As a business leader, you know it's important to update your apps, but it can be tough to figure out the best approach. This whitepaper helps you in upgrading your current applications using modernization strategies without any business disruptions.

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Introduction
Application modernization is the
process of taking existing legacy
applications and modernizing
their platform infrastructure,
architecture and functionality
with an intention to adapt
them for cloud deployment,
modern release patterns,
incorporating microservices
& containerization, etc. In
today’s tech environment, the
application that qualifies for
modernization can be loosely
qualified as those that are
‘monolithic’ or those that are
deployed on-premise, and
maintained using traditional
waterfall development
processes.
According to CIO magazine’s recent survey (State of the
CIO Executive Summary 2022) application modernization
has been stated as the top priority for CIOs in the
enterprise—a top-three initiative, in both effort and
resources.
In a separate report, IDC
predicts that by 2024, most
legacy applications will need to
get updated. The point is that
application modernization is a
priority that come up in pretty
much every analysis, report, or
survey that one can pick up.

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Applications have become
the competitive differentiator
for many businesses, so much
so that application downtime
can result in instantaneous
monetary and business losses.
In order to stay competitive in
the business world, enterprises
today need to keep their
applications in top form and
continuously address issues
such as:
• High costs of application
maintenance
• Support for latest security
features, eg. multi-factor
authentication, data
encryption, etc.
• Inflexible architecture and
integration challenges.
For example, seamless
integration of AI capabilities
• Monolithic applications that
are expensive to scale
• Long product development
and release cycles
• High business risks with
critical applications running
on unsupported hardware
and software
• Lack of availability of skilled
resources for outdated
technologies
But why is application modernization so important
Challenges of
Legacy Applications
High
maintenance
costs
Security risks
Long SDLC
Expensive to
scale
Lack of skilled
resources
Inflexible
architechture
and integration
capability
Business
risks due to
unsupported
hardware and
software

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Three types of software development patterns
for modernization
As every organization’s IT & application environment is different, so
too is their approach to modernization. While there are several ways
to modernize (Gartner recognizes at least 7 of them), we’ve simplified
the modernization journey and this paper will be looking at the three
more commonly used approaches.
REHOST RE-PLATFORM REWRITE
Migration paths in a view
Discover
Sustain Rehost
Optimize
Grow Rewrite
Simple migration to
Cloud
Optimize + Migrate to
cloud
Cloud-native
development
Lift and Shift
Lift, Tinker and Shift
Rewrite
Re-platform
Determine

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Also known as the lift-and-shift
approach, this methodology
entails converting on-premise
servers into virtual servers on a
cloud platform (such as AWS or
other cloud platforms). While the
hosting environment is changed,
there is no significant change
within the core application.
This is the most commonly
used approach to leverage the
benefits of cloud environments
and may require the least
amount of effort and expense.
Rehost Approach
• Allows you to leverage
the cost economies (eg.
pay-per-use, infinite
scalability, etc.) of cloud
platforms
• Reduces cost and
effort involved in
the maintenance of
infrastructure
• Easier to adopt than
other modernization
approaches
• In case of COTS
applications which
doesn’t allow code
changes
• Enables browser-based
global access to the
applications
• Achieving substantial
improvements in
application performance
• Gaining benefits of new
tech and methodologies
(eg. DevOps, etc.)
• Deploying cloud-native
capabilities (such as
microservices and
containerization)
• Implementing modern
process automation,
security, and scalability
features
• Reducing CapEX
BENEFITS OF REHOSTING IS NOT THE BEST APPROACH FOR

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This strategy is also known as
the lift-tinker-and-shift and it
focuses on modernizing legacy
apps just enough to enable
containerization and cloud
deployment. Although little code
refactoring may be necessary,
major refactoring is often
avoidable.
Containerization enables
applications to become
portable and adaptable such
that they can be run on multiple
environments/ operating
systems. Containerized software
will always run the same,
regardless of the infrastructure.
This approach gets you halfway
to a fully-realized cloud maturity
model, allowing you to take
advantage of cloud benefits
such as flexibility, efficiency, and
more without fully
re-architecting your apps.
Re-platform Approach
• Improves scalability and
features
• Allows some native
capabilities of cloud
computing
• Helps improve the
user experience from
upgraded features
• Makes maintenance
easier
• Provides an easier
path to additional/
incremental upgrades
• Automate certain
tasks by migrating
the database to
technologies like RDS
• The original applications
were developed in a very
old language, and skills
are no longer available
• Use-cases call for an
extensive need for
integration with 3rd party
cloud services (eg. single
sign-on with Google/
Facebook, API access to
cloud services, etc.)
• Making rapid changes
since re-platforming
requires extensive
planning and availability
of legacy skills
BENEFITS OF RE-PLATFORMING
MAY NOT BE THE BEST
APPROACH IF

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Rewriting an application is
the same process as building
new applications but with the
added benefit of being able to
incorporate new features. This
is the ideal approach when
a legacy application needs
to undergo a large number
of changes/ upgrades, and
creating a new application
is easier than fixing the old
one. Rewriting provides an
opportunity to change the
application architecture for a
fully contemporary stack, but it
may require significant time and
effort for writing code.
Rewrite Approach
• Provides the best
benefits in terms of
modernization as it
allows the creation of
applications using latest
platforms, advanced
features, better
integration with cloud
services, high levels of
app performance, etc.
• Delivers maximum
increase in life of the
application
• Significant increase
in adaptability and
scalability
• Applications have to
be modernized quickly,
as this approach
takes maximum effort
and time amongst
all modernization
methodologies
• You want to reduce
the CapEX (although it
may reduce the cost of
ownership in the long
run)
• Applications which are
relatively new and can
be migrated to cloud
with minimal efforts
BENEFITS OF REWRITING CODE
MAY NOT BE THE BEST
APPROACH IF

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Weighing the various application
modernization options for a reliable strategy
An application assessment
is the most crucial step
in beginning any effort to
modernize an application. Once
you have a list, you can begin
graphing each application’s
ease or difficulty and the
potential increase in value if
modernized against an x and
y-axis. Consider “potential”
value in terms of how important
the application is to the future
of your company and to the
customer experience.
The most obvious and least
contentious choices to start
an application modernization
project with are those
applications that fit into the top-
left quadrant of this grid of high
value and low effort.
Success Story - Khameleon Software
Amzur helped Khameleon
Software redesign its
entire dealer technology
solution stack using a
hybrid approach of app
modernization and an
extended development
team model. It involved:
• Overhauling its services
stack
Read the full case study
The new solution
enabled Khameleon
Software to improve its
profit margin by 25%
and its client base by
up to 4x, as compared
to its performance in
previous years.
• Development of an
N-Tier architecture
• Developing a brand-
new user interface
for the entire
application
• Deployment of an
integrated portal
with a highly flexible
reporting module.
Potential
value
in
terms
of
business
and
customer
experience Migration cost and effort
High value and
low effort

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Amzur uses an iterative,
multiphase process to
modernize applications. The
primary goal is to develop a
plan and execute it several
times, with each execution
producing new, incremental
value. This reduces the risk
of failure significantly. These
software development patterns
assist businesses in determining
how to maximize the use of
currently available applications
and create a practice for
ongoing modernization that
will benefit the company’s
operations both now and in the
future.
Amzur’s methodology breaks
the problem down so that only
a few applications are migrated
at a time. Applications are
evaluated according to their
prospective business value,
post-modernization operational
costs, and the cost and time
required to modernize them.
The Amzur advantage
At Amzur, we have decades of experience in identifying
and implementing the right mix of the three software
development patterns based on business goals
and priorities. With the help of low-code application
development and automation, we modernize your
application stack 10 times faster than traditional
development, making it cost-effective with zero
downtime.
Learn more
10X 3X
FASTER
COST SAVINGS
VS TRADITIONAL
DEVELOPMENT
Rapid Application Development
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10. Amzur Technologies, Inc. (Amzur) is an award-winning, ISO 9001:2008 certified
company based in Tampa, FL, serving customers across the globe. Amzur helps SMB
companies in accelerating business growth by operating as a trusted IT partner
at every stage in the customer’s digital transformation journey. The company
specializes in simplifying IT transformation through a proven framework that brings
together hyperautomation, application modernization & managed services to enable
its customers with the agility and speed to stay competitive in all markets. With
employees & teams spread across three continents, Amzur delivers the right talent
and targeted services for ensuring the success of its customers.
Address: 405 N Reo St Suite # 110, Tampa, FL 33609
www.amzur.com
Contact: +1(813) 600 4060 | marketing@amzur.com
© 2022 Amzur Technologies, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 12-2022