April 22, 2022 | By Greg Dougherty
The use of the cloud has opened doors to a plethora of possibilities for businesses of all sizes. Whether you own a small business that leverages the cloud’s capabilities to let employees access information remotely, or you’re part of a multi-location operation which benefits from the synchronicity that cloud infrastructure brings to the table, this advanced technology is proving to be a must-have for the long term success of your business.
However, for businesses that have been operating for quite some time, switching to the cloud is not as easy as copying legacy systems and pasting them onto the new infrastructure. While doing so may be possible, it is by no means advised from a perspective of long term viability.
To leverage the full capabilities of what the cloud has to offer and ensure that your system can sustain ever-growing and ever-changing requirements, you have to have a strategy around modernizing your applications, including your legacy systems.
Here are just a few of the reasons for your organization to modernize your applications as you move to the cloud:
1. Older Systems are Not Built for Cloud
While older legacy systems can perform in the cloud to a certain extent, they are more often built to-be-deployed and function optimally over on-premise infrastructure. When these applications are forced to run in the cloud, they run in a limited capacity and provide more performance issues than actual solutions for your business, which only causes long-term problems in terms of time and cost management. Not modernizing your systems is likely to lead to increased cost and support burdens to go with decreased performance.
2. Refactorization Can Bring About Greater Functionality
Instead of trying to work with older applications and driving yourself and your employees to the point of frustration, refactoring your existing legacy applications could let you access greater functionality at minimal cost. This translates into you being able to leverage newer functions without having to invest in third-party applications for solutions that your older application was not capable of handling. Accessing new features, functions and benefits means not only that your software is modernized, but how your employees utilize that software is, as well.
3. Maintaining Older Applications in the Cloud Can Be More Work Than It’s Worth
Trying to run an older application that was built for different infrastructure is like putting on shoes that are one size too small for you: they don’t fit properly, they bring you pain, and in the end, you may end up barefoot anyway. To avoid this gloomy outcome, make sure that you investigate adapting your systems for the cloud before you spend a fortune over nothing. Modernizing your applications also means that your own IT department can return to their usual duties instead of resolving the ever-growing issues that an old application may cause in its new cloud environment.
4. Older Applications Can Get Outdated Very Fast
Even if your legacy application works on cloud optimally now, there is a high probability that new updates or features may cause your application to break down. This break down will not only cause your otherwise efficient cloud infrastructure to perform with limited functionality but would also push you back in terms of service delivery. Just because something works well today doesn’t mean it will work well tomorrow; each new patch, release or update on an application that isn’t purpose-built for the cloud is playing with fire.
5. Modernization Provides Greater Security
With cybersecurity having evolved as a greater concern for every business entity, it is extremely important that your business has an airtight security plan to protect itself and its customers from falling prey to any threats. While a capable cloud service can make sure to provide you with the utmost security capabilities, there will be times when your older applications will need different security measures than more modern applications. A modernized application ensures that the software or solution takes complete advantage of all the cloud has to offer in terms of security, providing you and your business with top of the line safety features.
6. Older Applications Limit Your Employee Pool
If you decide to stick with legacy applications even when newer solutions are available, there will come a time when your existing developers and IT team may want to move onto greener pastures in terms of personal skill development. No one wants to stay with a dying technology, especially those to whom technology serves as their livelihood. To ensure that you do not run short of acquiring great talent for your digital infrastructure, modernizing your applications can work wonders for sustaining the personnel and departments you’ve worked so hard to build.
Whether you are seeking further advice on modernizing your current solutions or simply looking for assistance in a deployment or migration to the cloud, don’t hesitate to contact Opti9 today. As a secure, experienced and reliable cloud services provider, we’ll not only answer your questions but also provide you with tangible solutions to each of your problems. The cloud provides the powerful infrastructure you need to get the most out of your business. We can help you get there.