Digital transformation is the buzzword that’s on the mind of every tech professional as businesses worldwide look to modernize their tech habits on the go. Mobile, data, and big data technologies are forcing organizations across every industry to adapt, and emerging technologies like machine learning, artificial intelligence, and the internet of things, amongst others, are further causing disruption.
Businesses need rapid innovation to launch modern business models, optimize business procedures, and respond to new regulations. At the same time, business owners and employees are demanding the agility to connect to their Line of Business (LOB) systems through their mobile devices efficiently and securely, no matter how new or old these company systems are. Meet application modernization.
Legacy applications need modernization from time to time. Think about it this way; there’s an excellent reason your current laptop uses the latest software instead of the same old software you used to have on your old laptop. The thing with technology is that it becomes obsolete with time, as the majority of products have a lifecycle of only five to seven years.
As legacy applications are frequent business bottlenecks, businesses worldwide are tirelessly investing in legacy applications modernization to stay ahead of the competition. Global enterprises are projected to spend $3.5 billion on IT in 2020, with more than one-third of that money going toward enterprise software and IT services. Read on to find out what is legacy application modernization and how it can benefit your business.
What Is Legacy Application Modernization?
All platforms and programs that your business uses on an everyday basis will continue to be replaced with superior versions. As time goes by, your company’s digital infrastructure will continue to be condensed into more competent tools that will better suit your company’s needs. The legacy application modernization process within your company will most definitely include strategies that look at your servers, hosting, coding, platforms, software, architecture, infrastructure, storage, connections, system build, and more.
Besides that, modern-day platforms can have trouble communicating with older legacy apps, and legacy applications that were developed years ago may not be optimized to work on tablets and other devices. If you want to dive deep into the matter of how to do application modernization – Prolifics has come up with this great piece covering all crucial aspects on how to proceed with the process within your company. In the following paragraphs, we’ll focus on some of the most significant benefits that modernizing your legacy applications can provide for your organization.
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Cost Reduction
Businesses that invest in modernizing their legacy application and software systems are more likely to encounter a significant reduction in costs. When you decide to move from on-premise data centers to cloud-based solutions, first and foremost, you will cut down the operational costs associated with data center utilities. The cloud-based data solutions offer way more manageable and scalable services at more affordable rates.
Companies spend 60-80% of their IT budget on maintaining legacy systems and applications. A big part of the maintaining finances is spent on managing the old codes and raising support tickets. Besides, diagnosing various issues can take up to several days when very few developers in your in-house team know the old legacy systems and applications in-depth.
Modernizing your legacy systems and applications allows you to re-architect the codes with open-source programming languages, automate the manual writing of code, remodel the existing code, and optimize the business procedures to avoid the need to hire highly skilled and expensive developers to maintain the system.
Better Business Agility
Modernized applications enable businesses to serve their clients and vendors more efficiently, and companies with modernized systems have a better chance of getting more business. Why? The new web-based modern technologies can provide superior scalability to your organization and enable you to connect with your clients in real-time.
In most cases, businesses find it challenging to create new products and features on their existing legacy systems. With modernized apps, it becomes much easier to plan for the future, design, and launch new services and features in far less time. Also, modernization means better code, better-managed databases, and more flexible applications. Online services are lucrative for end customers and can provide higher value to your services and generate more sales.
Increased Performance And Team Productivity
One of the vital benefits of modernizing the legacy applications and systems within your organization is improving the overall team performance and productivity. Now you will be able to move the workforce to cloud and leverage cloud computing to improve the efficiency of your company’s day-to-day activities.
Modernizing your legacy applications can enhance your development team’s productivity by as much as 40%, as developers get access to superior development tools and sophisticated cloud technology that improves their overall efficiency.
Additionally, different departments of your organization may have different needs. A particular division may need more storage space, while another may need faster processing needs. These modernized legacy apps and systems are more flexible and work better in variable conditions. With portable modules, you can achieve optimum results and manage your resources more efficiently.
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Improved Customer Support
Updating and managing the reports and logs can be a big headache with paper-based legacy applications. By modernizing your systems and applications, it will be easier to update reports and records from anywhere, at any time. Various features like increased security to advanced encryption, real-time data entry, and improved project tracking will all contribute to better customer support.
Superior Security
Last but not least, security is one of the most important reasons why you should seriously consider modernizing your legacy applications. Outdated legacy applications are extremely vulnerable to data breaches and malware attacks. It would be best if you didn’t rely on the systems that were secure five or ten years ago. Modernize your legacy applications and systems altogether to provide better protection and security to your essential business transactions and operations.
Final Words
Possessing an outdated and old IT system is not as fancy as owning a vintage car, as these decade-old systems will not be adding any more value to your business operations in the foreseeable future. Adopt legacy application modernization as it will help your enterprise in multiple ways. As a business owner, first, understand and assess your portfolio and prioritize the necessary investment. Define a strategy, know your business objectives, and find a reliable tech company that can genuinely digitize your business.
