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Application Modernization
What Is Application Modernization?
Application modernization is an ongoing process where businesses update their legacy applications with new technologies and tools that can be used to improve productivity, streamline operations, and ensure competitive positioning in the marketplace.
Organizations may choose to update several applications at once or engage in a slower, more iterative process of modernization.
Why is Application Modernization Important?
Application modernization can play an important role in improving security, performance, and scalability for an organization. Legacy applications can have more security vulnerabilities due to outdated security frameworks and safeguards, or because older versions of applications are nolonger being maintained by the developers. Application modernization, in these cases, can be part of maintaining compliance at an organization.
Modern applications can also improve performance by replacing legacy systems that may be less efficient or rely on more resources to operate. Improving performance can also make it easier for companies to scale and handle larger workload volumes.
It can also be more cost-effective if the applications that are chosen during modernization can replace tools that are costly to maintain, or use one application to replace two or more that are currently being used.
Why Modernize Legacy Applications?
If an application has been used at an organization for years, it can be hard to get people on board with a change. However, modernization can come with a number of benefits, including the ones listed above. User experience can also be a driver for businesses to modernize their IT.
Legacy applications can become less user-friendly over time as the old framework starts to become incompatible with new standards of technology. Modernization projects can improve the user experience for team members and customers, which can also give your business a competitive edge against other companies that haven’t invested in updating their applications.
What is an Example of Application Modernization?
A common example of application modernization is moving a legacy application to a cloud platform. This could be a more straightforward process, like making a switch from a desktop application to the cloud version of that tool. It could also involve significant development to ensure all the data and processes migrate without losing anything. Modernization will look different based on what is being moved and how it currently functions.
What are the Phases of Application Modernization?
The main three phases of application modernization include assessment, modernization, and management. During the assessment period, an organization looks at the current applications being used to determine what needs to be modernized, or what applications should take priority in modernization projects.
Once that’s decided, the modernization process starts. Decide what you want to get out of modernization, what resources you’ll need to pull it off, and build a roadmap that details how applications will be revamped.
While some issues will be discovered in the assessment and modernization steps, the rest comes down to management. People need to be trained on the new application, post-migration tasks need to be managed, and quality assurance needs to continue.
What Technology Do You Need for Application Modernization?
The technology you need for application modernization will depend on what’s being updated, as well as the skills and resources available to work on the project. Cloud computing is a key technology used by many organizations working on modernization.
Organizations may also use containers to package and deploy applications, microservices for optimization, and serverless architecture to eliminate the need for capacity planning and server management. DevOps teams make the software process more efficient. Continuous integration/continuous delivery (CI/CD) can automate some parts of software development.
If a business doesn’t have the talent they need in-house for application modernization, they may seek outside assistance.
How TierPoint Can Help With Application Modernization
TierPoint offers application modernization services that help businesses modernize more quickly and successfully by rearchitecting, rehosting, or replacing applications for both hybrid and multicloud environments. Our cloud architects use the latest in tools and methogolodies to accelerate the lifecycle, gain efficiency, and set a flexible foundation for future projects.
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