Application Modernisation – Part One

25 Jul Application Modernisation – Part One

Posted at 13:23h in CT4, multi-cloud, Technology by

What is app modernisation?

At a glance:

  • Taking existing legacy apps developing new ways to use in the cloud era, with mobile focus.

  • Transforming old applications and creating a modern version with features such as search, user-friendly design and dynamic screen displays for different devices.

App modernisation is the process of taking an existing application – usually one which has limitations on usability, expand-ability or flexibility – and developing some or all components to work in the cloud and on mobile platforms. For example if you use an old CRM tool which only works on your office PC, app modernisation may take the core functionality and add a cloud based front end that means you can access the same data sets while on the road, from your mobile or any other device.  

Another possibility is that maybe your CRM works fine but it doesn’t integrate with any other system, and sales orders need to be printed out, hand delivered to the procurement team and the same data manually re-entered into your ERP. In this very inefficient scenario, a typical app modernisation project would be to create a helper system to sit between your CRM and ERP, and automatically push sales orders through to procurement electronically, saving on resources and helping you deliver to your customers with much less effort than before. 

Problems

At a glance:

  • Old applications don’t work on mobile devices or outside of the typical office PC environment.  They may not be scalable to manage large amounts of info – “Big Data” They don’t talk to other apps/extensible

  • Reporting

  • GRC/Security

  • Datasharing  (in a global market) + Customer/Partner.  I.e head office in New York, manufacture Vietnam, sales in  India and support in Philippines.

So what kind of problems can app modernisation solve? There are far too many to mention really but here are a few that may resonate with how you currently operate. 

  • You have an application you have used for years. It does everything you need but the only problem is that it only works when you are sat in front of your office PC. In the modern business environment, this is not how we work. If you are frequently at customer or supplier sites, you need to come all the way back to the office just to complete your admin.

  • Your application has served you well over the years but as your business has grown, your app hasn’t grown with you. Now it is creaking because it wasn’t designed to support the amount of information you need it to process.

  • Customers want real time information – instant gratification. If your app isn’t web enabled, or have the ability to share data externally in real time, then your customers will look elsewhere rather than wait on your to manually produce reports and dashboards.

  • Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC) dictates much of how we operate these days. Does your application meet your current compliance requirements, or is it still stuck with 1995 rules?

  • If you have manufacturing in Asia, R&D in Europe and global sales in the US, does your application allow you to share real time metrics across all locations? If you make a big sale in New York, do you have the ability to quickly calculate how to ramp up production in Vietnam? 

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