One of the main drivers of modernization is achieving agility to meet the changing expectations of customers and employees. Because legacy applications are outdated and difficult to maintain, many companies are transforming their business applications to become more agile, mobile, productive and efficient. Legacy Application Modernization Since most companies work with legacy applications, upgrading legacy applications can be a complex undertaking. According to market research specialist Vanson Bourne, companies that have taken the necessary steps to modernize their older IT systems have reduced their operating costs by 13 percent.
A company that adheres to inflexible legacy systems may not believe that it is capable of bold innovation or taking a dominant leadership role in the market. Your employees may also feel that they are unable to meaningfully influence their work or workplace, which could result in them contributing less than they would like. On the other hand, companies that modernize their legacy systems can help their employees maintain a growth-oriented mindset that promotes improvement and innovation. Once the application has been migrated or redesigned, you can add additional features through custom modules or third-party integrations. Smart and low-risk decisions are an incremental approach because they involve a systematic step-by-step modernization process for applications.
Instead, many companies turn to a trusted software partner to help them modernize applications. Look for an agency that specializes in digital transformation and has experience in reengineering technologies, systems and processes according to a variety of modernization approaches. To maximize the time to market of your modernization project, look for a team that uses agile and DevOps practices.
Modernizing existing applications with APIs is often the fastest and most cost-effective way to upgrade legacy applications that still serve their purpose well. Ultimately, the modernization of legacy applications means the choice between new architecture, new construction or replacement. A new architecture has medium costs and risks, while a reconstruction or replacement gives better results with higher costs and risks. The key is to weigh all the options in order to determine the extent to which each will achieve the desired effect with minimal effort and maximum positive impact.
In addition, ensuring that end users feel more comfortable in the modernized application with training and education leads to a path to success. Most organizations do not constantly create or modernize applications, it’s just not their main focus. Internal teams may lack the skills for the “new” environment that needs to be trained to use a new system at all. Therefore, it is very unlikely that there will be enough internal resources to make all the appropriate decisions about the modernization approach, cloud or microservices support. Today’s legacy software is usually monolithic and locks companies into applications that are difficult to update.