The document outlines IBM's approach to application modernization, focusing on migrating to cloud-native architectures through various strategies such as lift-and-shift, modernization, and innovation. It highlights the importance of leveraging IBM Cloud Paks, diagnostic services, and best practices learned from extensive client engagements to ensure successful transitions while addressing common technical debts and complexities. Additionally, it emphasizes the need for a comprehensive framework to manage modernization efforts aligned with business outcomes, utilizing co-creation, automation, and continuous iteration throughout the process.

1. September, 2019 / © 2019 IBM Corporation
Java Application
Modernization Patterns
and
Stories from the IBM Garage
Dave Mulley
IBM Garage Solution Engineering – Application Modernization Team
Holly Cummins
STSM, WW Development Lead, IBM Cloud Garage

2. The Journey to Cloud

3. The Journey to Cloud

4. Migrate
Lift & shift
applications and
workloads
Modernize
Update using
containers and
microservices
Innovate
Build new
cloud native
applications
Manage
Integrate
and manage,
multicloud
Driver
Improved operations
and productivity
Driver
Solve previously
unsolved problems
Outcomes
Greater business agility,
access to data for insights
Driver
Lower Capex
Types of Cloud Journeys

5. Investment Protection
Adopt new technology
and modernize at your
pace with IBM Cloud
Paks
Proven Approaches
Prescriptive guidance,
online demos and
tutorials
IBM Garage Architecture
for best practices
Acceleration Services
90,000 experts
100,000 migrations
38 global studios
Turnkey modernization
with services aligned with
proven approaches
Advanced Technology
Rich set of containerized
Middleware with IBM
Cloud Paks
Advanced Migration and
Developer Tools with IBM
Cloud Pak for
Applications
4
IBM’s approach to application modernization

6. 5
Introspects WebSphere,
IBM MQ, WebLogic, and
Tomcat deployments
Included and deployed
on Cloud Pak for
Applications
4) Diagnostic
services
IBM Cloud Transformation Advisor
Provides recommendations and
automation for App Modernization
Access and analyze Java EE apps and
messaging infrastructure.
Analysis
Report
Potential issues,
severity details,
possible solutions
and estimated
resolution effort
Technology
Report
Details on IBM
platform support
for technologies
used in the app
Inventory
Report
High-level
inventory of
application content
and structure
IBM Cloud / © 2019 IBM Corporation IBM Confidential

7. 6
Migration
Complexity
Moderate:
Some code
changes
needed
Complex:
Incompatible
technologies;
external
dependencies
Simple:
No code
changes
Classify Existing Apps Based on Migration Complexity

8. vm
Identifying Technical Debt
• Out of support (JDK 5,6 or 7) or limited lifespan (JDK 8)
• IBM proprietary APIs/implementations such as Work Manager,
Startup Beans and SCA are not portable.
• Many proprietary APIs/implementations are deprecated
• Spring 2.5.6 and older is incompatible with JDK 8
• Older Spring Framework versions are unsupported by Pivotal
and have documented security vulnerabilities
jdk
• Running in “backwards compatibility” mode on WAS 8.5 and 9
• Newer versions of JPA, JSF, CDI and JAX-RS are not backwards
compatible in some situations
• Utilizing deprecated/optional Java EE technologies (JAX-RPC)
• Including unsupported/deprecated frameworks (JSF 2.0, Struts 1)
• Older, outdated technologies, patterns and strategies (monoliths,
EJB, CORBA, SCA etc)
• Out of support or limited lifespan WebSphere Runtime.
• Monolithic, large footprint runtime requiring patching, upgrades
and operations team management
traditional runtime
spring framework 2/3/4
application
java ee 1.4/1.5/6
application
proprietary runtime apis

9. Modernization Options
effort required
traditional
cloud native
lift and
shift
jdk
debt
runtime
debt
api
debt
app
debt
cloud
native
debt
removed
debt
remains
debt
remains
debt
remains
no

10. Modernization Options
effort required
traditional
cloud native
lift and
shift
operations
modernization
jdk
debt
runtime
debt
api
debt
app
debt
cloud
native
debt
removed
debt
removed
debt
remains
debt
remains
debt
remains
debt
remains
debt
remains
no
partial
cloud
ready

11. Modernization Options
effort required
traditional
cloud native
lift and
shift
operations
modernization
runtime modernization
jdk
debt
runtime
debt
api
debt
app
debt
cloud
native
debt
removed
debt
removed
debt
removed
debt
removed
debt
removed
debt
remains
debt
remains
debt
remains
debt
remains
debt
remains
debt
remains
no
partial
cloud
ready
cloud
ready

12. Modernization Options
effort required
traditional
cloud native
lift and
shift
operations
modernization
runtime modernization
application modernization
jdk
debt
runtime
debt
api
debt
app
debt
cloud
native
debt
removed
debt
removed
debt
removed
debt
removed
debt
removed
debt
removed
debt
removed
debt
removed
debt
removed
debt
remains
debt
remains
debt
remains
debt
remains
debt
remains
debt
remains
no
partial
cloud
ready
cloud
ready
mixed
runtimes

13. Modernization Options
effort required
traditional
cloud native
lift and
shift
operations
modernization
runtime modernization
application modernization
redesign and rewrite
jdk
debt
runtime
debt
api
debt
app
debt
cloud
native
debt
removed
debt
removed
debt
removed
debt
removed
debt
removed
debt
removed
debt
removed
debt
removed
cloud
native
debt
removed
debt
removed
debt
removed
debt
removed
debt
removed
debt
remains
debt
remains
debt
remains
debt
remains
debt
remains
debt
remains
no
partial
cloud
ready
cloud
ready
mixed
runtimes

14. Operations Modernization
vm
jdk
traditional
runtime
java ee 6
application
proprietary
runtime apis
tech
debt
tech
debt
tech
debt
tech
debt
common devops pipelines
common operational services
ibm certified
container
jdk
traditional
runtime
java ee 6
application
proprietary
runtime apis
tech
debt
tech
debt
tech
debt
tech
debt
ibm certified
container
some other cloud
native application
ibm certified
container
some other cloud
native application
• Package existing WebSphere ND app in a
container with as little change as possible
• Run older applications on the same platform as
new cloud-native applications
• Transform operations to embrace immutable
container

15. Runtime Modernization
vm
jdk
traditional
runtime
java ee 6
application
proprietary
runtime apis
tech
debt
tech
debt
tech
debt
tech
debt
common devops pipelines
common operational services
ibm certified
container
jdk
cloud-ready
runtime
java ee 6
application
opensource
runtime apis
tech
debt
tech
debt
ibm certified
container
some other cloud
native application
ibm certified
container
some other cloud
native application
tech
debt
• Change runtime to cloud-ready Liberty runtime
• Keep applications changes to a minimum
• Run older applications on the same platform as
new cloud-native applications
• Transform operations to embrace immutable
container

16. Client Story: WebSphere Portal Modernization
WAS
Portal
EJB +
JSF
EJB +
JSF
EJB +
JSF
EJB +
JSF
Portlet Portlet Portlet
Jenkins
IBM Cloud Private
Jenkins
DevOps
NGINX
SPA
frontend
Liberty
EJB
REST
Modernization Journey
• Modernize EJBs to run on
Liberty and with REST
interface
• Create new frontend
• Automate CI/CD with
Jenkins and IBM
UrbanCode
BENEFITS:
#1 - Modern, supported runtime with zero migration
#2 - Automated provisioning of test environments and automated testing
#3 - Reduced business risk by reusing EJB layer
Customer
implementation being
led by IBM Cloud Garage

17. 16
OCP dev/test environment
OCP enablement
Validate full deployment scope
OCP full deployment
OCP integration
Compliance &
Production readiness
Factory Scale :
self-service, multi-tenant,
charge-back..
Prove Liberty in containers
OCP and pipeline integration
Validate full scope & timeline
Critical mass
containerization
Full containerization
Factory Scale:
re-use/publish/Arch Center
Sync up with Garage best
practices and integrated with
DevOps foundations
Accelerate
Front-end refactoring
Factory Scale:
Cross-org template
Application Modernization - Front-end
Application Modernization – Back-end
Container Foundation
Refactor pipeline for containers
Add Liberty containers pipeline
Cross-env deployment
pipelines with UCD
Pipelines deployment
Factory Scale:
Open source consumption
governance
DevOps Foundation
Complete Front-end
refactoring
Application Modernization Workstreams

18. websphere nd
Client Story: Service Component Architecture Modernization
MessageBus
Modernization Journey
• Repackaged Java Code as
REST Services using
SpringBoot
• Deployed new Applications
with automated CI/CD
Jenkins Pipelines
BENEFITS:
#1 – Removed deprecated SCA framework and exposed applications
using APIs
#2 - Reduced business risk by reusing Java Code
ibm certified
container
websphere mq
ibm certified
container
springboot
rest api
java code
ibm certified
container
springboot
rest api
java code
ibm certified
container
springboot
rest api
java code
ibm certified
container
springboot
rest api
java code
ibm certified
container
springboot
rest api
java code
common devops pipelines
common operational services
sca
service
sca
service
sca
service
sca
service
sca
service
java code
java code
java code
java code
java code

19. Application Modernization
vm
jdk
traditional
runtime
java ee 6
application
proprietary
runtime apis
tech
debt
tech
debt
tech
debt
tech
debt
ibm certified
container
jdk
cloud-ready
runtime
java ee 8
application
opensource
runtime apis
tech
debt
tech
debt
tech
debt
ibm certified
container
jdk
cloud-ready
runtime
java ee 8
application
opensource
runtime apis
tech
debt
tech
debt
tech
debt
ibm certified
container
jdk
cloud-ready
runtime
java ee 8
application
opensource
runtime apis
tech
debt
tech
debt
tech
debt
common devops pipelines
common operational services
• Redesign application for new cloud
platform
• Full microservices implementation

20. Client story:
Auto modernisation
Add platform enablers:
• GDPR
• Security
• Load balancing
Stack updates:
• Containerised for ease of
• build
• deployment
• testing
• Rewrote in Node.js
Can we do even better?
• 77% of APIs unused
• 6 APIs would work better as 2

21. Image courtesy of James St John, flickr
The Strangler Fig

23. App Transition and the Strangler Pattern
Existing Site
Time
NewExisting
new development
new site
existing site
coexistence
Business as
usual. New
features added
to new site.
Coexistence will include beta of
new chunks where only a small %
of the user population get served
up the chunk and a complete
100% transition to new chunks.
Note that new features will
continue to be added to the
existing site until critical mass is
reached on the new site.

24. IBM Cloud / April 2019 / © 2019 IBM Corporation
Are Microservices the
Solution to Everything...?

25. IBM Cloud / April 2019 / © 2019 IBM Corporation
Are Microservices the
Solution to Everything...?
NO!

26. IBM Cloud / April 2019 / © 2019 IBM Corporation
“The microservices approach is all about handling
a complex system, but in order to do so, the
approach introduces its own set of complexities.
When you use microservices you have to work on
automated deployment, monitoring, dealing with
failure, eventual consistency, and other factors
that a distributed system introduces…”
-Martin Fowler

27. containers will not fix
a broken dev culture 25

28. even kubernetes will not fix
a broken dev culture 26

29. Microservices.
What could possibly go wrong?

30. @holly_cummins© 2019 IBM Corporation #IBMCloudGarage
“we don’t exactly know why we
have six microservices, but it
seems like a good idea to split
our application?”

31. @holly_cummins© 2019 IBM Corporation #IBMCloudGarage
containers are a good base

32. @holly_cummins© 2019 IBM Corporation #IBMCloudGarage
containers are a good base
it’s not a
competition
to see how
many you
can have

33. @holly_cummins© 2019 IBM Corporation #IBMCloudGarage
“each of our microservices has
duplicated the same object
model … with twenty classes
and seventy fields”

34. @holly_cummins© 2019 IBM Corporation #IBMCloudGarage
Microservice

35. @holly_cummins© 2019 IBM Corporation #IBMCloudGarage
Microservice
Domain

36. @holly_cummins© 2019 IBM Corporation #IBMCloudGarage
Microservice
Domain

37. @holly_cummins© 2019 IBM Corporation #IBMCloudGarage
“every time we change
code, something breaks”

38. © 2019 IBM Corporation
“every time we change
code, something breaks”

39. © 2019 IBM Corporation
distributed monolith

40. © 2019 IBM Corporation
distributed monolith
but without compile-time checking

41. © 2019 IBM Corporation
just because a system runs across 6
containers doesn’t mean it’s decoupled

42. © 2019 IBM Corporation

43. © 2019 IBM Corporation
mars
climate
explorer

44. © 2019 IBM Corporation
Courtesy NASA/
JPL-Caltech

45. © 2019 IBM Corporation

46. © 2019 IBM Corporation

48. metric units

49. metric units
imperial
units

50. distributing
did not help
metric units
imperial
units

51. © 2019 IBM Corporation
microservices need
consumer-driven contract tests

52. © 2019 IBM Corporation

53. © 2019 IBM Corporation

54. © 2019 IBM Corporation
What problem were we
trying to solve, anyway?

55. © 2019 IBM Corporation

56. © 2019 IBM Corporation
“the cloud will
make us faster.”

57. “this provisioning
software is broken”

58. what we sold
“this provisioning
software is broken”
10 minute
provision-time

59. what we sold
“this provisioning
software is broken”
10 minute
provision-time
3 month
provision-
time
what the
client saw

60. what we sold
“this provisioning
software is broken”
10 minute
provision-time
3 month
provision-
time
what the
client saw
the reason
84-step
pre-approval process

61. © 2019 IBM Corporation
“we’re going too slowly.
we need to get rid of cobol and
make microservices!”

62. © 2019 IBM Corporation
“we’re going too slowly.
we need to get rid of cobol and
make microservices!”
“… but our release board
only meets twice a year.”

63. © 2019 IBM Corporation
“we can’t actually
release this.”

64. © 2019 IBM Corporation
“we can’t release this microservice…
we deploy all our microservices at the same time.”

65. © 2019 IBM Corporation
“to ensure our microservices can’t get
deployed independently, we have a single
Jenkins job deploying all 60 microservices.”

66. “we can’t ship until we have
more confidence in the
quality”

67. “we can’t ship until we have
more confidence in the
quality”
you
can fix
that

68. “our tests aren’t
automated”

69. “our tests aren’t
automated”

70. “we don’t know if our
code currently works”

71. “we don’t know if our
code currently works”

72. “it costs too much
to release”

73. “it costs too much
to release”you
can fix
that

74. © 2019 IBM Corporation
how not to
drive a car

75. © 2019 IBM Corporation
feedback is good engineering

76. © 2019 IBM Corporation
feedback is good business

77. Modernising people :)
• Cloud-native development has different best practices
• Operations models for containers are different
• SRE and CSMO are a whole new world
• Learn by doing with experienced partners
• Co-creation
• Paired programming
• Automate everything
• Test-driven development
• Shift left

78. IBM Cloud / April 2019 / © 2019 IBM Corporation
Was it worth it?

79. IBM Cloud / April 2019 / © 2019 IBM Corporation
Was it worth it?
YES

80. Application Modernization is everywhere
A large financial institution wants to
leverage cloud efficiencies for their
applications. They are bound by
government regulations to keep their
applications in the country, with data
touched only by their country’s citizens.
A marketing and experience
management giant with high sensitivity
data needs a high performance cloud to
run their applications. Performance and
proximity are key.
A major airline has a pipeline of 15-20
applications to move or create new in the
cloud. These are production applications
with thousands of users which require
metering visibility and enterprise-level
management.
Experiences with 400+ client engagements taught us:
• Across industries, organizations recognize application modernization as a key imperative
• A ’rip and replace’ only approach is not delivering the necessary changes fast enough
• A positive business case, unlocking the value of existing applications is key
• Modernization is more than just the application, it is an-inclusive approach across the lifecycle
61

81. 2 Forrester Consulting (study commissioned by IBM), Beneath The Surface Of Digital Transformation, January 2019.
IBM Cloud Garage Approach to Application Modernization
IBM Cloud / April 2019 / © 2019 IBM Corporation
Activities
Initial Framing
Session
Design Thinking Architecture Minimum Viable
Product Build
Build Out
Client outcomes
ü Alignment on the
desired business
outcome.
ü Confirm executive
sponsor, product owner
ü Selection of candidate
app workloads that can
deliver the business
outcome through
modernization
ü Business and IT
alignment on user
experience and
roadmap to meet your
business outcome
ü Identified risks and
assumptions in your
modernization
approach, such as data
security
ü Agreed on next MVP
business experiment
ü Defined a minimum
viable architecture that
mitigates risk
ü Deployed and
configured a Hybrid
and/or Multicloud
solution with a data,
management, and
integration layer
ü Modernized, deployed,
and tested the
application on the cloud
environment
ü Achieved the stated
business goals towards
the outcome
ü Iterate, refine solution
until you achieved the
stated business
outcome
ü Become self–sufficient
in achieving business
results with the IBM
Garage Method.
ü Scaled production
environment and
applications

82. Think 2018 / DOC ID / Month XX, 2018 / © 2018 IBM Corporation
63
s
Learn More:
IBM Garage Architecture for Application Modernization
IBM ZACS for Application Modernization (internal to IBM)
https://ibm.biz/Bd2L8e
https://www.ibm.com/cloud/garage/architectures/application-modernization/
https://www.ibm.com/cloud/application-modernization