Cloud app modernization looks straightforward: just directly transfer an app from a legacy system to the cloud. However, this is not always the case. Companies may have cloud-based apps in place and still fail to meet user needs. This may lead you to consider cloud modernization as a way to align your application capabilities with new business goals.
Whatever the starting point is, you must have a reasonable app modernization strategy. This is the only way the company can overcome modernization challenges, and improve performance and security.
In this article, we will take a closer look at what it takes to migrate from on-premises to the cloud and modernize existing cloud-based apps, and explain the typical challenges, strategies, and best practices. We also share MobiDev case studies based on 14 years of our own experience, shedding more light on how cloud app modernization can bring value to any business.
What is cloud application modernization?
Cloud app modernization is the process of updating and optimizing legacy apps to leverage cloud technologies and services. This involves rearchitecting, refactoring, and rehosting applications to improve performance, scalability, and maintainability.
By transitioning to cloud-native architectures, organizations can take advantage of the flexibility, resilience, and cost-efficiency offered by modern cloud environments. As businesses try to better align their technology stack with current and future needs, we can point to the blooming application modernization market. It was estimated at a value of $17.80 billion in 2023 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 16.7% from 2024 to 2030.
Types of Cloud Modernization
Let’s take a look at different types of cloud modernization:
1. Modernizing on-premises applications for the cloud
Modernizing on-premises applications involves revamping these applications to fully leverage cloud capabilities. The process begins with an assessment and planning phase, evaluating the current state of the application to identify areas needing enhancement for cloud readiness.
The application is then refactored. Its codebase should be optimized for cloud infrastructure, which often involves breaking down monolithic structures into microservices. Afterward, cloud-native services such as databases, AI, machine learning, and enhanced security features are integrated to elevate functionality. Finally, the modernized application is migrated to the cloud, ensuring it operates seamlessly within the cloud environment.
As an example, imagine a retail company with a legacy inventory management app that needs to modernize by refactoring the code to work with cloud databases while integrating AI for predictive analytics. Once moved to the cloud, their system can scale during peak shopping seasons and provide real-time inventory insights.
2. Optimizing existing cloud applications
Applications already hosted in the cloud but not fully optimized need further modernization to benefit from all cloud capabilities. This involves performance tuning to adjust application configurations and code for improved speed and reliability.
Adopting cloud-native architectures such as microservices, serverless computing, or containerization can enhance scalability and maintainability. It’s also possible to use cloud tools to allocate resources, reduce costs, and improve operational efficiency.
For example, an application can be initially replatformed to the cloud to reduce infrastructure costs. To optimize further, the platform is rearchitected into microservices, enabling independent scaling of features like video streaming and user management. This results in improved performance and lower operational costs.
Last, but not least, is security. It can be enhanced by using the following cloud-native tools and practices:
- Real-time monitoring
- Securing the compute layer
- Applying secure storage and encryption
3. Modernizing Legacy Applications On-Premises
For legacy apps that must remain on-premises due to compliance, security, or other reasons, modernization focuses on adopting cloud-native principles within an on-premises setup.
Containerization is used to package the application and its dependencies into containers, ensuring consistent operation across different environments. On-premises cloud platforms, such as private clouds or hybrid cloud environments, are leveraged to provide cloud-like benefits while keeping data within the local data center. Automation and orchestration tools are implemented for automated deployment, scaling, and management, enhancing operational efficiency. This approach allows legacy apps to benefit from modern technology while meeting specific operational requirements.
Consider the following example: a bank with strict regulatory requirements modernizes its legacy transaction processing app by containerizing it and implementing a private cloud. As a result, they improve resource management, scalability, and adherence to compliance standards without moving sensitive data off-premises.
Understanding the Difference Between Cloud Modernization vs Migration
The line between cloud modernization and migration services often seems to be blurry, so these terms are sometimes used interchangeably. However, they refer to distinct processes with unique objectives and outcomes.
Cloud modernization involves transforming legacy applications to take full advantage of cloud technologies. The process may include adopting microservices architectures, leveraging serverless computing, and integrating advanced cloud services like AI and Machine Learning. The goal is to enhance application performance, scalability, and resilience so that systems can adapt to changing business requirements and market conditions.
Cloud migration, on the other hand, is the process of moving applications, data, and workloads from on-premises infrastructure to cloud environments. This can be achieved through various methods, such as:
- Rehosting (Lift and Shift) – moving applications to the cloud with minimal changes
- Refactoring – modifying the application’s code to fully leverage cloud-native features
While migration focuses on relocating existing systems to the cloud, modernization emphasizes reengineering applications to maximize the benefits of cloud technology.
Benefits and Challenges of Cloud App Modernization
Considering only the positive aspects of cloud app modernization will not allow us to be objective. Therefore, we’ll dive deeper into both benefits and challenges of this process.
Benefits of cloud migration
- Increased scalability
Cloud environments offer the ability to scale resources up or down based on demand. This ensures that applications can handle varying workloads without requiring a complete infrastructure overhaul. That’s usually the use case for B2C systems and growing businesses.
- Cost efficiency
Migrating to the cloud can significantly reduce expenditures associated with maintaining physical servers and data centers. Instead, organizations pay for what they use, converting capital expenses into operational expenses. According to Enterprise Strategy Group, organizations can reduce computing, networking, and storage costs by up to 66% by migrating from on-premises to the cloud. This is one of the key benefits for established organizations to optimize costs.
- Improved performance
Cloud providers offer high-performance computing resources and advanced networking capabilities. This enhances application performance and reduces latency.
- Enhanced security
Leading cloud providers invest heavily in security, providing robust security measures that many organizations might find challenging to implement on-premises. These include data encryption, advanced firewalls, and continuous security monitoring. Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud offer even more security features that are essential for financial businesses, for example.
- Disaster recovery and backup
Cloud providers offer integrated backup and disaster recovery solutions, ensuring data integrity and availability even in the event of an unexpected failure or disaster. This is often crucial for established businesses.
- Access to advanced technologies
Cloud platforms provide access to cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, and big data analytics, enabling organizations to innovate and stay competitive. Innovative businesses especially prioritize this in their strategies.
Challenges of cloud migration
- Data security and privacy
Migrating data to the cloud introduces new vulnerabilities. Organizations must ensure that data is encrypted both in transit and at rest and that they comply with relevant privacy laws and regulations, such as GDPR and HIPAA.
- Data governance
Effective data governance is crucial for maintaining data integrity, usability, and security in the cloud. Legacy data structures may not be optimized for cloud environments, complicating the application of governance policies.
- Legacy system compatibility
Legacy systems may not be fully compatible with modern cloud environments, leading to potential data loss or corruption during migration. This often requires specialized middleware or significant application refactoring.
- Service disruption
Ensuring continuity of services during migration is a major challenge. A well-planned strategy is needed to minimize downtimes, which might involve staggered migrations or temporary redundant systems.
- Vendor lock-in
Relying on a single cloud provider’s tools and services can lead to vendor lock-in, making it difficult and costly to switch providers later. This can limit flexibility and future-proofing of the infrastructure.
- Scalability and performance
Although cloud environments offer scalability, ensuring that the chosen solution can handle specific data volumes and processing needs is crucial. Misconfigured auto-scaling features can lead to poor performance or high costs.
- Testing
Thorough testing post-migration is critical to ensure that applications function correctly in the new environment. This involves testing for functionality, performance, and security.
- Change management
Cloud migration represents a significant change, often encountering resistance within the organization. Effective communication and training are necessary to manage the transition smoothly.
- Data integrity
Maintaining data integrity during migration is also crucial. Organizations must validate that no data is lost or corrupted, ensuring the integrity and usability of data post-migration.
- Time and resource commitment
Cloud migration can be a time-consuming process requiring substantial resources. Organizations must plan accordingly and work with experienced engineers to avoid overrunning costs and timelines
The benefits and challenges of cloud migration may differ depending on the case, but the strategy should always align with the organization’s long-term business goals. This helps avoid conflicts and support overall business objectives.
Comparing 4 Key Cloud Modernization Strategies
Let’s dive deeper into the key cloud modernization strategies and real-world implementation examples.
1. Rehosting (Lift and Shift)
Rehosting involves moving an existing application to the cloud with minimal changes, typically using Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) platforms like Amazon EC2 or Microsoft Azure Virtual Machines. This method is quick and low-risk but may not fully utilize cloud-native features.
Example: GE Oil & Gas migrated over 500 applications to the AWS cloud with minimal changes. This quick transition allowed GE to reduce operational costs and improve agility without redesigning their applications.
2. Refactoring
Refactoring involves modifying an application to use cloud-native services such as managed databases, virtual machines and scalable cloud storage. This enhances scalability, resilience, and efficiency, though it requires more effort than rehosting.
Example: Uber is in the process of refactoring its data infrastructure to GCP to leverage cloud’s object store for the data lake storage. The final goal is to move their batch data analytics and ML training stack to the cloud platform to accommodate the company’s growing needs.
3. Rearchitecting
Rearchitecting is a thorough redesign of an application, often transitioning from a monolithic to a microservices-based architecture. This allows for maximum use of cloud-native technologies, offering significant benefits in scalability and maintenance but demands substantial time and resources.
Example: Capital One rearchitected its banking application to a microservices architecture on AWS. This move allowed the bank to improve its development cycle, reduce downtime, and better manage its services’ scalability and security.
4. Rebuilding
Rebuilding means creating a new application from scratch using cloud-native technologies. This approach is chosen when an existing application is outdated or unsuitable for other modernization methods. It offers the greatest flexibility and control but requires the most time and resources.
Experienced software consultants can help you choose the best legacy app modernization strategy based on your specific needs and goals. By leveraging their expertise, you can ensure a smoother transition and maximize the benefits of cloud technologies.
Choosing the Right Cloud Provider
It’s obvious that selecting the right cloud provider is one of the most crucial steps in the application modernization process. Key factors to consider include:
- Service offerings
- Performance and reliability
- Security and compliance with regulatory requirements
- Infrastructure costs
- Integration and compatibility
- Customer support
Popular cloud providers like Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform (GCP) each offer unique strengths and capabilities, making them suitable for different types of organizations and projects. However, the provider’s choice is usually closely related to the technologies already used on the project for better compatibility and efficiency.
Best Practices for Successful Cloud Application Modernization
If you decide to turn to cloud app modernization, you should know the best practices that will help mitigate possible challenges and get the maximum result. We will also illustrate this with cases from MobiDev practice to show how cloud modernization opens up additional opportunities for business development.
1. Embrace agile development
Adopting agile methodologies accelerates the modernization process by enabling teams to adapt to changing requirements and deliver value incrementally. This approach leads to faster time-to-market, higher customer satisfaction, and improved project outcomes.
2. Implement incremental modernization
Plan and execute the modernization process in incremental stages to minimize disruptions and mitigate risks. Start with low-risk applications and gradually transition critical workloads, implementing robust testing protocols at each stage. Here is how it looks in practice.
Success Story #1. Modernizing a legacy CRM system
One of our clients needed to modernize a CRM product. During the technical audit, our team discovered that the system was running on outdated technology versions and an unsuitable dedicated physical server. This prompted us to focus on optimizing both the code and infrastructure to align the system with evolving business requirements.
We started AWS application modernization with moving the database and file storage to AWS services (RDS, S3) and then we incrementally containerized each service using Docker. This approach allowed us to stabilize the system and optimize server resources progressively.
This approach enabled us to systematically update technologies and enhance code quality by concentrating on specific functionalities under development, while gradually addressing other areas of the codebase. Within six months, we successfully refactored approximately 80% of the codebase without interrupting application operations.
Client’s business outcomes:
- Improved System Stability: By migrating database and file storage to AWS services, the system achieved greater stability and reliability. This reduced downtimes and enhanced overall performance, leading to improved user satisfaction.
- Optimized Resource Utilization: Containerization and infrastructure optimization led to better utilization of server resources. This optimization resulted in cost savings by reducing unnecessary resource allocation and improving efficiency across the platform.
- Enhanced Code Quality and Maintainability: Refactoring 80% of the codebase helped to reduce technical debt minimizing the risk of future issues and facilitated easier ongoing development and updates.
Alignment with Business Goals: The enhanced capabilities and performance of the CRM product enabled the client to achieve business growth and operational excellence.
3. Invest in staff training and skill development
Providing training and upskilling opportunities for your IT teams is crucial for managing and operating cloud-native technologies effectively. Hands-on training sessions, workshops, and certifications empower staff to navigate cloud environments and optimize performance.
So if you plan to maintain the product in-house, make sure that your team has received the necessary knowledge to work with the new infrastructure, and also keep in touch with external specialists who you can turn to in case of future challenges.
4. Establish robust monitoring and maintenance
Developing a monitoring and performance management framework helps track cloud applications’ performance, availability, and security. With automated monitoring tools, it’s easier to capture performance metrics and proactively address potential issues. We ensured an effective monitoring and maintenance system in the following project.
Success Story #2: Modernizing Cloud Infrastructure for a Service Company
Our cooperation with the client started with their request to optimize their AWS-based platform to prepare it for adding new features. The client planned to expand its in-house expertise at the expense of a dedicated development team.
We started with a software audit to analyze the system’s current state and identify the main problems. The audit results allowed our engineers to build a gradual modernization plan focusing on the client’s business goals and priorities. The plan included multiple solutions.
One solution was dockerization using Docker Swarm, which improved maintainability, development efficiency, and scalability. It also allowed simultaneous usage of multiple versions which is crucial for gradual upgrades while keeping business operational.
Another solution was covering the operational work of the system with different monitoring services, allowing for quick responses to issues and alerts.
Using Terraform and Ansible helped make updates and new feature deployment faster, improving delivery stability. We also implemented a blue-green deployment strategy, which allows updates to be made without disrupting system operation or causing downtimes.
Client’s business outcomes:
- Enhanced System Operations. The work done to this point invested in the stability of the system with improved uptime and better performance. Implementation of ongoing testing reduced the percentage of errors and crashes.
- Improved Scalability. The implemented services allowed the system to scale up or down as needed to meet changing demands, providing more flexibility.
- Stable Delivery. The implementation of a CI/CD pipeline allowed the client to automate the building, testing, and deployment processes, which accelerated the release of new features and updates.
- Growth of User Base. Improved system stability and user experience contributed to an increase in the number of users and more positive feedback about the product.
Implementing monitoring and maintenance systems is crucial for cloud apps to proactively identify and resolve issues, optimize performance and resource utilization, and maintain compliance – ensuring reliability, availability, and an excellent user experience.
Explore MobiDev Cloud Application Modernization Services
Migrating to the cloud can be a complex and daunting process, but with MobiDev, you can navigate this transition smoothly and successfully. We bring extensive expertise and experience to the table. With over a decade of experience in building, scaling, and modernizing software products, MobiDev has honed its skills and knowledge to provide top-notch cloud migration services since 2009.
Our seasoned consultants and engineers will conduct a thorough audit of your existing software and infrastructure. Based on this detailed analysis, we create a clear and actionable roadmap tailored to your specific needs and goals. With a clear roadmap, the migration will be carried out with minimal disruption to your operations.
Our dedicated in-house DevOps team plays a crucial role in streamlining the cloud migration process. By leveraging their expertise, we minimize the risk of errors and ensure a smooth transition to the cloud. We work with key cloud services like Google Cloud, Azure, and AWS to offer you the best solutions available.
Additionally, if your project involves certain compliance standards, such as GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA, GLBA, or PCI DSS, we will help you meet these regulations from a technical side, drawing on our extensive experience in these areas.
Feel free to reach out to discuss your needs with me or my colleagues. Take a confident step toward your application modernization journey!
