Application modernization has been an evident asset in most IT corporates and businesses. It refers to the practice of updating older software for newer computing approaches, including newer languages, and frameworks, and updating software libraries and infrastructure platforms.

This practice is also called “legacy modernization”, “legacy application modernization” or “software modernization”. The need for application modernization is the rising competition amongst companies and the main cause for that is our root dependency on technology.

In this article, we would be discussing the top 5 mistakes to avoid in Modernizing applications so that no amount of time or money you invest is wasted.

1. Lack of Clarity of the Outcomes

Many organizations today are modernizing their applications to enhance their IT capabilities. This makes many businesses with no plan or needs as such think that they would also go for application modernization. However, this is not a valid reason to do so. When companies modernize without proper planning or clarity about what they want to accomplish through modernization, it leads to many problems.

Application modernization is a process that can be successful only when the organization is equipped with the necessary skills and is committed enough throughout the process. This is not possible when there’s no specific goal to achieve. Hence, it’s important to have realistic goals before you set out to modernize your application. Only then, will it be worth your time and investment.

2) Thinking legacy application modernization is a one-time event

As mentioned in the previous point, modernizing a legacy application is a long-term process and requires regular maintenance. Many companies, however, make the mistake of assuming their job is done once they have modernized their applications. Well, that’s not how it works.

While making the decision to modernize, you have to consider the investment you’ll have to make for years in IT and developers. This is because businesses keep evolving over time and thus business requirements keep changing. To meet the changing expectations, legacy systems need to be worked on constantly. This is called “legacy maintenance” – enhancing legacy applications over time as necessary rather than upgrading them completely every few years.

3) Failure to adjust to technological changes and user expectations

Since modernizing your application is not a one-time event, it’s crucial to have a long-term vision. If you don’t plan well enough to make the required changes in the future, you’ll be in deep trouble. Most companies fail to make this plan due to which they either have to invest a lot more than they expected or rewrite the applications from scratch when it needs new features. So, make sure, your technology and budget are created considering the future along with the present. 

4) Trying to modernize too many parts of your system at once

Trying to modernize all the parts at once is a huge mistake that many companies make. The goal of modernizing your applications is usually achieving more efficiency and increasing the productivity of the organization. However, doing everything at once defeats the purpose and you may not see the results by modernizing at once.

Hence, it’s best to keep the old legacy system running and run the new system simultaneously until the old one is fully debugged, improved, and stable. This is called the Strangler Pattern Approach. The core idea behind this pattern is that you should move functionality from one part of your application to another gradually over time. You will be able to iterate on features in parallel, rather than waiting for all of them to be implemented before moving forward.

5) Focusing Only on Tools And Technology

Sure, tools determine to a great extent how successful or unsuccessful the process of digital transformation will be. But it’s not the only thing you need to focus on. Apart from the tools or technology, a major factor that decides whether your applications will be modernized smoothly or not is teamwork. If the culture, leadership and mindset of all the people in an organization aren’t set right to match the upgradation then all your transformation efforts will go in vain.

So, companies must work on finding ways to scale DevOps adoption and emphasize culture change when going for application modernization. Efforts should be made to adopt continuous feedback loops, continuously optimize end-to-end flow, move from silos to collaboration, automate, and empower teams.

Looking for an expert who can help modernize your applications? Rapyder is here to help you find the best ways to modernize your business applications keeping in mind all critical factors of business.

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