Application Modernization

Application Modernization is one of the most important of the cloud journeys. One of the main drivers behind cloud migration is, indeed, the possibility – or often necessity – to rethink existing company applications.

Rethinking the hundreds of applications, which are often not integrated, used in the company and in branch offices in terms of business cohesion and efficiency, as well as streamlining and centralizing them.

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On the one hand, the software architecture distribution model has been superseded by the SaaS model, which is widely showing itself to be a genuine business enabler, also making the concept of TCO obsolete and transforming a pure cost into an expenditure entry which is easier to manage in balance-sheet terms (less CapEX, more OpEx).

Moreover, the shift from traditional software to SaaS, made up of different microservices, and the introduction of more effective programming methods (Agile & DevOps etc.) and new application repositories (containers) define the cloud as the natural environment for Application Modernization.

Thinking of Application Modernization as a passing trend would be a serious error. The reasons we have already outlined which make this shift essential have been validated by analyses and the results achieved by those companies which have already taken the plunge. A summary of the benefits is outlined below:

• Competitiveness
  In a global and strongly competitive market, the ability to dynamically respond to client requirements is given by the ability and speed of application services to adapt to the business. A goal which can be reached only with a new application paradigm.
• Compatibility
  The ability to modify and integrate standard application services together is not comparable to that provided by traditional software. This is possible thanks to a common application approach which puts data and data processing firmly in the center.
• Cloud-native
  Application Modernization does not exist without cloud migration. Cloud, hybrid or multi-cloud environments are the natural terrain for a new cloud-native application architecture, offering characteristics which have a proven positive influence on the business.
• Productivity
  A cloud-native system defines a new corporate productivity. Better and faster responses, and a more streamlined organization of workloads lead to previously unseen levels of overall efficiency.
• Security
  Modern, standardized, cloud-native applications facilitate IT governance and guarantee data protection which is constantly up to date. A major step forwards compared to dated software for which updates and maintenance involve time and expense for the internal IT team.
• Innovation
  Application Modernization ensures innovation. The new services are designed to make use of innovative algorithms (machine learning and AI, Data Intelligence) and new technologies. This (almost) automated level of innovation would be unthinkable with the old models.
• Stakeholder satisfaction
  Whether it is an employee, a supplier or a client, anybody who is faced with a unified, genuinely functional, and effective interface will convey their satisfaction, with consequent advantages in terms of customer and stakeholder satisfaction.

Lutech Group’s AWS specialists have already completed various Application Modernization projects for clients in different vertical markets, in particular in Public Administration, one of the segments in which overhauling of legacy applications is required. The typical approach will consider application modernization to be the design pillar of a migration, or consolidation, on the AWS cloud, stand-alone where applicable.

“Clients who have migrated their workloads from Windows platforms to AWS achieved a reduction of 56% in operating costs over 5 years and an increase in ROI of 442% over the same period.”
(IDC Whitepaper - The Business Value of Efficiently Running High-Performing Windows Workloads in the AWS Cloud)

The AWS Well-Architected framework is the operating platform where it all begins. Starting out with an in-depth analysis of the existing workloads and structure, AWS provides specific best practices for the creation of an SaaS architecture on AWS. 
But it doesn’t stop there. Specific implementation models are available, for example to make use of IoT technology or machine learning algorithms. Finally, AWS offers models for the integration of services into virtualized environments (serverless).