Custom Web Application Development

App Modernisation is the act of updating organisational processes, systems and tools to the most current versions or best practices. When it comes to cloud commuting, modernisation refers to the process of transitioning an organisation’s applications, processes and data-management to a cloud-first and cloud native approach.

“Legacy modernisation” is just another way of saying “application modernisation.” However, both older and newer apps can be modernised with cloud technology to achieve greater agility, stability, and innovation.

What are some challenges in application modernisation?

While modernising legacy applications makes business sense, you should be aware of some of the challenges you might face.

Modernisation projects can be quite complex, and hence initial costs can be high. We are, however, confident that this initial outlay will be recouped in savings made throughout the lifetime of the updated app. Another key benefit is being able to accelerate your product development roadmaps with a higher cadence of software releases.

You might also face resistance to change from within your organisation, on technical, operational and financial fronts. With our support, you should be able to counter these objections with reasoned arguments. We can provide assistance with your business justification and predicted return on investment.

There may also be concerns about maintaining data integrity and security during the transition from the legacy app to the new version. We would recommend a gradual transition, where we migrate less critical workloads first, gaining experience before moving core systems.

App modernisation strategies should be designed to support an organisation’s modernisation goals. Luckily, the Azure Well-Architected Framework lays out 5 pillars that work towards these goals:

• Reliability: The ability of a system to recover from failures and continue to function.
• Security: Protecting applications and data from threats.
• Cost optimisation: Managing costs to maximise the value delivered.
• Operational excellence: Operations processes that keep a system running in production.
• Performance efficiency: The ability of a system to adapt to changes in load.

Containerisation is the process of packaging portions of software code and all its dependencies into ‘lightweight’ discrete units enabling them to run uniformly and consistently on any infrastructure. These containers share a machine’s operating system kernel and so don’t require the overhead associated with running an operating system for each application.

They are inherently smaller in capacity than a virtual machine (VM) and require less start-up time. What this means is that far more containers can be run on the same compute capacity as a single VM. Higher server efficiencies will be found, therefore reducing server and licensing costs.

With containerisation, applications can be written once and can run anywhere, promising such benefits as fault isolation, ease of management and security for example.

Much of the acceleration of containerisation as a viable aspect of any application modernisation strategy has been enabled by the emergence of the open source Docker Engine. Docker enables developers to package applications easily into containers, making it easier, simpler and safer to build, deploy and manage containers. The best way to think of Docker is as a toolkit to enable your developers to build, deploy, run, update and stop containers using simple commands and essential automation.

Kubernetes (K8s) is an open-source container orchestration platform designed to automate the deployment, scaling, and management of containerised applications. Originally developed by Google, Kubernetes enables users to manage complex applications composed of multiple containers across a cluster of machines, whether they are physical or virtual. It provides features such as automated rollouts and rollbacks, self-healing capabilities for containers, and efficient resource management through intelligent scheduling. By abstracting the underlying infrastructure, Kubernetes allows developers to focus on application development rather than the intricacies of managing individual containers, thus enhancing scalability and reliability in cloud-native environments.

This depends on the scope, technologies and level of modernisation required. At DeeperThanBlue, we offer a comprehensive assessment and quote based on your unique requirements.

The duration of any application development or modernisation project will vary depending on the scope and complexity of the work required. Some projects may take a few months, while others could span several years. We will work with you to understand your current situation and ambitions for the project before developing a roadmap and defining a timeline for project delivery.

Yes. We can modernise applications built with legacy technologies. Our team of experts will evaluate your current system and suggest the best solutions going forward, whether that’s refactoring code, creating API endpoints, migrating to the cloud or integrating modern tools to enhance performance. 

Here are some signs that your application may need modernisation:

• Restricting ambition: Legacy systems are limiting scalability and hindering business growth
• Performance Issues: Sluggish or unresponsive application.
• High Maintenance Costs: Excessive time and resources spent on maintenance.
• Incompatibility: Trouble integrating with new technologies or platforms.
• Security Risks: Outdated security protocols or vulnerabilities.
• User Complaints: Poor user experience or outdated interfaces.