Application Modernization Lifecycle

eWeek just published an excellent paper by Tim Pacileo. He discusses how to plan Application Modernization activities. On our Application Portfolio Management sister-site, we discuss our APM can be used to support many of the suggestions he discusses. Specifically, we look at how to identify and prioritize application modernization activities based on business priorities.

Another key point that Pacileo makes is the need to take an incremental approach to modernization. First, you can contain costs and risks by concentrating effort on a subset of the application portfolio. Second, you can quickly turn projects around, demonstrating value to line of business executives and oversight committees. Third, you can generate returns that can be reinvested in continued modernization. For instance, by rationalizing the application portfolio you can free assets and budgets that had been allocated toward non-productive or non-essential activities.

Another key aspect of his paper is the discussion of planning for the future. In that context, he suggests determining whether in-house or packaged applications make the most sense to use. This is an important aspect of the ‘understand’ phase of the application modernization article. That is, to perform gap analysis on the existing business logic / business processes embedded within the application portfolio. Matching needed functionality and processes with available applications can help the CIO to make smarter build / reuse / buy decisions.

To add to his piece, it is useful to look into the modernization lifecycle. This discusses the phases through which a typical application modernization initiative passes.