Older applications can have their useful life extended through several approaches.
Technology leaders often face a difficult decision about what to do with older applications and platforms. These applications may run on older hardware or use development tools and languages that are no longer common. Maybe they're from a vendor that's no longer in business, or they're based on custom code developed by a team that retired or left the company years ago.
The obvious option is to replace these platforms . However, as anyone who has been through a selection, implementation and transition process can attest, this is often more difficult (and more expensive) than it seems.
So what should you do instead? Here are three ways to update old applications and make them valuable to your organization.
Why not replace old apps?
We address the costs associated with replacing outdated applications and platforms. Let's break this down further.
There's the relatively simple cost of purchasing and implementing the new application and associated hardware, but also other less obvious costs, including software licensing fees, training costs, ongoing maintenance fees, and more. You can spend large amounts of money on:
- Migrating custom functionality . Most older systems are packed with years of tweaks and unique customizations, so you'll need to accommodate those customizations on the new platform or identify alternatives.
- Integrations . The older the system, the more likely it is to have interfaces and integrations with dozens of other platforms. An enterprise accounting system can even have hundreds of interfaces ranging from real-time transactional interfaces to overnight batches. They must be identified and duplicated in your new application, or you will need to create a “translation layer” to connect the new system.
- Data migration . Data on old systems must be migrated somehow. The easiest method is to leave the old system in “read-only” mode, allowing users to reference data but not update transactions. Although easy, it is the least user-friendly approach and requires ongoing support and maintenance of the old system.
These complexities can double (or more) the cost of implementing a replacement system . During your review, it's worth considering whether the old application can be updated to extend its lifespan or at least prepare for eventual replacement through some smart technical choices.
How to update old apps
Now let's take a look at how to breathe new life into old apps.
#1: Shift to Services
One approach is to move applications to a service-based approach. This technological architecture divides monolithic systems into discrete services and provides an API for communicating with other services. For example, you might have an order status service that accepts the customer's order number and retrieves the order date, status, tracking information, and order line items.
Because there is a standard API for retrieving order status, it doesn't matter whether a 30-year-old COBOL application contains the order information or whether it is a modern cloud application.
By transitioning core applications to services, you can eventually update the applications that provide each service without affecting other applications . In effect, you have created a common approach to data exchange that allows you to modify single components without affecting other components.
This transition can be expensive and complex during initial implementation, but API management applications like MuleSoft and Boomi can speed up deployment. You can also build services slowly, starting with a limited subset and gradually adding more as you update and modify your technology platforms.
#2 Modernize the user experience
The technology equivalent of a fresh coat of paint and some landscaping to improve the curb appeal of an older home can also be applied to older applications. In many cases, improving an app's interface and user experience can dramatically improve end-user satisfaction which may be what is driving calls to replace the app.
For example, complicated time and expense applications based on business accounting software like Oracle or SAP are the bane of many users' weekly routines. However, a well-designed, easy-to-use mobile app is much less expensive than replacing your accounting suite, but can dramatically increase user satisfaction.
A modern front end allows for minimal recreation of complex business logic and maintains all of the downstream interfaces, customizations, and complex processes associated with the old application, but breathes new life into the application for the end user.
With the prevalence of rapid front-end development tools, it's easier than ever to create modern interfaces for older systems.
When considering this approach, focus on discrete tasks rather than trying to create “pretty screens” that duplicate every screen in the old app. For example, order entry in most business software can comprise multiple screens and hundreds of potential fields. If your company only uses a subset, design your front end to show only those fields and consolidate them on a single screen. Power users and administrators can access the entire system, but providing useful interfaces designed just to show typical users what they need can make them more effective in their jobs and increase satisfaction with the system.
#3 Get up and change
For many older applications, the performance and maintenance cost of the underlying hardware can be the primary driver for system replacement. For older mainframe-based applications, upgrades can be extremely expensive and perhaps of limited benefit if the application is eventually replaced.
One of the big benefits of cloud computing is that you can move these workloads to a cloud provider, purchase computing capacity as needed, and essentially let your cloud provider worry about maintaining and upgrading the hardware.
An additional benefit of migrating to the cloud is that many providers will offer assistance in the so-called “lift and shift” operation to migrate your application to their platform. This is not an act of benevolence at all. Ultimately, migrating your application will result in compute fees on the platform, but these fees may be significantly lower than supporting older hardware for the foreseeable future.
A move to the cloud can also prepare you for the transition to a service-based architecture, as the cloud can be a consolidated platform for communicating with internal and other external applications and services.
Application update
While it may be tempting to immediately choose replacement when faced with eliminating an older system, a combination of approaches can allow this costly decision to be postponed and resources to be mobilized for a more urgent priority.
