Unfortunately, much of that software and services is spent simply supporting existing enterprise applications that run the business. That’s a lot of money just to keep things the way they presently are.
That's why migrating legacy applications to modern infrastructures, such as cloud and containers, leads to reduced operational costs and helps gain a competitive advantage. Modernizing makes sense, if you get it right and know how to avoid the pitfalls.
What Is Application Modernization?
Basically, application modernization is the process of improving your existing applications to provide a more seamless customer experience and increase ROI. Depending on the type of application, app modernization also might not be necessary. However, many applications are of strategic importance to the business and the benefit of some level of modernization exceeds the cost. Businesses are often hesitant to invest in new technologies, but in many cases these investments do pay off.
1. Better experiences
The redesigned applications enable companies to effectively serve their customers and vendors. Companies with modernized systems are more likely to expand their business. Modern web technologies make your organization highly scalable. They allow you to communicate with your customers in real-time.
2. More business agility
Technology advances every day, and as these advances allow us to complete these tasks easier and faster – the pace of change will only accelerate. Therefore, your mission-critical applications must evolve if you want to keep up with today's technology, meet and exceed user expectations and quickly implement new features and capabilities.
3. Cost reduction
Companies upgrading legacy applications are 5X more likely to see significant cost savings.
When you move from local on-premise data centers to cloud, you can reduce your data center utilities cost. Cloud computing solutions offer more scalable and manageable services at affordable prices.
Key Technologies Used In The Modernization Process
There are many technological components involved in the modernization process. Some include:
1. Breaking the monolith
Over the years, most enterprise applications have evolved into large monoliths that are difficult to maintain, slow to change, and expensive to maintain. One of the main reasons for application modernization is to accelerate time-to-market, develop a DevOps culture, and drive innovation. By breaking the monolith, enterprises can achieve these goals and migrate to a microservices architecture without disrupting.
2. Migrating to the Cloud
Most companies have realized the value of the cloud. The benefits it brings are varied and include high scalability, increased reliability, fast speed to market, and flexible cost models. But porting legacy applications using a phased approach often doesn’t bring the desired results. Realizing the full benefits of the cloud requires the technology stack, deployment models, and continuous delivery.
3. Container-based deployment
Adopting container-based deployment adds value to the cloud. Containers are a streamlined way to build, test, deploy, and redeploy applications across multiple environments from a local developer laptop to an on-premises data center and even in the cloud. It accelerates development, test, and production cycles as well as increases efficiency and profitability.
4. Serverless Computing
A cloud-based model that performs off-site functionality in the cloud but does not eliminate the need for a server, despite its name. This technology transfers programming code to the service provider, which then launches based on individual requests.
Take Your Next Steps Towards Modernization
Modernizing is the first step towards unlocking other investment opportunities, such as moving your data into a data lake, and leveraging artificial intelligence and machine learning tools – the opportunities are endless. It’s time for companies to start looking for knowledge of how to ditch legacy apps in order to start working towards the future.
Interested in learning more about how you can modernize your application or environment? Grid Dynamics provides legacy application modernization services by migrating applications to microservices architecture, containers, continuous delivery, and a cloud-native technology stack. It is worth collaborating with strategists and hiring seasoned professionals and technical experts. These people can ensure successful modernization.