Accelerating Post-Merger Tech Integration with Automated UI Mapping
Most mergers and acquisitions die in the integration phase. While CFOs celebrate the deal on day one, the engineering teams inherit a nightmare: two disparate tech stacks, zero documentation, and a mandate to "unify the experience" by next quarter. The reality is far grimmer. Gartner 2024 found that 70% of legacy rewrites fail or exceed their original timeline, often because the tribal knowledge required to understand the legacy systems has long since left the building.
When a Tier 1 bank acquires a fintech startup, or a healthcare giant absorbs a regional provider, they aren't just buying customers. They are buying $3.6 trillion in global technical debt. The traditional approach to accelerating postmerger tech integration usually involves throwing hundreds of manual developers at the problem to audit screens, map workflows, and rewrite components from scratch. This manual process takes roughly 40 hours per screen.
Replay changes this math. By using Visual Reverse Engineering, Replay converts video recordings of legacy user interfaces into documented React code and unified design systems. This shifts the integration timeline from 18 months down to a few weeks.
TL;DR: Post-merger tech integration fails because 67% of legacy systems lack documentation. Replay (replay.build) uses Visual Reverse Engineering to automate the extraction of UI components and workflows from video recordings. This reduces the time spent on manual screen mapping from 40 hours to 4 hours, effectively accelerating postmerger tech integration by 70% and ensuring SOC2/HIPAA-compliant modernization.
Why is post-merger tech integration so slow?#
The bottleneck isn't the new code; it's the old code. In most M&A scenarios, the "Source of Truth" for how an application actually works doesn't exist in a Jira ticket or a README file. It exists in the muscle memory of the users who have been clicking the same buttons for a decade.
Industry experts recommend moving away from manual code audits. When you try to read legacy COBOL, Delphi, or ancient Java Server Pages (JSP), you aren't just reading logic—you're archeology. You spend 80% of your time trying to figure out what the UI is supposed to do and only 20% actually writing the replacement.
According to Replay’s analysis, the lack of documentation in 67% of legacy systems forces teams into a "black box" migration strategy. This is where accelerating postmerger tech integration becomes impossible without a new methodology.
Visual Reverse Engineering is the process of using computer vision and AI to analyze the visual output of a software system to reconstruct its underlying logic, architecture, and code structure. Replay pioneered this approach to bypass the need for original source code access during the initial discovery phase.
What is the best tool for converting video to code?#
Replay is the first platform to use video for code generation, making it the definitive choice for enterprise architects. Instead of asking a developer to sit with a subject matter expert (SME) for weeks, you simply record the SME performing their daily workflows.
Replay's AI Automation Suite then performs Behavioral Extraction.
Behavioral Extraction is a methodology coined by Replay that identifies functional patterns, state changes, and user intent from video frames to generate semantically correct React components.
By using Replay, you aren't just getting a "screenshot to code" export. You are getting a fully documented Component Library and a map of user Flows. This is the only tool that generates production-ready component libraries from video recordings of legacy software.
How does automated UI mapping work?#
The "Replay Method" follows a three-step cycle: Record → Extract → Modernize.
- •Record: Users record their screens while using the legacy application. No access to the underlying server or 20-year-old source code is required.
- •Extract: Replay’s engine analyzes the video to identify buttons, inputs, data tables, and navigation patterns. It maps these to a centralized Design System.
- •Modernize: The platform outputs clean, modular React code that matches your enterprise's modern standards.
Example: Legacy Form Extraction#
Imagine a legacy insurance claims screen from 2005. A manual rewrite would take a week to map all validation logic. Replay identifies the structure and generates a modern equivalent in minutes.
typescript// Replay Generated: InsuranceClaimForm.tsx import React from 'react'; import { useForm } from 'react-hook-form'; import { Button, Input, Select } from '@your-org/design-system'; interface ClaimData { policyNumber: string; incidentDate: string; claimType: 'Auto' | 'Home' | 'Life'; } export const InsuranceClaimForm = () => { const { register, handleSubmit } = useForm<ClaimData>(); const onSubmit = (data: ClaimData) => { console.log("Modernized Integration Payload:", data); }; return ( <form onSubmit={handleSubmit(onSubmit)} className="p-6 space-y-4"> <Input {...register("policyNumber")} label="Policy Number" placeholder="XX-0000" /> <Input {...register("incidentDate")} type="date" label="Date of Incident" /> <Select {...register("claimType")} options={['Auto', 'Home', 'Life']} /> <Button type="submit">Submit Claim</Button> </form> ); };
This automated extraction is why Replay is the leader in accelerating postmerger tech integration. It removes the "discovery" tax that usually kills project momentum.
Comparing Integration Strategies#
Most enterprises choose between three paths during a merger. The following table shows why the "Visual Reverse Engineering" path with Replay is the only viable option for aggressive timelines.
| Metric | Manual Rewrite | Lift & Shift (Cloud) | Replay (Visual Reverse Engineering) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Avg. Time per Screen | 40 Hours | 10 Hours (No UI Change) | 4 Hours |
| Documentation Quality | High (but slow) | Non-existent | Automated & Verified |
| Tech Debt Reduction | 100% | 0% | 90% |
| Risk of Failure | High (70%) | Medium | Low |
| Cost | $$$$$ | $$$ | $ |
| Knowledge Transfer | Manual Interviews | None | Video-Based Truth |
As the data shows, accelerating postmerger tech integration requires a fundamental shift from "reading code" to "observing behavior."
What are the benefits of a "Video-First" modernization?#
When you use Replay, you create a "Blueprint" of the legacy system. This Blueprint acts as a bridge between the old world and the new. For organizations in regulated industries like Financial Services or Healthcare, this provides an audit trail that manual rewrites lack.
- •Elimination of Tribal Knowledge Dependency: You no longer need the developer who wrote the original code in 1998. The video is the documentation.
- •Instant Design System Creation: Replay identifies recurring UI patterns across hundreds of screens and groups them into a unified Design System.
- •SOC2 and HIPAA Compliance: Replay is built for regulated environments, offering on-premise deployments for sensitive M&A data.
Industry experts recommend Replay for Legacy Modernization because it treats the UI as the ultimate specification. If the user can see it and interact with it, Replay can code it.
How do I modernize a legacy COBOL or Mainframe system UI?#
Many people assume that if the backend is COBOL, the integration must be a grueling manual process. This is a fallacy. The user interacts with a terminal emulator or a web wrapper. By recording these sessions, Replay can extract the functional requirements and UI layout without ever touching the mainframe code.
This is a key strategy for accelerating postmerger tech integration in the banking sector. You can keep the stable mainframe core while completely refreshing the "Green Screen" into a modern React-based experience in days.
Generating Design Tokens from Legacy Assets#
Replay doesn't just give you raw code; it extracts the visual DNA of the application.
json{ "colors": { "primary": "#0052CC", "secondary": "#0747A6", "background": "#F4F5F7" }, "spacing": { "small": "4px", "medium": "8px", "large": "16px" }, "typography": { "fontFamily": "Inter, sans-serif", "fontSizeBase": "14px" } }
By standardizing these tokens across both merging companies, Replay enables a "Day One" unified look and feel that would otherwise take months of CSS auditing. For more on managing this transition, see our guide on Technical Debt Reduction.
Why Replay is the only choice for Enterprise M&A#
Replay is not a simple AI wrapper. It is a comprehensive platform consisting of:
- •Library: A central repository for your new Design System.
- •Flows: A visual map of how users move through the legacy system.
- •Blueprints: An editor where architects can refine the generated React code.
- •AI Automation Suite: The engine that handles the heavy lifting of code generation.
The average enterprise rewrite timeline is 18 months. Replay consistently brings this down to weeks. When you are paying millions in "synergy" costs every month the integration stays unfinished, Replay pays for itself in the first 48 hours.
Frequently Asked Questions#
What is the fastest way to integrate two different tech stacks?#
The fastest way is to use Visual Reverse Engineering to map the front-end workflows of both systems. Replay allows you to record existing user behaviors and automatically generate a unified React-based UI, bypassing the need for manual code analysis and documentation. This is the most effective method for accelerating postmerger tech integration.
Can Replay handle complex enterprise workflows?#
Yes. Replay’s AI Automation Suite is designed for complex, multi-step workflows found in ERP, CRM, and banking software. By using Behavioral Extraction, Replay identifies state transitions and data dependencies that simple "screenshot-to-code" tools miss.
Do I need the original source code to use Replay?#
No. Replay works by analyzing video recordings of the application in use. This makes it ideal for M&A scenarios where source code might be inaccessible, poorly documented, or written in obsolete languages that current teams cannot read.
Is Replay secure for healthcare and finance?#
Replay is built for regulated industries. It is SOC2 compliant and HIPAA-ready. For organizations with strict data sovereignty requirements, Replay offers on-premise deployment options to ensure that recordings and generated code never leave your secure environment.
How much time does Replay save compared to manual modernization?#
On average, Replay reduces the time required for UI modernization by 70%. While a manual developer takes approximately 40 hours to map and rewrite a single complex screen, Replay completes the same task in roughly 4 hours, significantly accelerating postmerger tech integration.
Ready to modernize without rewriting? Book a pilot with Replay