{"id":8466,"date":"2022-10-17T16:36:26","date_gmt":"2022-10-17T11:06:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/itechindia.co\/us\/?p=8466"},"modified":"2025-09-24T06:39:17","modified_gmt":"2025-09-24T06:39:17","slug":"https-itechindia-co-us-blog-types-of-application-modernization","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itechindia.co\/us\/blog\/types-of-application-modernization\/","title":{"rendered":"The Essential Guide to Types of Legacy Application Modernization"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-8468 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/itechindia.co\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/1-1.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"882\" height=\"588\" srcset=\"https:\/\/itechindia.co\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/1-1.jpeg 882w, https:\/\/itechindia.co\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/1-1-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/itechindia.co\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/1-1-768x512.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 882px) 100vw, 882px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Who decides when software systems are obsolete? While no business is immune from aging systems, replacing them according to <\/span><b>new technology trends<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is too expensive and not something companies want to do. It\u2019s worth highlighting that as long as business systems perform the functions they are meant to do, there is no need to \u201creplace\u201d systems. This is particularly true if replacing a legacy system would not bring in identifiable gains. However, there are clear cases when an upgrade or replacement is pretty evident. This could be either because maintaining the existing tech is difficult or because new functionality is needed that cannot be supported by existing tech systems.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: left;\"><b>The different types of application modernization to consider <\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As organizations embrace <\/span><b>digital transformation strategies<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, different parts of existing systems can be upgraded rather than going for a time-consuming complete replacement. Application modernization can be of 3 types and will depend on the business goals , lag in the current application as well as data platforms.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-8470 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/itechindia.co\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/2-1.jpeg\" alt=\"Types of application modernization\" width=\"1049\" height=\"528\" srcset=\"https:\/\/itechindia.co\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/2-1.jpeg 1049w, https:\/\/itechindia.co\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/2-1-300x151.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/itechindia.co\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/2-1-1024x515.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/itechindia.co\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/2-1-768x387.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1049px) 100vw, 1049px\" \/><\/p>\n<h3><b>Frontend first approach to app modernization<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If your legacy system has been around for a decade or more, there might be sweeping changes that you would ideally want. Though it is easy to write it down as the goal, it is hard to implement especially when the existing codebase is no longer supported new ways to bring in new functionality have to be evaluated. There are <\/span><a title=\"5 Red Flags That Say it\u2019s Time to Reengineer Your Legacy Software\" href=\"https:\/\/itechindia.co\/us\/blog\/5-red-flags-that-say-its-time-to-reengineer-your-legacy-software\/\"><b>5 red flags<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to look out for that says it is time to engineer your system, have a look at an earlier article.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>So where do you start when modernizing applications?<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Sometimes it can be as simple changing the UI and bringing in more functional components of the frontend application. iTech India in our <\/span><a title=\"Software Application Modernization and Re-Engineering\" href=\"https:\/\/itechindia.co\/us\/software-application-reengineering\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">legacy application modernization services<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> have worked with clients who want to keep risk as low as possible. In such instances, a variation of the <\/span><b>strangler pattern<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> works best. Picture this, painting one picket of a fence at a time, is going the slow and steady way but in a fairly short time, the picket fence will be newly painted. Starting by <\/span><b>modernizing frontend applications<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> also fits with the Agile Methodology where there are regular release cycles that deliver quick results at regular intervals. This gives immediate results to the end user rather than sweeping structural changes.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cSoftware development has firmly established the principles of<br \/>\nthe selective modernization of individual components and<br \/>\nbusiness capabilities along with maximum reusability.\u201d &#8211;<br \/>\nMcKinsey<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Frontend application modernization solves obvious pain points of users but also solves inherent issues such as<\/span><\/p>\n<ul class=\"blog\">\n<li>Legacy systems may not be able to leverage many of the <b>modern browser functionality <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">providing a poor user experience.<\/span><\/li>\n<li>Older applications cannot connect to new libraries and frameworks and this prevents optimal functionality<\/li>\n<li>A friendlier user interface(UI) and faster loading times can help organizations reap higher revenues faster.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To sum up, a new front end is not just splashing on a new coat of paint, it improves functionality. For example, in the banking business, a new UI can bring together better functionality that makes client credit approval easier and improves onpage conversion. Because a front-end approach can focus on a single portion of the front end, getting started is easier. Updating the UI, information architecture, and supporting technologies can then be moved forward to other sections of the front end.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Code modernization<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Application source code can become unmanageable because of code patches that have built up over time or as a consequence of older programming languages that are not compatible with new libraries. When it comes to modernizing an existing code base there are 2 options to consider:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul class=\"blog\">\n<li><b>Rewrite code completely <\/b>and add new functionality as needed. It is comparatively straightforward since developers start over and write new code from scratch. It opens the door for new platforms and technologies. The advantage of a rewrite is that it completely kills legacy code. Rewrites however take time and so organizations should commit to a rewrite only if they have the time to rebuild the application&#8217;s code.<\/li>\n<li><b>Code Refactoring <\/b>is changing\u00a0 the internal structure of the code without changing functionality eg. removing redundant code or breaking up a task-heavy component into smaller containers each with a single functionality. However, code refactoring does not fix underlying architectural issues. A code written in Visual Basic will still be written in Visual Basic. All it does is change complex functions into simpler ones and that makes it easier to understand. Read our <a title=\"Guide to Code Refactoring: When, Why and How\" href=\"https:\/\/itechindia.co\/us\/blog\/guide-to-code-refactoring\/\">guide to code refactoring<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>Application Architectural Modernization<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A simple analysis of your application&#8217;s current state will make it obvious whether the systems architecture needs to be modernized:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-8471 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/itechindia.co\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/3-1.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1049\" height=\"528\" srcset=\"https:\/\/itechindia.co\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/3-1.jpeg 1049w, https:\/\/itechindia.co\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/3-1-300x151.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/itechindia.co\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/3-1-1024x515.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/itechindia.co\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/3-1-768x387.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1049px) 100vw, 1049px\" \/><br \/>\n<strong>Also read:<\/strong> <a title=\"What is the real cost of maintaining legacy systems?\" href=\"https:\/\/itechindia.co\/us\/blog\/what-is-the-real-cost-of-maintaining-legacy-systems\/\">What is the real cost of maintaining legacy systems?<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Most legacy systems are built on a monolithic architecture while modern applications leverage a microservices architecture. Monolithic architecture-based applications are difficult to maintain because even a tiny code change will require scaling the complete architecture. This is because the entire system is heavily interconnected. Migrating from a <\/span><a title=\"How to Successfully Migrate Applications from Monolith to Microservices\" href=\"https:\/\/itechindia.co\/us\/blog\/successfuly-migrate-applications-to-microservices\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">monolithic to microservices architecture <\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">is best for enterprise level applications where development teams are organized into smaller teams, each focusing on different microservices. It also is a viable option when partnering with <a title=\"A Guide to Switching Tech Vendors With Minimum Risk To Your Business\" href=\"https:\/\/itechindia.co\/us\/blog\/how-to-switch-it-service-provider-with-minimal-risk\/\">technology vendors<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A microservices architecture otherwise known simply as microservices is the building block for modern digital transformation strategies. The principle followed here is to break down large monolithic applications into smaller independent containers. Each microservice will have its realm of responsibility. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">An application can call together many microservices to serve a response to a request. For instance, in an eCommerce application, you could have 3 microservices<\/span><\/p>\n<ul class=\"blog\">\n<li>First microservice is for maintaining and updating a <b>product catalog<\/b>.<\/li>\n<li>The second microservice is a <b>recommendation engine<\/b>. It creates relationships between products based on customer behavior.<\/li>\n<li>The third is a <b>price engine<\/b> that sets up prices and maintains discount updates for each product<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-8472 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/itechindia.co\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/4-1.jpeg\" alt=\"Microservices architecture in eCommerce application\" width=\"1024\" height=\"639\" srcset=\"https:\/\/itechindia.co\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/4-1.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/itechindia.co\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/4-1-300x187.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/itechindia.co\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/4-1-768x479.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/p>\n<h3><b>Microservices architecture in eCommerce application\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These microservices will be loosely coupled and communicate with each other through <\/span><b>API gateways<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> or Application Programming interfaces. By developing each function as an independent microservice, developers can focus on scaling each microservice or adding new functionalities without worrying about dependencies. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Modern applications are all built on a cloud-native microservices architecture. Read more about the <\/span><a title=\"Is A Microservices Architecture Right for Your Business?\" href=\"https:\/\/itechindia.co\/us\/blog\/is-a-microservices-architecture-right-for-your-business-2\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">microservices architecture <\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">in an earlier article that dives deep into the benefits.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Almost all organizations coming to us for application modernization have a common thread &#8211; they are facing some problems with the current state of their technology and the true value we can provide them is through modernization solutions that take them comfortably to their future state. In fact, any older technology that presents a higher level of risk due to cybersecurity vulnerabilities or requires cumbersome workarounds to integrate with newer offerings should be at the top of your modernization priority list.\u00a0 <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Please feel free to <\/span><\/i><a title=\"Contact our experts\" href=\"https:\/\/itechindia.co\/us\/contactus\/\"><b><i>contact us if you have questions <\/i><\/b><\/a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">or would like more information on application modernization for your business.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<div class=\"gallery\">\n<div class=\"profile\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/itechindia.co\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/biju1-1.webp\" alt=\"Cinque Terre\" width=\"75\" height=\"75\" \/><\/div>\n<div class=\"profile-info\">\n<h4><a href=\"https:\/\/itechindia.co\/us\/author\/bijunarayanan\/\" title=\"Biju Narayanan - Director of iTech\">Biju Narayanan<\/a><\/h4>\n<p>Biju is an emphatic people management leader and works by the vision that change is the door to new opportunities and innovation. As Director, he has been guiding iTech on a path of innovation for over 19 years. iTech is a full-service custom software company with a large portfolio of successful domestic and international projects including Fortune 500 organizations. Biju specializes in the healthcare, sports and logistics industries with particular focus on AI and ML. Outside of work, you may find him hitting a lethal jump smash on the badminton court and he is also a creative artist.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Who decides when software systems are obsolete? While no business is immune from aging systems, replacing them according to new technology trends is too expensive and not something companies want to do. It\u2019s worth highlighting that as long as business systems perform the functions they are meant to do, there is no need to \u201creplace\u201d [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":8468,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[89],"class_list":["post-8466","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-software-reengineering","tag-software-reengineering"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/itechindia.co\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8466","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/itechindia.co\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/itechindia.co\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itechindia.co\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itechindia.co\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8466"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/itechindia.co\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8466\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17721,"href":"https:\/\/itechindia.co\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8466\/revisions\/17721"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itechindia.co\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8468"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/itechindia.co\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8466"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itechindia.co\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8466"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itechindia.co\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8466"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}