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The Key Factors in Ensuring Successful Application Modernisation With Azure
Highlights from our Webinar
Version 1’s Roger Whitehead, Advisory Services Lead UK, and Niall Diggins, Service Design & Application Modernisation Specialist, delivered an Application Modernisation session at Microsoft Future Decoded 2019. The following blog post will focus on the key takeaways from the session, highlighting the benefits of Application Modernisation, and the factors that ensure the process is successful.
Application Modernisation is able to rapidly deliver new business value in the digital domain, whilst retaining much of the value of previous technology investments. Approaches can be optimised to allow organisations to modernise core business systems and legacy applications to work in the way that works best for their customers, citizens and stakeholders.
The need for Application Modernisation is typically triggered by business events, either external business events or form of organisational opportunity which may be to address new markets or increase productivity or efficiency.
Some of the main triggers for Application Modernisation are:
- Platform Obsolescence
- Emergent Requirements
- Data Centre Consolidation
- Contract/Licence Renewal
- Security Concerns
- Experience Issues
- External Business Change
Approach
Version 1 has developed an approach to ensure that our customers’ Application Modernisation efforts are successful. This approach isn’t linear – it is iterative to ensure that business strategy is driven. This approach ensures that customers understand their starting point, what goals they need to achieve and whilst protecting and maximising existing investments and maintaining day to day operations.
When undertaking Application Modernisation, there are a range of factors that need to be identified to ensure the process is successful. These are:
- Application Estate Assessment
This assessment allows you to understand the starting point of the process and what is suitable to be modernised.
- Empowered Organisation
The organisation needs to empower, drive and support the modernisation process.
- Protect Business Value
By protecting business value, this de-risks any modernisation activity and creates understanding of modernisation impact.
- Enhanced Modern Capability
The presence of enhanced modern capability enables the cycle to continue through.
Empowered Organisation and Protect Business Value are the two key influences on the successful outcome of Application Modernisation. These areas ensure that existing capability is enhanced and maximise core system ROIs.
Azure Platform
Application Modernisation doesn’t necessarily mean that the entire application needs to be moved upfront, certain elements of the application can be moved in a targeted manner, creating a hybrid solution or a roadmap for change.
The Azure platform contains tools and platforms at a range of levels: data, application, infrastructure and security, allowing the option of a targeted modernisation or comprehensive modernisation. The image below showcases the comprehensive list of Azure Platforms & Tools that can be utilised when undertaking Application Modernisation.
Customer Success Stories
In a rapidly changing digital era, businesses face pressure to change the way they operate. Through modernising core business applications or legacy systems, this allows organisations to work in the way they or their users need to. The following two case studies are covered by Niall Diggins throughout the webinar:
Musgrave Group
Musgrave Group, Ireland’s leading food retail supplier, required modernisation of its legacy invoicing system. A critical application which supports a business with 4 billion euro in turnover, the trigger for modernisation was the obsolescence technology that was integrated into the application, which could affect business operations in the future. Musgrave Group also wanted more accessibility to third-party APIs and applications in the future, which further leveraged the need for modernisation.
Cafcass
Cafcass, a public body in England, represent children across courts to ensure that decisions are made in their best interests. Cafcass’s electronic case management application enabled staff to work on over 60,000 cases per year, which reduced the risk of harm to children. This application ran on Sharepoint 2010, which would be out of support by 2020, creating security risks. Cafcass also wanted to leverage their office 365 capability, utilising Microsoft’s technologies such as OneDrive and Teams.
Find out more about the Musgrave Group and Cafcass case studies by viewing the on-demand webinar version of the session, which explores how Version 1 tackled the pain-points each customer was facing through Application Modernisation.
Advanced Specialisation
In December 2019, Version 1 became Microsoft’s first partner across the UK and Ireland to earn the ‘Modernisation of Web Applications to Microsoft Azure’ Advanced Specialisation. The achievement of this specialisation demonstrates Version 1’s expertise in migrating and deploying production web application workloads, applying DevOps practices, and managing application services in Microsoft Azure.
Watch the full Application Modernisation – Preparing Applications for a Digital World webinar below.