Cloud Considerations for Application Modernization

Topics in this article

Over the last several years we’ve all witnessed the disruptive nature of software. Startups have emerged that have transformed traditional markets – Tesla, Uber, AirBNB. We’ve also seen existing enterprises, such as GE and Ford take advantage of development and operational processes to speed innovation and drastically reduce time to value. However, many traditional application architectures and processes impede agility and impact innovation.

Historically, IT has offered a stack of technologies, including infrastructure, middleware and operating systems. These capabilities are usually sized, procured and planned far in advance of an application development initiative. Software development is complicated and has been based on slow, waterfall approaches to developing and maintaining monolithic applications. The downside to this approach is a time-to-market which can be unacceptable in today’s world, and fragile applications that aren’t resilient or easily scalable.

Determining how to address technical debt and modernize their application portfolio requires Applications teams to address several big questions including:

  • Which applications should we rewrite for cloud native or microservice architectures?
  • Which applications should we replatform or migrate to cloud infrastructure models?
  • What additional tools and processes can we adopt to serve our business needs more effectively?

Successful application modernization requires a combination of modern application architectures and a new approach to developing and maintaining these applications. Successful application modernization programs we’ve seen tend to have similar approaches that focus on:

  • Identifying sources of business value from modernization
  • Designing an agile approach to transformation to drive short term impact
  • Determining the appropriate modern application architecture
  • Leveraging tools and automation to support these efforts

Join our session at EMC World on May 4 from 12:00 to 1:00p Titled “Cloud Considerations For Application Modernization” to discuss strategies and best practices for modernizing your application portfolio.

EMC Global Services brings a unique set of skills, experience and tools to help even the largest enterprise transform and modernize their application portfolios. We look forward to sharing our experiences with you at EMC World and exploring how we can help.

Scott Bils

About the Author: Scott Bils

Scott Bils is the Vice President of Product Management for Dell Professional Services. In this role, Scott and his team are responsible for driving the strategy and growth of Dell’s Consulting, Education and Managed Services portfolio, and for Dell’s transformation practices in the areas of multicloud, applications and data, resiliency and security and modern workforce. Scott brings over 20 years of experience across Corporate Strategy, Technology Services, Product Management, Marketing and Business Development. In his prior role at Dell, he built and led the Digital Transformation Consulting Practice. Prior to Dell, Scott held executive roles at Scalable Software, Troux Technologies and Trilogy, and also worked at McKinsey and Co. and Accenture. Scott holds an MBA from the University of Chicago and a Bachelor’s in Finance from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Topics in this article