THE 7 Rs OF CLOUD APP MODERNIZATION IN 2023

INTRODUCTION

The challenge for most IT companies today is that they should thrive in a new digital realm while yet relying on monolithic legacy systems. Many businesses needed to understand the level of flexibility and agility that these systems could provide when they were built. However, as the world becomes more digital, customers notice constant changes, such as moving to new websites, applications, or online services. These improvements are complex since they need regular monitoring of the current systems to resolve the concerns. And in today’s world, adaptable talents like these are required to achieve technological advancements.

To overcome potential obstacles without compromising fundamental functionality, modernizing apps must be gradual and cautious. Businesses must make intelligent judgments about problems, value delivery, ROI, and cost. The level of disruption continues to climb across industries, but the trend’s pervasiveness has created a slew of issues for organizations with technology at their core. As a result, most enterprises worldwide are increasingly looking to transition to cloud platforms to address the evolution of difficulties cost-effectively.

Cloud migration is one of the most critical decisions a business can make. An excellent migration approach can help an organization save time & expense, but a weak one can be costly and inefficient. Cloud migration plans are intended to assist businesses in getting the most out of their efforts by putting the proper resources in place and anticipating any possible pitfalls. To be effective, a cloud migration choice must be appropriately planned, with well-crafted cloud migration techniques, and must be managed throughout the whole process.

A cloud migration strategy defines the basic steps required, from early evaluation and planning through data transfer and support. The R strategy umbrella of cloud migration plans is the most popular since it offers businesses a precise process evaluation and direction to follow when migrating their data and applications. This article will go through the 7 Rs of cloud app modernization and how you can enjoy the benefits of cloud migration. But before we get there, let’s discuss application modernization and its necessity.

WHAT IS APPLICATION MODERNIZATION?

Application modernization is known as the process of changing, rewriting, or transferring outdated software packages to function more effectively with a new infrastructure. Migrating to the Cloud, building apps with a serverless design, containerizing services, or revamping data pipelines with a modernized DevOps methodology are all examples of this. Application modernization is also known as legacy or app modernization because, rather than retiring or replacing an existing system, legacy modernization extends the lifespan of an organization’s applications while simultaneously capitalizing on technological advances.

LEGACY Vs MODERN APPLICATIONS

Legacy applications are often monolithic; they are single-tier software applications with all components integrated into a single platform. Therefore, there needs to be a clear distinction between the various components of a monolithic application. As a result, a new version of the complete application must be released to update one element of the application. Similarly, a fault in one part might impact full functionality and be challenging to identify and resolve. Overall, due to the monolithic nature of legacy applications, upkeep and maintenance can be extremely time-consuming and labor-intensive.

On the other hand, modern applications are split into loosely connected, individual services known as microservices. Containers are runtime environments containing just the pieces of an operating system (OS) required to operate a microservice, which are used to store the microservices.

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO MODERNIZE THE LEGACY APPLICATIONS?

Application modernization enables businesses to secure investments while refreshing their software portfolio to take advantage of current infrastructure, tools, languages, and other technical advancements. In addition, a solid application modernization plan may lower the resources required to run an application, enhance the frequency and reliability of deployments, and improve uptime and resiliency. As a result, an application modernization strategy is now a standard feature of every enterprise’s overall digital transformation strategy.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF APPLICATION MODERNIZATION?

Legacy application modernization gives old apps new life. It is usually part of a larger enterprise digital transformation plan, but the end goal is to eliminate operational inefficiencies and simplify business operations. Below are some of the advantages of modernizing legacy applications:

• Long-term savings are significant with a more efficient infrastructure and pay-as-you-go strategy.
• Increased uptime and performance allow apps to do more with the same amount of resources.
• Refactoring a database from an older technology to a more current option can improve speed and enable new functionality.
• Enterprises may spool and decommission resources using orchestration and container technologies like Docker and Kubernetes.
• Converting legacy apps to modern infrastructure allows for data-driven analytics and automated processes or playbooks to alleviate low-level administrative complexity.

WHAT ARE THE 7Rs of CLOUD APP MODERNIZATION?

When modernizing legacy systems, organizations need to be aware of the 7 Rs, which R to select based on use cases, and a suitable approach to move the apps efficiently. Migration strategies commonly used include rehosting, re-platforming, relocating, and retiring. The 7 Rs of cloud app modernization are as follows; we will go through each approach in depth.

1. Relocate
2. Rehost
3. Replatform
4. Refactor
5. Rearchitect
6. Rebuild
7. Repurchase

1. Relocate:
   The relocation strategy enables enterprises to migrate their infrastructure to the Cloud without needing new hardware, changes to existing procedures, or app rewriting. This strategy entails leveraging the current system and moving the infrastructure to the Cloud without acquiring new hardware or changing the current practices. When enterprises move their infrastructure to the Cloud, they adopt the relocation approach.
2. Rehost – Lift and shift:
   The method of shifting current applications to the Cloud without modifying or updating the existing code or fundamental architecture. It’s great for organizations who need more time or resources to redesign their applications for a cloud environment since it helps them to swiftly migrate their programs online and gain the benefits of the Cloud.
3. Replatform:
   This method is called lift, tinker, and shift or lift and reshape. Using this migration technique, you migrate the application to the Cloud and implement some optimization to operate the application effectively, minimize expenses, or take advantage of cloud features. For example, you can re-platform a Microsoft SQL Server database to Amazon RDS for SQL Server. Depending on your business objectives and target platform, you can make a few or many modifications to the application using this strategy.
4. Refactor:
   Refactoring is just another word for “rewriting” or “restructuring.” This application modernization strategy comprises taking a legacy system and revamping significant portions of its underlying code to operate more efficiently in a new environment, often cloud infrastructure. This approach frequently involves rewriting code and considering restructuring the existing codebase. A development team may take this methodology if they desire to divide a monolithic system into smaller, independent pieces—an architectural option known as microservices. Microservices can be used to maximize the benefits of cloud-native infrastructure and technologies, such as containers and container orchestration.
5. Rearchitect:
   A more extensive migration effort is typically beneficial. It should be included in cloud assessments for highly essential applications requiring cloud-native features or comprehensive modernization owing to outdatedness or performance issues. Re-architecting is the most expensive transformation strategy. However, it enables efficient cloud utilization, resulting in cloud-native benefits and making the application future-proof. As a result, the impacted application is refactored, employing a different architecture. This usually entails breaking down the application’s components into smaller building units or microservices and putting them in (Docker) containers for deployment on a container platform. Re-architecting an application frequently includes the possibility of fragmenting the supported business processes, which significantly enhances simplicity and makes a business process more agile.
6. Rebuild:
   Rebuilding legacy systems is the most expensive and time-consuming approach, but it offers excellent benefits. The rebuild technique converts legacy systems into fully integrated cloud-native environments, whereas most businesses’ other R methods serve as milestones toward comprehensive modernization. The rebuilding strategy incorporates considerable DevOps and technologies such as APIs, microservices, containers, etc.
7. Repurchase:
   This is referred to as repurchasing when you switch from one product to another. You modify the version or outcome of your application. The new application should deliver more business value than the previous on-premises application, with capabilities such as remote access, no infrastructure to manage, and pay-as-you-go pricing structures. Repurchasing the application often lowers maintenance, infrastructure, and license expenses.

FINAL THOUGHTS

As technological advancement accelerates, more businesses will turn to cloud-based solutions to help them reach their goals and keep their operations running smoothly. Moving to the Cloud provides significant savings compared to the high costs of maintaining and updating hardware and data centers, which may become obsolete over time. Cloud migration is an excellent solution, but companies must constantly consider their options.

Instead of rebuilding critical applications from scratch, modernization helps software teams optimize existing applications for these increasingly dispersed computing paradigms. As a result, multi-cloud and hybrid Cloud are two of the most significant driving forces behind legacy modernization. Modernizing applications is a time-consuming and labor-intensive procedure. However, organizations may simplify and smoothly transition to the Cloud with a sound plan and controlled orchestration. Collaborating with the proper cloud service provider will enable enterprises to start on a smooth application modernization journey. It will also assist organizations in focusing their resources on mission-critical tasks, thus enhancing overall efficiency and productivity.