Application Modernization
Overview
A Cloud Strategy will always sit inside the context of a much broader business and IT strategy. When we consider whether an application is a candidate to take advantage of the cloud, then the first question we always need to ask is whether that move is strategically beneficial to the organization. There is no point spending time and effort migrating an old application to the cloud if the business plans to replace it soon, However, if the business is struggling because of poor performance or the reliability of an application, then a move to cloud could deliver significant business value quickly and easily.
The general topic of application modernization is very broad and is outside the scope of this guide as we are focusing on the technology aspects of cloud migration. However, even within this context, we can break down our modernization options into a set of categories that will help us decide which cloud approaches might be best for specific application.
We cover these options in detail later in modernization Patterns
How to decide on which option to take for an application?
Choosing the future strategy for any application in the business is always a tricky task. An optimal balance between cost, risk and benefit can only be achieved by considering a wide variety of criteria. Although any migration will be implemented by the IT organization, the choice of approach should be led by business owners and users of the application or service. This allows the business to take into account future needs; it is only within the context of future business needs can any good technology decision be made.
The decision-making process is also not step-wise - it is intrinsically an iterative process as the different options are investigated, evaluated and costs estimated. However, there are always best-practice guidelines that can be followed.
In the next few sections, we consider the broad technical and business considerations that should be taken into account before embarking on a cloud migration strategy - and first we will look at the business and financial perspective.