Application modernization services transform legacy software into cloud-based, agile apps. Depending on your needs, this can range from minor updates to a comprehensive refactoring or rearchitecting of your existing systems. Regardless, the goal is to leverage modern infrastructure to provide a more reliable, accessible, and secure solution for your business-critical applications.
Application modernization services provide a cost-effective way to upgrade your apps and futureproof your business.
Key Benefits of Application Modernization
According to Statista, the top five reasons organizations are undergoing app modernization are:
- Increased security
- Improved efficiency
- Cost reduction
- Integration with modern technology
- Increased agility and flexibility
Let’s look at each of these benefits:
Increased Security
Legacy applications often have outdated security measures. As cybercriminals continue to evolve their attack methods, application modernization enables you to implement modern security protocols, encryption methods, and compliance standards.
This significantly reduces the risk of data breaches and protects your organization.
Improved Efficiency
By leveraging current technologies and best practices, modern applications can execute tasks faster, handle larger data volumes, and provide faster response times. This translates into efficient improvements and smarter resource allocation.
Cost Reduction
There is an initial investment in modernization, but it can produce long-term cost savings. Modern applications typically require less maintenance and consume fewer resources — not to mention less downtime and improved user experience.
Integration with Emerging Technology
Modernized applications are built to seamlessly integrate with current and emerging technologies. This is critical to leverage new approaches, such as AI, IoT sensors, and third-party services and microservices. Many older apps don’t play well with others, yet you need to ability to integrate with best-in-class tools and services to fuel innovation and remain competitive.
Increasing Agility and Scalability
Increased agility helps you respond more quickly to market changes and new business opportunities. Over the past few years, we’ve seen significant shifts in customer behavior. App modernization allows you to move faster to provide new features and meet these changing demands. At the same time, cloud solutions allow for rapid scalability, especially for evolving markets.
Other Benefits of Application Modernization
While these are the primary objectives, there are also other key benefits from app modernization, including:
- Better user experience
- Regulatory compliance
- Business continuity
- Improved analytics
Strategies for Successful Application Modernization
Nearly a third of organizations report making significant progress toward their app modernization goals. Even amid economic uncertainty, about half of organizations say they plan to increase spending in this area, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence’s 451 Research.
To get the results these organizations need, five key strategies help streamline the development process.
Assessment
You will want to analyze your existing tech stack, looking for applications that need modernization or performance improvement. Prime candidates are legacy apps that do not allow easy cloud access or require expensive on-prem infrastructure.
Planning
Develop a modernization plan, including the specific steps that must be undertaken to achieve your goals. There are multiple approaches to modernization, so you will want to consider the most efficient process. You may need to:
- Rehost (lift and shift)
- Refactor
- Rearchitect
- Rebuild
- Replace
There are pros and cons for each approach.
Execution
Execute your strategy, leveraging application modernization services, to implement your changes and prepare for testing and quality assurance.
Testing
QA testing is crucial to ensure your app changes function properly. Testing against your performance metrics will showcase improvements or deficiencies. Automated and manual testing are both part of the process, helping identify and remediate any issues.
Deployment
With testing complete, it’s time to deploy your app to targeted users and pay close attention to feedback for final tweaks. Afterward, you move to widespread deployment and adoption.
Case Studies of Effective Modernization Services
One case study highlighting how effective application modernization services can drive significant improvement is Utah’s Office of Recovery Services (ORS). The state agency migrated from a COBOL-based mainframe system to a cloud-based Java platform. This modernization project simplified compliance, reduced maintenance costs, and improved access for employees and the public.
Another example is a large, multinational organization that operated in more than 60 countries and had a massive digital footprint across multiple domains. Creating an application modernization center (AMC) to coordinate work between development teams and business units created a centralized path for enterprise-wide modernization. This simplified development and maintenance, enhanced security, and enabled remote development — producing significant cost savings.
Future Outlook for Application Modernization
App modernization is an important step for companies that want to remain competitive. You will want to take into account the evolution of technology, ensuring your apps can adapt to emerging trends, such as:
- Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning: AI and ML capabilities are increasingly being integrated into modernized applications, enabling more intelligent and predictive functionality.
- Low-Code/No-Code Platforms: The rise of low-code and no-code development platforms is making it easier to modernize and create new applications quickly, even with limited technical resources.
- Edge Computing: As IoT devices become more prevalent, modernization efforts will need to consider edge computing architectures to process data closer to the source and reduce latency.
- Containerization and Serverless Computing: These approaches continue to evolve, offering even more flexibility and efficiency in deploying and scaling modernized applications.
It often feels like technology is evolving at a blinding pace. Legacy applications are quickly becoming left behind. Application modernization services are critical to remain competitive and futureproof your organization to meet future demands. Learn more about our approach to application modernization here.
