Legacy application modernization has become a hot topic today. So, what’s legacy application modernization?
This is the process of updating the current legacy applications by changing their internal architecture, features, and platform infrastructure. Most businesses today are working towards modernization of their systems as they consider it to be a possible investment, particularly those struggling with legacy applications.
Please note that legacy application modernization is not all about moving old systems to new platforms. Some businesses are still using a combination of old and new applications to remain competitive. Because of this, the meaning of legacy application modernization can differ in different businesses.
The benefits of legacy application modernization
Research hasrevealed that businesses that have modernized legacy software managed to reduce the total costs of business operations by over 13%. Besides, the research revealed that businesses can increase their annual profits by at least 14% if they modernize their legacy applications. And while this shows how legacy application modernization can benefit businesses, some businesses are still finding it hard to let go of their legacy systems.
With that let’s look at the top 5 benefits of legacy application modernization. Let’s delve in!
Cost reduction
Today, most businesses are shifting from in-house assets to using utilities offered by cloud vendors to reduce costs. Doing so eliminates the costs of managing these expenses for more scalable and manageable operating costs. Doing so also helps businesses to eliminate technical debts.
Generally, it’s very costly to maintain legacy systems. Statistics show that most businesses spend over 60% of their IT funds to maintain their legacy systems. Most of these costs come from the growing support tickets and the management of old code. Diagnosing problems can take days, and most businesses don’t have enough personnel to do the job.
However, with a modernized system, you can re-write your legacy code using modern open-source programming languages. This can assist you to lower the cost of hiring skilled developers to maintain your code and reduce the possibilities of application incidents.
Employee productivity
Modernizing your legacy applications is all about making your administrative teams, together with the developers more productive. The idea behind the whole thing is to move your employees to the cloud, while still capitalizing on your existing systems to increase productivity.
The following are a few ways in which legacy application modernization can improve productivity:
- Fewer application incidents – modernizing your systems helps to clean up any technical issues with your previous systems. Besides, the process makes your applications easier to diagnose, and any uses can be handled without affecting the entire application.
- Better team utilization – today’s open-source code makes it easier for anyone in your development team to identify and solve problems, in addition to adding new features.
- New features and functionality – most businesses depend on their legacy applications for their daily business operations. Now, modernizing these applications to the cloud allows businesses to easily add new features to their applications. Besides, modernizing legacy systems allows businesses to deliver new services to their clients.
Helps to improve agility
Professionals from legacy application modernization developer Tricension, agree that legacy application modernization can help to improve agility. As a result, you should expect your employees to be more consistent, efficient, and reliable, since they don’t have to deal with the problems of legacy applications. Besides, it’s important to note that legacy application modernization opens up lots of amazing opportunities.
For example, a cloud-based system can allow your team to work from any location, and at any time. Besides, this can increase your web presence. Also, businesses should understand that agility plays a big role when it comes to customer satisfaction. And, both productivity and agility can help to determine whether or not your business succeeds. With modernized applications, it will be possible to develop and release new products faster than your competitors.
Improved security
Security is a major reason why businesses should consider updating their legacy applications. Reports released by various data security firms indicate that outdated applications are susceptible to data breaches and malware attacks. And, one of the key reasons why legacy systems remain susceptible to such breaches is the lack of support from developers.
So, it’s unreasonable to rely on a system that was secure a few years ago, and you haven’t updated it. But, legacy application modernization will allow you to enjoy improved security, and protect your essential business transactions.
Compliance
Compliance is an important thing for every business since non-compliance can cost a business millions, if not billions. With outdated applications, it becomes tedious to update logs. Besides, errors are common in most legacy systems. But, modernizing your legacy systems makes it easier for businesses to meet compliance.
Besides, these updates allow your system to meet different compliance guidelines, and the most important of all is assured safety. Your systems will be protected from any breaches or fines that are common with non-compliance.
Bottom Line
Please note that your approach to legacy application modernization will depend on how soon you can start enjoying the benefits of your modernized systems. Also, you should note that modernizing your applications is not an easy task, particularly if you have a legacy system. However, you should capitalize on the benefits of automated tools to make the work easier.