What do you need from an app modernization partner?

Strategic app modernization means assessing and optimizing your application mix to overcome challenges and build toward future goals. But an almost endless number of variables can arise while modernizing your applications. Even if two different enterprises are modernizing similar apps using the same products and public and private cloud hyperscalers, various other factors will send them down different paths. For example, they may have different business priorities, distinct budget considerations and differing levels of talent within their organizations.

As I wrote in my previous blog posts, “What keeps a CIO up at night?” and “Four steps to app modernization success,” the failure rates for enterprise app modernization efforts show that this knowledge may not be enough. You often need a trusted partner to help support the process.

Even though the goals of app modernization might be similar across different cases, the actual work will be highly customized. With custom work, an experienced modernization partner can make the difference between failure and success. If you can leverage the expertise of a partner with proven experience, you don’t need to rediscover solutions for every challenge you face.

For example, you could apply a predesigned set of best practices for integrating popular technologies like S4/HANA, AWS or Azure. Or you could leverage existing blueprints from previous implementations as inspiration that shows the necessary steps and interconnections. These prebuilt tools and procedures can accelerate the implementation and delivery of modernization projects, making success more likely and more rapid.

At IBM Consulting we think about the app modernization journey as well-defined steps: moving from the desired outcome to specific patterns of activity, choosing a hyperscaler and then deploying resources to cloud as necessary. Multiple overlapping app modernization journeys can add value in phases without disrupting existing workflows.

An experienced partner can help you make these choices and develop a plan. IBM Consulting brings together solutions and strategies in a comprehensive service and platform that orchestrates our extensive expertise, including rules, tools, technical assets and starter kits. This service can help you achieve your desired cloud outcomes quickly and reliably.

Here are some of the things that you should look for in an app modernization partner:

◉ Sound engineering principles delivered through a collaborative methodology to deliver technical excellence regardless of technology or provider

◉ A core technology foundation that applies regardless of landing zones and geography to drive standardization, scale and consistency

◉ Red Hat® OpenShift®, Nordcloud and Taos® accelerators to deliver portability and end-to-end hybrid cloud management

◉ Embedded security and compliance to leverage solutions such as IBM Cloud Pak® for Security and X-Force® to automate and improve security and compliance performance across environments

◉ Proprietary assets to incorporate hybrid cloud journeys, playbooks and tools developed over years of experience and implementations

◉ Collaboration with experts to access the latest technical solutions from a world-leading R&D arm such as IBM Research®

While every client’s app modernization journey is different, there is an underlying method to how we conduct it. The answers we provide aren’t necessarily different than what you might arrive at on your own — we believe they’re answers that make sense for you — but partnership can help accelerate reaching goals with less disruption and error.

Source: ibm.com