Legacy Application Modernization Is Key to Digital Transformation Success, Says Info-Tech Research Group in New Resource

Global IT research and advisory firm Info-Tech Research Group has published new research, Make the Case for Legacy Application Modernization, that explains how in the digital era, where innovation and speed are paramount, many organizations are constrained by legacy systems embedded in their application portfolios. Business portfolio modernization is becoming an essential investment, but the significant resources required for this transformation are often underestimated or overlooked by leadership. This reliance is at odds with the pressing need to minimize time-to-market and simultaneously launch innovative products and services. The latest industry resource from the firm is intended to help bridge this gap and underscore the urgent need for change.

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“Legacy systems remain well-embedded in the fabric of many organizations’ application portfolios. These core tools were often custom-built to meet the needs of the business and leveraged to accomplish business goals,” says Ricardo de Oliveira, research director at Info-Tech Research Group. “A legacy application becomes something we need to address when it no longer supports our business goals, is no longer supportable, bears an unsustainable ownership cost, or poses a threat to the organization’s cybersecurity or compliance.”

Info-Tech’s research emphasizes that organizations should not view legacy modernization as a single event but rather as a continuous journey potentially filled with complexities and challenges. These challenges include an ingrained resistance to change among long-standing employees in well-established firms, which can hinder the adoption of new technologies, and the constraints of limited resources and budgets, which can further curtail ambitious modernization strategies. The absence of thorough documentation for existing legacy applications also complicates the identification of areas that require modernization and the formulation of effective strategies to implement these transformations.

“When approaching a legacy application strategy, navigating a complex web of business, stakeholder, software, hardware, resourcing, and financial decisions is necessary,” explains Oliveira. “To complicate matters, the full scope of the required effort is not immediately clear. Years of development are embedded in these legacy applications, which must be uncovered and dealt with appropriately.”

The new resource highlights the importance of modernizing legacy applications as a critical strategy for maintaining a competitive edge in today’s fast-paced business environment. Info-Tech advises organizations to distinctly identify what constitutes a legacy application within their specific context and to compile a selection of applications that are candidates for modernization and determine the most suitable modernization strategy for each. To guide organizations through this complex process, the firm’s new resource outlines the following three-step approach to transform their legacy application landscape:

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1. Understand: Assess the challenges, lay out the reasons, define the legacy applications, and prepare to remove the barriers to modernization.
   
   
2. Assess: Determine the benefits by business capability and leverage APM foundations to select the candidate applications and prioritize.
   
   
3. Define: Use the prioritized application list to drive the next steps to modernization.

The research shows that updating legacy applications can yield numerous advantages for organizations. These benefits include enhanced security, which enables safer communication with banks and other external institutions, and improved experiences and outcomes compared to older applications.

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