Cloud Modernization Process - Mistakes could be
27/06/14 00:45 Filed in: Cloud architecture
Integrating legacy systems with cloud-based applications is a complex matter with ample room for error. The most frequent, overpriced, poorly functioning and even damaging mistakes businesses make include:
Mistake #1. Replacing the whole system:
Some enterprises choose to avoid the challenges of integration by creating a new system that replaces the full functionality of the old one. This is the most costly, difficult, and risk-prone option, but it does offer a long-term solution and may provide a system that is sufficiently agile to respond to changing business needs. Despite that potential pay-off, complete replacement requires a large, up-front investment for development, poses difficulties in duplicating behaviour of the legacy system, and increases the risk of complete software project failure.
Mistake #2. Wrapping existing legacy applications:
Often, organizations decide to wrap their legacy assets in shiny, more modern interfaces. These interfaces allow the use of a more flexible service-orientated architecture (SOA) approach, but they do not actually help make the system more flexible or easier to maintain. Certainly, wrapping allows increased access to the legacy system by other systems and the potential to replace individual parts on a piecemeal basis.
Although wrapping presents a modest up-front cost and relatively low risk, it fails to solve the core problem of legacy systems; enterprises still need to maintain outdated assets and still suffer from a lack of agility. To make matters worse, the look and feel of the wrappers are rarely elegant and quickly become dated themselves.
Mistake #3. Giving up and living with what you have:
Integration is difficult, and perhaps it shouldn’t be surprising that so many IT leaders go down this road. Despite the appearance of avoiding risk by avoiding change, giving up does not offer any hope of alleviating the legacy problem and provides only stagnation. Living with what you have frees you from up-front costs, but it denies you the ability to reduce maintenance expenses, increase operational efficiencies, or increase business agility that could boost your enterprise’s competitive advantage.
Mistake #4. Having the IT team create the utilities necessary to link individual applications:
This scenario occurs frequently but generally for a short time. Enterprises quickly discover that manually writing interfaces to accommodate obsolete platforms and programming languages is resource-intensive and prone to error.
Mistake #5: Implementing highly complex middleware solutions:
When considering a cloud integration platform, be sure there are not too many moving parts. If the middleware platform itself is so complex that you have to choose from among dozens of different products and then integrate the middleware to itself first before you can even begin to integrate your legacy applications to the cloud, you have a problem.If middleware requires the use of one or more programming or scripting language, you have another problem. A unified integration platform will simplify legacy application integration with the cloud.
Mistake #1. Replacing the whole system:
Some enterprises choose to avoid the challenges of integration by creating a new system that replaces the full functionality of the old one. This is the most costly, difficult, and risk-prone option, but it does offer a long-term solution and may provide a system that is sufficiently agile to respond to changing business needs. Despite that potential pay-off, complete replacement requires a large, up-front investment for development, poses difficulties in duplicating behaviour of the legacy system, and increases the risk of complete software project failure.
Mistake #2. Wrapping existing legacy applications:
Often, organizations decide to wrap their legacy assets in shiny, more modern interfaces. These interfaces allow the use of a more flexible service-orientated architecture (SOA) approach, but they do not actually help make the system more flexible or easier to maintain. Certainly, wrapping allows increased access to the legacy system by other systems and the potential to replace individual parts on a piecemeal basis.
Although wrapping presents a modest up-front cost and relatively low risk, it fails to solve the core problem of legacy systems; enterprises still need to maintain outdated assets and still suffer from a lack of agility. To make matters worse, the look and feel of the wrappers are rarely elegant and quickly become dated themselves.
Mistake #3. Giving up and living with what you have:
Integration is difficult, and perhaps it shouldn’t be surprising that so many IT leaders go down this road. Despite the appearance of avoiding risk by avoiding change, giving up does not offer any hope of alleviating the legacy problem and provides only stagnation. Living with what you have frees you from up-front costs, but it denies you the ability to reduce maintenance expenses, increase operational efficiencies, or increase business agility that could boost your enterprise’s competitive advantage.
Mistake #4. Having the IT team create the utilities necessary to link individual applications:
This scenario occurs frequently but generally for a short time. Enterprises quickly discover that manually writing interfaces to accommodate obsolete platforms and programming languages is resource-intensive and prone to error.
Mistake #5: Implementing highly complex middleware solutions:
When considering a cloud integration platform, be sure there are not too many moving parts. If the middleware platform itself is so complex that you have to choose from among dozens of different products and then integrate the middleware to itself first before you can even begin to integrate your legacy applications to the cloud, you have a problem.If middleware requires the use of one or more programming or scripting language, you have another problem. A unified integration platform will simplify legacy application integration with the cloud.