Is It Time to Modernize Your Apps?

For established organizations, outdated applications are a common reality. While these systems may have been state-of-the-art upon implementation, the dynamic nature of technology requires continuous evolution. Strategic adaptation is critical for maintaining a competitive advantage.

At Evergreen, we elevate apps through custom-built solutions that use our extensive technical expertise and knowledge of best practices. We have proven results in working with client applications—including everything from development and strategy to modernization and operations.

Leveraging the insights of Andrii Danylov, an Agile Solution Architect at Evergreen, we’ll delve into application modernization and its potential impact on your business.

What is Application Modernization?

Simply put, application modernization is the process of updating or transforming existing software applications (also known as legacy applications) to leverage the latest technologies and best practices.

8 Types of Legacy Apps

When it comes to legacy applications, there are many different types, such as:

1. Mainframe Applications: These apps handle mass quantities of data and perform tasks like enterprise resource planning and financial transaction processing. They depend on specialized hardware and programming languages, which makes them difficult to maintain.

2. Desktop Applications: These are standalone apps that are installed on individual computers and use operating system-specific technologies (such as .NET for Windows).

3. Client-Server Applications: These apps split the workload between a user interface and a server that stores data. This type of app is commonly used for data entry and internal tools and requires significant resources to operate.

4. ERP Systems: These apps manage tasks such as accounting, procurement, and project management. They’re integrated with various processes and systems but are unfortunately expensive to customize or update.

5. Web Applications: These are early web-based applications designed for the internet or intranet that are built with HTML, JavaScript, and backend languages like PHP.

6. Custom Applications: These legacy apps are developed in-house or by third parties to meet specific business needs.

7. Database Applications: These apps manage and query large datasets but may not be optimized for current data handling needs. They often use outdated database management systems and can be hard to integrate with modern analytics and reporting tools.

8. Batch Processing Systems: These legacy systems process data in large volumes at scheduled times instead of in real-time. They are common in financial services, payroll, and logistics.

Depending on the type of legacy application, different methods of application modernization may be necessary.

Graphic depicting legacy applications, hub and spoke template. In the center, a green circle with the words Types of Legacy Apps. 8 navy blue circle connect to this, each depicting one of the legacy applications discussed in the text with a corresponding icon.

Application Modernization Methods

There are various technologies that can facilitate the modernization of apps. These methods can include:

Cloud computing: Cloud platforms provide flexibility, scalability, and managed services that reduce the burden of on-premises infrastructure. Organizations that adopt cloud computing can receive cost savings and access to the latest innovations.
Automation: This refers to third-party services that automatically perform common tasks which help optimize application deployment, management, and diagnostics, leading to increased efficiency for applications.
Containers: Containerization refers to packages of software that condenses an application and its dependencies into self-contained units that can run reliably across environments which boosts portability, scalability, and efficiency. This also simplifies any future cloud migrations.
AI and machine learning: Integrating AI and machine learning into applications allows companies to automate tasks, personalize user experiences, and gain deeper insights into their apps and data.
Micro services: This architectural approach makes application development more agile by allowing each core function, or service, to be built independently. This allows for separated scaling and targeted updates, which minimizes the impact of changes on the overall system.

Determining the right technologies for your modernization initiatives is a decision based on strategy—your chosen method should factor in not only the type of legacy application being modernized, but your business objectives as well.

A quote from our Evergreen expert Andrii Danylov, which says 'When it comes to modernization, you need to know why and what is the value. Why do you need it? What's the pain point you would like to address? What’s the end value for the business and for the users of the application?”

When Should You Modernize Your Apps?

If your current technology has been effective, you might question the necessity of modernization. Is it truly worth the investment to update your applications? The answer is yes.

One of the biggest reasons to modernize your apps is due to cost savings—legacy applications have much higher maintenance costs, so spending more now can help you save in the future. But this means committing to a full modernization strategy instead of trying to do it in stages.

“If you modernize in steps, it requires additional investment later. You could spend $1 million now and then another million later for modernization or you can spend $1.5 million now to complete it all at once,” Andrii explains.

Legacy apps can also put you at a competitive disadvantage—about 87% of IT executives recognize the need for legacy applications, so sticking to familiar systems and technologies instead of striving for transformation can allow your competitors’ apps to outshine yours.

6 Signs You Should Modernize Your Apps

Understanding the why is certainly important, but you must recognize the when as well. If your business is facing any of these common challenges, it may be time to modernize your apps:

1. Incompatibility with new systems: Legacy applications may have trouble integrating with modern software and other applications, as well as issues with any third-party services. This can hinder collaboration, data sharing, and even business growth as a whole.

2. Outdated technology: Applications built on outdated programming languages, frameworks, or architectures that are no longer supported essentially remain in stasis. Since they can’t be updated easily, this can affect productivity and innovation.

3. Security vulnerabilities: Outdated software may not be equipped to handle modern security threats, leaving your application vulnerable to cyberattacks. Frequent security breaches or a lack of security updates are clear indicators that it is time to modernize your apps.

4. Poor performance: Legacy application infrastructure may struggle to handle current demands. If your app experiences slow response times, frequent crashes, and performance bottlenecks, modernization can help you optimize your app and reduce performance issues.

5. Lack of real-time insights: Legacy applications may be unable to provide real-time data and analytics, which creates difficulties for decision-making and strategic planning. Modern apps can provide these insights, allowing for better business strategy.

6. Negative impact on consumer experience: Applications with outdated and clunky user interfaces or incompatibility with mobile devices can frustrate users. Frequent negative experiences can lead to business losses.

If your application faces more than one of these issues, modernization is essential for taking your organization to the next level.

Benefits of Application Modernization

Besides just bringing your organization into the modern era, there are real, tangible impacts that application modernization can provide. Cost reduction is a large portion of these benefits—in fact, IBM estimates successful application modernization can boost annual revenue by 14% and reduce app running costs and maintenance by up to 50%.

Although cost savings are certainly important, there are various other benefits as well. These include increased efficiency, enhanced security and reliability, reduced technical debt, improved scalability, increased agility and flexibility, access to new tools and technologies, and improvements in application performance.

Modernizing your applications can position your organization as an innovative leader within your industry and potentially extend your global reach. As you explore the world of application modernization, understanding the following current trends can help you stay well-informed.

A graphic depicting trends in application modernization for 2025. 4 percentage graphs with text underneath: 1. Title: Cloud-Native Development. Text: 90% of all applications will be cloud-native 2. Title: Low Code & No Code Development. Text: 70% of apps will be created with low-code/no-code tools. 3. Title: AI Facilitation Text: 78% of organizations expect AI to facilitate application modernization 4. Title: App Modernization Market Growth Text: The app modernization market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 18.7%.

Strategies for Modernization

There are various methods of modernizing your apps—if you have decided to move forward with application modernization, it’s important not just to execute the process correctly, but to find the path that works best for you.

Before you decide on a strategy, think back to your business objectives and what you hope to gain by modernizing your legacy apps—consider what signs led you to this solution in the first place. Knowing the root cause of your issue and what you plan to solve will allow you to land on the right approach.

A quote from our Evergreen expert Andrii Danylov, which says “Is it because you scaled to a bigger audience and you cannot support a larger number of active users, or is it because you wanted to add additional features that the existing solution doesn’t support? Is it because you use outdated frameworks that must be made more secure? Once you’ve figured out why you need it, then you can figure out what approach to take.”

After you’ve determined the issue(s) that created the need to modernize, you’re ready to pick from one of the following strategies:

Re-host: Also known as a “lift and shift,” this quick approach involves moving the application to a new environment without making significant changes to its architecture or code. This approach works well when the existing application is still functional but requires a more scalable, cost-effective, or easily maintained infrastructure. Cloud migration is a common example of rehosting.
Re-factor: This approach, which emphasizes speed and productivity, involves making application code changes that improve the code’s design and organization, making it easier for the app to connect to cloud environments.
Re-architect: In this approach, an app’s functionality and code are modified to improve its cloud scalability, which allows for an easier adoption of cloud capabilities.
Re-platform: This approach falls in the middle of re-hosting and re-factoring and can be used to transition your app to the cloud. Changes are made to your app’s code and the UI and UX are redesigned for the new platform, but the core functionality of the app is preserved.
Rebuild: This complex approach is useful for making major changes to your application, such as replacing the old code with new code. It may be necessary if your existing app has limited functionality or lifespan.
Replace: If your app won’t meet current or future business needs even after rebuilding, it may be necessary to go with this approach. Replacing involves exchanging your legacy application for a ready-made solution. While this approach can be faster than rebuilding, it may pose challenges such as business interruptions and limitations on future modernization initiatives.

No matter which strategy is best suited for your needs, modernizing your apps will lead to vast improvements for your business.

Evergreen Can Bring Your Organization into the Future

With further insights on application modernization, putting this process into action may feel overwhelming—a partnership with Evergreen can help lighten this load. Our application services, which include modernization, offer custom solutions for any challenges your legacy apps might present. To transform your apps into modern, efficient, and secure platforms, contact us today.