Established a well-defined scope, strategically allocated resources, and proactively managed risks throughout the program.

04Step 4

Dedicated delivery team

Executed by eight DevOps engineers — three of whom also supported live production — plus two project managers driving execution and quality oversight.

In the client's words
“One of the most seamless and successful technology upgrades we've ever completed. SIS brought clarity, structure, and a level of discipline that kept business running while transforming our platform behind the scenes.”
EA
EVP, Associate Engineering
$5B global fashion retailer

03 · Results