Application and Software Modernization: Concepts, Pros/Cons & Best Practices

Digital transformation requires being proactive. And modernizing software and applications is a critical part of any successful digital transformation. After all, legacy software applications and technologies limit your organization’s ability to enable a digital-first user experience and business operations.

This sentiment rings true across the enterprise IT industry. According to a research survey conducted across 800 senior IT decision makers in global enterprises, 80% of the respondents believe that failing to modernize applications and IT infrastructure will negatively affect the long-term growth of their business.

And organizations that successfully transition from legacy to modernized infrastructure technologies should expect a 14% annual increase in revenue. These organization are also better poised to take advantage of the next phase of technology evolution. Frontier technologies—everything from artificial intelligence and blockchain to gene editing and nanotechnologies—is expected to reach $3.2 trillion by the year 2025, according to a recent UN research report.

In this article, we look at what application and software modernization means. We’ll explore the opportunities and the risks, and then we discuss actionable approaches and best practices to follow.

Let’s get started!

What is application & software modernization?

Application and software modernization is just that—modernizing apps and software.

In practice, it is the transitioning from existing and/or traditional software functionalities to a context that is compliant with up-to-date IT landscape potential. The most obvious example is moving an enterprise IT environment from a traditional on-premises data center model powered by mainframes to a cloud environment rich with microservices and containers.

Cloud vs mainframe

Of course, this isn’t to say that every company needs to move everything to the cloud.

The mainframe, for example, continues to play a significant role for many companies. Though many, many companies in every industries are moving workloads and data storage to the cloud, not every single workload or data set must go to the cloud.

Today, thousands of companies at the global scale have critical core business processes based on corporate software that dates back some 30 or even 60 years. Most of the companies will continue to keep critical processes on the mainframe. In fact, the 2020 Mainframe Survey, which polled more than 1,000 IT professionals and directors underscores this:

• 90% of respondents see the mainframe as a long-term platform for growth
• 67% of extra-large shops have more than 50% of their data on the mainframe

(Read about mainframe modernization.)

Three routes to software modernization

When considering whether to modernize software and app, you can choose from three options:

• Rewrite. Migrate the coding to a more recent development language. This option has significant potential for underestimating both inherent costs and required time frame—so it often turns into a never-ending story.
• Replace. Throw away the old system, replacing it with a new one. This option usually involves having to build an entirely new application ecosystems with semi off-the-shelf components that mimic or mirror some functionalities of your existing systems. This usually increases complexity without achieving 100% functionality.
• Reuse. Find a way to turn a legacy system into something more portable, allowing remote sites and users to access it. If applicable, this option allows a step-by-step approach where change is tested and fine-tuned.

Prior to deciding the best route for your modernization project, you first need to understand the pros and cons, with a clear picture about current status and future goals.

Benefits of modernizing software

Having old software supporting business operations often means increasing your risk, increasing your costs, and severely decreasing your business agility.

So, let’s look at the many benefits of choosing to modernize your apps and software.

Minimizing obsolescence

• Losing control. Having a part of one’s core business dependent on some piece of code developed in some “old school” programming language isn’t good for business—you need people today who can service that code even if it has been in use for decades.
• No support. Having any type of critical business processes running on hardware and/or operating systems that are no longer supported by their manufacturer or there is even no longer a manufacturer to resort to; well, hardly the position any business manager is eager to be in.
• The missing component. The support infrastructure no longer exists. Some older software was developed having its backup process and policies dependent on either the backup hardware or the logic inherent to some specific backup product or solution. Most likely such backup product has already been discontinued which potentially renders restore activities unfeasible.

Reducing cost

• Choosing the lesser problem. If a legacy system is still around, it’s probably playing a critical role towards corporate core business. In most cases, replacing it comes with significant cost, both from an investment perspective and an operational perspective. (Consider the harm that stoppages could do if that system is offline.) Still, doing nothing, which may save money in the short term, could increase your risk of unable to work at all for the foreseeable future, particularly if the hardware or operating system are no longer supported by a manufacturer.
• OpEx vs CapEx. Having old systems running may imply investing in discontinued components stock such as backup tapes, hard disk drives, RAM memories or resorting to high-cost contractors that leverage their niche knowledge.

Increasing agility

• Responsiveness. As more burden is placed on digital systems to support customers and business critical processes, some legacy systems may be causing a bottleneck and slowing over application responsiveness. It’s important to examine if it’s an input/output issue or a processing issue that’s causing the issue.
• Business Cycle. Being competitive in today’s market requires the ability to promptly address an unforeseen demand or release new features quickly. Some legacy and traditional systems may not able to cope with the required flexibility and speed to deploy new code quickly and efficiently.

Integration

• IT has been growing in terms of platforms served (mobile and social networks) and complexity in terms of IT landscape components—cloud, hybrid and on-premise data centers. Agile “plugin” integrability is becoming a competitive edge in business terms, which is often held back by legacy systems.

Minimizing non-alignment

• The law. In some cases, legislation or market regulation may imply the need of migrating an existing software so that it may comply with newly posed requirements. GDPR and related privacy legislation, for example, could force you to a newer platform that has the privacy you need.
• The Market. Competition is another common compelling reason for modernizing software. Upstart competitors are typically not weighed down by technical debt, older systems, and processes, making them nimbler by nature. When competition gets ahead in the market by having more effective business tools, the time has come to move forward quickly or perish.