CIO’s Guide to Application Modernization
“Compulsive modernization is the insatiable desire to change and grow.” – Samuel Wilson
With the world getting engulfed in the digital transformation wave, organizations are expected to be more agile, modernized, and competitive. Customer needs are constantly changing, competition is increasing, and expectations are higher.
There is constant pressure on CIOs to fight against multiple challenges – increase system visibility and control, cut costs yet offer an agile system, and get optimum out of old data with continuously evolving market conditions.
Application modernization is one area that has been a vital ingredient in implementing the best digital initiatives. Application Modernization Services Market size was valued at USD 19.8 billion in 2022 and is projected to witness over 10% CAGR from 2023 to 2032.
Modernization of legacy applications and software solutions is a must with faster adoption of digital technologies. As easy as it looks, it has a tough roadmap ahead. The solution lies in finding out the key challenges and creating a thorough roadmap that can lead CIOs to their desired business goals.
This article focuses on providing complete information about what challenges a CIO face, the key driving factors to application modernization, and the roadmap that can lead to a successful output.
Application modernization is not just about replacing old systems and technologies with new ones. There are many other aspects linked to it.
“Compulsive modernization is the insatiable desire to change and grow.” – Samuel Wilson
With the world getting engulfed in the digital transformation wave, organizations are expected to be more agile, modernized, and competitive. Customer needs are constantly changing, competition is increasing, and expectations are higher.
There is constant pressure on CIOs to fight against multiple challenges – increase system visibility and control, cut costs yet offer an agile system, and get optimum out of old data with continuously evolving market conditions.
Application modernization is one area that has been a vital ingredient in implementing the best digital initiatives. Application Modernization Services Market size was valued at USD 19.8 billion in 2022 and is projected to witness over 10% CAGR from 2023 to 2032.
Modernization of legacy applications and software solutions is a must with faster adoption of digital technologies. As easy as it looks, it has a tough roadmap ahead. The solution lies in finding out the key challenges and creating a thorough roadmap that can lead CIOs to their desired business goals.
This article focuses on providing complete information about what challenges a CIO face, the key driving factors to application modernization, and the roadmap that can lead to a successful output.
Key Drivers That Lead to Application Modernization
Application modernization is not just about replacing old systems and technologies with new ones. There are many other aspects linked to it. Here are some of the major drivers or roadblocks that are motivating/forcing CIOs to go in for application modernization, on a priority basis:
- Inflexibility and Frailty of Legacy Applications – Most monolithic legacy systems rely on a single codebase with dependencies all over. It is very difficult to update such systems and elevate them to a modern-day setup since any change could lead to operational issues and failures.
- Shortage of Skilled Resources – Developers who have written/maintained the legacy code are now no longer available and the newer lot is unable to gel well with the old technology and codebase.
- Incomplete Documentation – Even the artifacts, documents, and source code that belongs to the legacy system are either misleading or incomplete.
- Continual Business Updates – The code may not be regularly updated to stay at par with the frequently updated business workflows. That is where a mismatch between daily operations and the software may create issues.
- Inability to Adopt to New Age Technologies – Legacy systems are unable to match well with the cutting-edge technologies or even migrate to them, with ease. This pushes CIOs to go in for modernization to achieve enhanced customer experience and better business output.
- Maintenance Costs – The total maintenance costs of legacy systems keep piling up as the system goes old. With time, the capability of the organization to bear these costs may not be feasible, forcing them to move to modern-day applications beforehand.
The Roadmap to a Perfect Application Modernization Process
Setting up a perfect roadmap or approach for application modernization for your organization needs a lot of experience, thought process, and work since you just can’t go by the ‘one size fits all’ concept. Here is a futuristic roadmap to application modernization that can work well with most CIOs:
Prepare a Strategic Plan for a List of Legacy Applications
Being the CIO, you may have to look at all the legacy applications that must be modernized. But they cannot be taken simultaneously. You need to analyze all factors involved, understand priorities, check for the availability of resources, and prepare a roadmap of all applications that need modernization along with probable timelines.
Perceive the Business Objectives Well
It is vital for CIOs to understand the basic objective of application modernization. They must study the business goals very well and the basic reasons why the modernization is taking place. Even the way of working for companies may differ and hence understanding the objective right from the start is vital to a smooth modernization approach.
Analyse Inventory and Identify Core Components
CIOs must spend time and effort in analyzing the legacy application, its components, modules, forms, and architecture to come up with all utilized elements and those which are not being used at all. This can help big time when the modernized application is all set to take data from the legacy application.
Utilize Modern-day Rapid Development Technologies
Modernizing a system has its own set of time limitations since it must be a smooth and fast move from the legacy system. There are many competitive technologies, low code technologies, and rapid development tools that offer faster development and must be studied by CIOs beforehand so that timelines for completion can be optimized.
Implement an Appropriate Project Execution Methodology
Project teams are used to working in the traditional way and hence do not realize the bigger picture. While modernizing applications, it is important that teams either be revised or oriented to understand the basic objective of the entire process. CIOs must choose the ideal project execution methodology that fits the criteria of modernization.
Create a Prototype or Proof of Concept
This is a big step, migrating to a totally new system from the old one. Hence, planning for a prototype or PoC is ideal before moving ahead. Getting a go-ahead based on the prototype ensures you are on the right path and leads to less rework with the timely completion of activities.
Summing It Up
Application modernization is a much-needed step for CIOs, to enhance their business profitability and maximize revenue. There are obvious benefits like higher productivity, reduced operational costs, increased agility, and additional revenue streams, once legacy applications are migrated to modernized solutions.
Keeping the above-mentioned challenges in mind and going by the key steps involved, CIOs can smoothly and effectively go in for application modernization for most of their legacy systems. Support from an experienced IT partner can work wonders since it relieves you from most of the responsibilities and let you focus on your own work instead.
At Atrina, our digital transformation initiatives are dedicated to assisting businesses to take a futuristic leap with bespoke technological solutions thoroughly aligned with a legacy business’s operations. Our team breaks down your operations, recognizes the bottlenecks, and then commences laser-focused and innovative solutions that will certainly put you on the path of optimization and, ultimately, success!
Contact us for any kind of application modernization need of yours. We will be glad to help you devise and implement a bespoke modernization strategy that will accelerate your business output.
Here are some of the major drivers or roadblocks that are motivating/forcing CIOs to go in for application modernization, on a priority basis:
- Inflexibility and Frailty of Legacy Applications – Most monolithic legacy systems rely on a single codebase with dependencies all over. It is very difficult to update such systems and elevate them to a modern-day setup since any change could lead to operational issues and failures.
- Shortage of Skilled Resources – Developers who have written/maintained the legacy code are now no longer available and the newer lot is unable to gel well with the old technology and codebase.
- Incomplete Documentation – Even the artifacts, documents, and source code that belongs to the legacy system are either misleading or incomplete
- Continual Business Updates – The code may not be regularly updated to stay at par with the frequently updated business workflows. That is where a mismatch between daily operations and the software may create issues.
- Inability to Adopt to New Age Technologies – Legacy systems are unable to match well with the cutting-edge technologies or even migrate to them, with ease. This pushes CIOs to go in for modernization to achieve enhanced customer experience and better business output.
- Maintenance Costs – The total maintenance costs of legacy systems keep piling up as the system goes old. With time, the capability of the organization to bear these costs may not be feasible, forcing them to move to modern-day applications beforehand.
Setting up a perfect roadmap or approach for application modernization for your organization needs a lot of experience, thought process, and work since you just can’t go by the ‘one size fits all’ concept. Here is a futuristic roadmap to application modernization that can work well with most CIOs:
Prepare a Strategic Plan for a List of Legacy Applications
Being the CIO, you may have to look at all the legacy applications that must be modernized. But they cannot be taken simultaneously. You need to analyze all factors involved, understand priorities, check for the availability of resources, and prepare a roadmap of all applications that need modernization along with probable timelines.
Perceive the Business Objectives Well
It is vital for CIOs to understand the basic objective of application modernization. They must study the business goals very well and the basic reasons why the modernization is taking place. Even the way of working for companies may differ and hence understanding the objective right from the start is vital to a smooth modernization approach.
Analyse Inventory and Identify Core Components
CIOs must spend time and effort in analyzing the legacy application, its components, modules, forms, and architecture to come up with all utilized elements and those which are not being used at all. This can help big time when the modernized application is all set to take data from the legacy application.
Utilize Modern-day Rapid Development Technologies
Modernizing a system has its own set of time limitations since it must be a smooth and fast move from the legacy system. There are many competitive technologies, low code technologies, and rapid development tools that offer faster development and must be studied by CIOs beforehand so that timelines for completion can be optimized.
Implement an Appropriate Project Execution Methodology
Project teams are used to working in the traditional way and hence do not realize the bigger picture. While modernizing applications, it is important that teams either be revised or oriented to understand the basic objective of the entire process. CIOs must choose the ideal project execution methodology that fits the criteria of modernization.
Create a Prototype or Proof of Concept
This is a big step, migrating to a totally new system from the old one. Hence, planning for a prototype or PoC is ideal before moving ahead. Getting a go-ahead based on the prototype ensures you are on the right path and leads to less rework with the timely completion of activities.
Summing It Up
Application modernization is a much-needed step for CIOs, to enhance their business profitability and maximize revenue. There are obvious benefits like higher productivity, reduced operational costs, increased agility, and additional revenue streams, once legacy applications are migrated to modernized solutions.
Keeping the above-mentioned challenges in mind and going by the key steps involved, CIOs can smoothly and effectively go in for application modernization for most of their legacy systems. Support from an experienced IT partner can work wonders since it relieves you from most of the responsibilities and let you focus on your own work instead.
At Atrina, our digital transformation initiatives are dedicated to assisting businesses to take a futuristic leap with bespoke technological solutions thoroughly aligned with a legacy business’s operations. Our team breaks down your operations, recognizes the bottlenecks, and then commences laser-focused and innovative solutions that will certainly put you on the path of optimization and, ultimately, success!
Contact us for any kind of application modernization need of yours. We will be glad to help you devise and implement a bespoke modernization strategy that will accelerate your business output.
