Modernisation is the process of adapting something to modern needs. It can be applied to literally anything – whether it is modernising your home, a factory, the way a business (or government) does business.
Definition
IT modernisation is about moving away from legacy hardware and software (does not always go together). We did this when we moved from proprietary mainframes into distributed systems architecture. During the 2010s, the call to modernise IT was directed towards the use of cloud computing architecture.
IDC says rationalisation of legacy IT, both applications and infrastructure, is a critical prerequisite for successful business transformation.
IDC believes that from a practical and business perspective, modernisation and rationalisation enable IT to deliver innovative digital transformation products and competitive IT services at optimum cost. To better achieve economic and business benefits, CIOs need to focus on modernisation, not just rationalisation.
More recently, with advances in things like automation, containers and the acceptance of agile methodologies, enterprises are once again looking to ‘modernise’ to fit the new way of work.
The world literally stood still during the early days of COVID-19. With consumers shying away from the physical world, it soon because clear to businesses that COVID-19 may be the catalyst it needed to push forward ‘painful’ digital transformation initiatives.
FutureCIO spoke to Rijo George Thomas, senior analyst, with IDC Asia-Pacific to talk about the application modernisation landscape, including drivers and inhibitors.
Click on the podcast player to listen to Thomas as he offers IDC’s perspective for the way forward for organisations looking to modernise their application to fulfil the digital transformation story.
- What are the top 3 business and technology imperatives to modernise legacy applications?
- Where is the hold-up in the modernisation plan?
- How do I justify the effort to the CFO and CEO?
- How do I refactor my applications to take advantage of innovations in strategies and technologies?
- Where do I begin/start the modernisation strategy? How do I keep it from stalling?
- We are in the middle of a prolonged disruption, COVID-19. What is your expectations with regards to application modernisation effort? Is it accelerating? Is the pandemic an opportunity?
IDC suggests that any application modernisation include the following steps:
- Ensure key stakeholder buy-in across IT and line of businesses especially leadership involvement throughout the modernisation project.
- Provide ample weightage to change management and BPR associated with application modernisation, do not just look at application modernisation as a technology upgrade but as an opportunity to reinvent core business processes.
- Foster a culture of continuous innovation to extend the value of application modernisation initiatives.
- Modernise IT infrastructure using newer "build and deploy" paradigms.
- Reinvent talent and processes to reduce risk and accelerate the development and deployment of business applications.
- Transform IT governance and operations, ensure resiliency plans are baked in with the application modernisation plans.
- Partner with an application modernisation partner that provides access to an ecosystem of strategy, design, and technology services needed for successful modernisation.
