Application Modernization Fuels Success:

A Best Practice Approach to IT as a Service

Application Modernization Is Not an Option

Digital technology introduces tremendous opportunities, but it also creates enormous challenges. Simply put: business as usual is no longer enough. CIOs must lead an organization in driving value through differentiated products and services and an improved customer experience.

But achieving digital transformation is easier said than done. Many organizations struggle because conventional IT frameworks simply aren’t equipped to deal with today’s challenges. In order to remain competitive, organizations require a framework that’s fast, flexibile and scalable.

At the center of all this is an application modernization strategy. It helps an enterprise rethink and rewire processes to match today’s needs. Using this approach, organizations can act and react faster, operate more efficiently, reduce costs and complexity, and, ultimately, generate greater ROI.

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56%

In fact, Gartner found that 56 percent of companies that have invested in digital business have increased profits.

Application Modernization Is a Growing Challenge

Organizations often rely on dozens — sometimes hundreds — of different applications to navigate today’s business environment. While each application may deliver value, the collection of applications may not deliver the desired outcomes or it may create a new problem: how to manage, optimize and integrate systems to produce more efficient processes and workflows — while spurring innovation and igniting digital disruption.

Typical problems include:

Harvard Business Review (HBR) reported that
29 percent of organizations attempting to address changing market conditions often react so slowly that they can’t seize opportunities.

Lack of agility

HBR reported that
24 percent of organizations react quickly, but lose sight of company strategy. They simply can’t make critical changes that fit company goals.

Lack of foresight

Gartner has noted that deeper transformation can only be achieved at scale if it is systematically driven.

Lack of scalability

IDC found that 82 percent of companies struggling with digital transformation say their network performance and infrastructure lags.

Diminished performance

Data is the core of growth opportunies, but many companies suffer from data silos that hinder effective analysis and insights.

Data silos

It is estimated that, by 2020, 25 percent of cyber attacks will target IoT devices.

Security risks

45 percent of respondents to a Gartner study said that “application modernization” is a top-five priority. A major driver is struggling with limitations imposed by legacy apps.

Inability to integrate new applications and services

Simply moving to the cloud without an application modernization strategy will not solve rising TCO.

Increasing total costs

5 Warning Signs That Your Application Management Framework Is Lacking

stopwatch

Application response
times are slow.

servers

Capacity is unable to scale to increasing demand.

silos

Data exists in silos across disparate systems.

staff

Staff can’t keep up with the changes required to maintain a competitive edge.

difficult_launch

It’s difficult to launch new projects that involve digital technologies.

Does Your Application Management Framework Measure Up?

A successful enterprise balances people, processes and technology. To evaluate your application management framework you must first understand whether your process and existing infrastructure support an outcome-focused approach that centers on your business’ mission.

Start by asking four fundamental questions:

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A multi-cloud strategy allows organizations to deploy new technologies quickly and integrate them with current applications.

Application modernization is complex. Organizations that approach it in a haphazard way often wind up with incremental gains rather than transformative results. You need to have the right end goals in mind and a strategy to reach them holistically.

Once you have a road map, you can do an evaluation of the skill sets and systems needed to execute the plan. This may include expanding your ecosystem to leverage expertise from partners and third parties.

An initiative must be simple, personalized and adaptable to future change. Your organization requires an unbiased and experienced partner that’s focused on outcomes.

Traits of a Best-Practice Application Modernization

A best-practice framework begins with defining and executing the modernization journey with “Process First. Technology Second.” By establishing business objectives, building strong processes that support those objectives, and then leveraging the latest technologies in a multi-cloud environment, organizations can leverage new business models, optimize performance and drive customer loyalty.

A best-practice approach to aligning application modernization with strategic business goals requires four key steps:

It’s critical to identify the steps and tasks required to modernize a framework.

Develop a clear strategy for app modernization.

This requires input from different constituencies that understand the business, use applications and can discuss current deficiencies and frustrations.

Size up current processes and identify gaps and problem points.

Key constituencies and teams must identify workflows, processes and improvements that directly benefit from app modernization.

Align the organization’s business model with the strategy.

An application modernization initiative must address the need for new skills, changes in processes and new IT systems to support a more modern application infrastructure.

Make the necessary people, process and technology changes.

Taking Your Enterprise to a Best-Practice Level

Application modernization involves re-factoring, re-purposing and re-architecting or consolidating applications to align tightly with business needs. It also includes an assessment of legacy apps to recognize if any are best changed, retired or eliminated. When it’s done right, application modernization delivers greater efficiency, agility, scalability and interoperability. Ultimately, it unlocks differentiated business value for your organization and your customers.

There are three guiding principles that define a best-practice level framework:

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Focus on the customer

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Understand your end goal

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Make it part of something bigger

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Change your operating model

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Establish a culture that embraces change, takes risks, fails fast and moves on

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Develop skills and knowledge required to address the strategic framework

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Recruit skills required to address specific technologies and tactical issues

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Engage leadership teams to oversee business needs and ensure that the application framework reflects them

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Maintain a focus on agility, including DevOps

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Address technical debt

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Embrace cloud-native

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Let applications drive infrastructure

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Promote SaaS adoption

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Leverage ready-made integrations

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Invest in Application As A Service

5 Key Criteria for Organizations Looking to Modernize

process

Take a process first, technology second approach.

expertise

Look for unbiased expertise.

vendor

Adopt a single vendor that delivers an end-to-end solution.

application_optimization

Embrace a platform that fully supports digital business and application optimization.

piggy_bank

Focus on cost optimization, total returns and total value.

A Framework for the Future

In the modernizing enterprise, all roads lead to delivering greater value for employees, customers, partners and the business. Application modernization improves efficiency, lowers costs, and boosts flexibility and agility. However, application modernization is not about ROI — it is about architecting for the future. Organizations that put application modernization in motion and on a path of adapting and modernizing are far better positioned to tackle the challenges of digital business.

About Rackspace Application Services

Rackspace Application Services provides a comprehensive set of professional services and application management capabilities that simplify and guide clients in the evolution of IT, helping transform applications into a differentiator for their company. Our IT as a service is intentionally built to be flexible so that, as a partner, we continuously modernize and adapt with our customers. RAS helps clients in their application modernization journey by preparing for future evolution as well as continuously adapting to achieve an optimized environment. Learn more at www.rackspace.com/application-management.