Deciding to move or upgrade an organization’s existing software / system can be a very crucial decision for any CIO. There are inherent risks that are involved in application modernization or application migration, as it is widely known as. When deciding to shift to a new platform or initiate a technology upgrade, the CIO and his team are under intense scrutiny, they need to plan out a very carefully drafted application migration strategy to ensure minimal impact in continuity of existing services. They need to take adequate backups, factor in disruption time and inform all users well in advance about the impact and changes the new upgrade might cause.

Any disruption in service or loss of data these days is creating a very negative about the company’s reputation in front of its customers or users.

Need for Application Migration

There can be various reasons why an organization would consider application modernization. As a CIO of the organization, you should keep a watch on the below challenges, as these are indicators that tell us to go ahead with the application migration process.

• Maintenance costs are rising significantly.
• System on the verge of being classified as outdated.
• Availability of superior technology in the market.
• Difficulty in finding skilled manpower to maintain your existing systems.
• Increased dependency on systems that are slowly being phased out.
• Competition consistently improving its technology / systems.
• Technology has scaled up and threatening your very business existence.

Technology Assessment

It is very important as a CIO to assess the technology that would help your organization to provide an improved user experience and allow you to surge ahead of your competition. Try to identify an ideal platform / technology that would immensely help your organization scale up and allow you a strategic advantage over your competitor. You need to opt in for a technology that would stay current for a considerable time period and you should not end up thinking of yet another application modernization drive in a short period.

Application Migration Strategy

Before moving ahead with an application modernization drive, a well-drafted application migration strategy has to be put in place, to avoid any last minute lapses. It is also advisable to choose an appropriate application migration methodology that would help you meet your long term business goals, a high level discussion with your leadership team, would help you identify your future business goals. There are various models for application migration process that are being adopted these days or you can create your own to suit your business needs.

Data Migration

All legacy modernization drives involve a certain amount of data migration. You may also have to move significant amounts of your customer data to the new platform / system. As a CIO it is your primary responsibility to ensure that the data is kept secure and not lost during the data migration stage. Everyone in the industry knows that a certain amount of risk is involved during the Data Migration stage and adequate safeguards need to be taken. It is advisable to have a smarter and multilevel backup of your data to prevent data loss.

Right Technology Partner

As a CIO you may have to also opt for an experienced software development company that can assist you complete the entire application migration process with minimal downtime and without costing a fortune. You should choose a software partner who can easily understand your existing system / setup and clearly identify the issues / risks involved while taking up the application modernization drive. A lot of legacy applications were created using plain programming languages such as C and C++, and these have now evolved to newer and robust languages using new tools. Your software development partner should have a great understanding of application migration methodology and carefully initiating the technology transformation.

Author

Younus Suleman is involved in various Digital Marketing Initiatives at Evoke Technologies. He is passionate about following new technologies and software trends. Currently, his focussed on emerging trends in digital marketing.