How organizations can stay competitive when CFML expertise is harder to find than ever?

1. The Silent Crisis: CFML Talent Is Disappearing

For many organizations, ColdFusion and CFML applications still power critical business processes.

But there’s a growing challenge that leaders can no longer ignore:

The number of experienced CFML developers is shrinking—and it’s happening fast.

Why?

• Few new developers learn CFML today.
• Senior engineers with legacy knowledge are retiring or transitioning into other technologies.
• Internal teams often rely on one or two individuals with “tribal knowledge.”
• Modern development practices (CI/CD, DevOps, cloud) require skills many legacy teams don’t have.

This creates a dangerous operational bottleneck:

If a key developer leaves or becomes unavailable, the organization is exposed.

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2. The Hidden Operational Risks

A shrinking talent pool does more than slow down development—it increases business and security risk.

2.1. Single Points of Failure

Many companies depend on one developer who understands a 15–20-year-old CFML codebase.

If that person leaves, the organization can suddenly lose the ability to maintain or troubleshoot its own systems.

2.2. Technical Debt That Grows Faster Than Teams Can Handle

Legacy architectures accumulate complexity over time.

Without a strong team to manage them, issues compound:

• Outdated Lucee or Adobe ColdFusion versions
• Unsupported Java runtimes
• Custom frameworks with no documentation
• Limited or no automated testing
• Fragile deployments

2.3. Modernization Projects Stall

Without enough talent, even basic improvements get postponed:

• Performance tuning
• Security hardening
• CI/CD automation
• Cloud adoption

This is one reason many organizations still run mission-critical systems on platforms designed decades ago.

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3. Innovation Slows Down When Legacy Skills Become Scarce

When CFML expertise is limited, organizations often find themselves “locked in” to old systems—even if they want to modernize.

Common consequences:

• New features take longer to deliver
• Technical teams lack the bandwidth to innovate
• Modern integrations (APIs, identity management, cloud services) become difficult
• Businesses lose agility compared to competitors with modern stacks

In other words:

Lack of talent becomes a strategic disadvantage.

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4. Why Modernization Is No Longer Optional

The talent shortage is accelerating the need for modernization—not replacing it.

Organizations are now asking:

• How do we reduce our dependence on individual developers?
• How do we modernize without rewriting everything?
• How do we adopt cloud-native patterns while keeping our CFML apps running?

There are clear, proven approaches that reduce risk while extending the lifespan of existing systems.

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5. A Practical Response: Modernize Without Disruption

A full rewrite is rarely the answer.

Most organizations don’t have the budget, timeline or certainty needed for multi-year replacement projects.

A more effective approach involves:

5.1. Progressive Refactoring

Break monoliths into well-structured modules using modern patterns (e.g., ColdBox / HMVC).

5.2. Updating Runtimes & Servers

Move to the most modern alternatives like BoxLang or, at least, to supported versions of Lucee or Adobe ColdFusion, upgrade Java, and eliminate vulnerabilities.

5.3. Automating Deployments

Introduce CI/CD pipelines, containerized deployments and repeatable environments.

5.4. Enhancing Observability

Add logs, tracing and monitoring so developers (old or new) can understand the system quickly.

5.5. Preparing for the Future with BoxLang

BoxLang offers forward compatibility and a migration path that reduces reliance on legacy CFML skills.

This modernization approach addresses the talent issue directly—because a modern platform requires fewer specialized skills and becomes easier for broader teams to maintain.

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6. Why Many Organizations Turn to Specialist Partners

Given the shrinking CFML talent pool, companies increasingly rely on specialized teams to:

• Support existing CFML environments
• Perform modernizations safely
• Reduce technical debt
• Train internal teams
• Introduce modern practices (DevOps, CI/CD, cloud-native)
• Ensure long-term stability and operational continuity

A partner with deep experience in CFML, ColdBox, CommandBox, Lucee, and BoxLang can help organizations stay secure, scalable and future-ready—without the risks of a massive rewrite.

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7. The Bottom Line

The CFML talent shortage is real—and accelerating.

But it doesn’t have to become a crisis.

Organizations that modernize proactively can:

• Reduce their dependency on scarce skill sets
• Improve performance and security
• Deliver new features faster
• Enable cloud-native architecture
• Extend the lifespan of mission-critical applications
• Position themselves for long-term success with technologies like BoxLang

Modernization is not just a technical decision—it’s a strategic response to a shifting talent landscape.

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Ready to reduce your team’s risk and build a future-ready platform?

A structured modernization roadmap can help you keep your systems running reliably while preparing for the next decade of innovation.

With our years of expertise in the CFML space, Ortus Solutions is well-positioned to support your modernization needs, including application updates, modernization implementation, staff training, staff augmentation, and more.

Let’s talk about the safest modernization path for your applications.