Application Modernisation

Strategies for Embracing Current and Future Technologies

Introduction

With so much emphasis given by the press and industry commentators on the new and the exciting, the possible and the future, it is sometimes easy to forget that the way forward will be built on the tried and tested, the here and now. Although over the last 25-30 years there has been much that has been considered revolutionary within IT infrastructures, there is far more that has been evolutionary. Evolution is the natural way forward, and when revolutionary comes under close scrutiny there is, in nearly every instance, a strong evolutionary element.

We no longer throw away technology, we re-use and re-purpose it. The costs involved in wholesale infrastructure change far outweigh any possible benefits. Part of the IT infrastructure that needs to evolve are the applications that exist as the heart of every organisation. These applications have already evolved over many years, and over their lifetimes have undergone many alterations.

One of the problems that exists with the applications that give the business life is they are becoming worn; they have been altered, patched up, made to fit purposes for which they were never intended. The time is now right to take stock of these applications to give them a chance to perform as they once did, as vital elements within the business infrastructure, not as badly purposed and poorly understood pieces of technology.

This Report will show why the time is now right for this stocktaking. The maturity of technologies that will allow for effective change in applications creates an opportunity to move forward in a decisive manner. The external influences that are putting organisations under increasing pressure have to be addressed. The response mechanism lies in the applications that run the business; business change means application change.

Business Issues

The old proverb 'timing is everything' might be hackneyed, but it still conveys an essential truth. In business, getting the timing wrong leaves organisations exposed. Try an implementation too early and the possibility or probability exists that the full value of emerging technologies will not be utilised. Implement too late and competitive advantage has been handed over.