To secure top-level support for application modernization, IT leaders need a migration journey roadmap and tools to help them demonstrate how their strategy can yield sustainable business benefits.
Most organizations today recognize the importance of digital transformation and that cloud is the key enabler of such efforts, providing the foundation for agile software development and delivery of new digital services.
Application and infrastructure modernization helps enterprises transform legacy systems and processes and enables them to tap cloud-native architectures to gain agility and speed. Without this, companies will be held back by sluggish systems and the applications that rely on them.
In fact, Gartner predicts that by 2024, nearly all legacy applications moved to public cloud infrastructure as a service will require optimization to become more cost efficient. It expects that the market for third-party cost optimization tools will grow, particularly those that focus on high-quality analytics that maximize savings without compromising performance and provide independence from cloud providers.
Developing a business case for application modernization can be challenging, however, because boardroom executives typically are not technical and need clear, easy-to-understand project descriptions. According to Gartner, software managers often find it difficult to make a successful business case for modernizing their company's applications especially when the applications run across multiple platforms.
Those who are able to adopt a business-focused approach focus their efforts on the most critical business capabilities, the research firm notes. This underscores the need to map a technical plan for application modernization that is closely aligned to the organization's business requirements, including its future imperatives.
To effectively do so, they require tools and proper guidance to carve out a pathway toward modernized software architectures.
Amazon Web Services (AWS) offers a portfolio of more than 200 fully featured services to drive such transformation. It has more than a decade of experience helping customers modernize their Windows workloads on its cloud platform.
Right Modernization Plan Can Yield Real Business Rewards
Organizations that choose to start their journey with AWS have gained significant value by moving their Windows applications to the AWS platform.
According to an IDC study, enterprises can achieve an average savings of $157,300 per 100 users over five years, or $6.59 million per organization, by running Windows workloads on AWS. The research firm based this value on various benefits, including lower infrastructure costs, by shifting from on-premises environments to more efficient use of application licenses. IT teams also are freed up from day-to-day activities to take on more strategic IT and business initiatives.
Furthermore, customers gain significant IT agility to support more effective development activities, and are able to enhance security and reduce the impact of unplanned outages on operations. Organizations also see improved business results and operational efficiencies by better addressing business opportunities as well as delivering timely Windows functionality to employees.
Commissioned by AWS, the IDC report highlights other businesses benefits from running Windows workloads on AWS, including:
- 442% return on investment over five years
- 56% lower five-year operational costs
- 98% less unplanned downtime
- 37% reduction in IT infrastructure costs
- 75% more efficient IT infrastructure team
- 26% higher developer productivity
- 32% higher gross productivity
- 31% higher internal customer satisfaction
Any decision to move business-critical applications to the cloud requires detailed planning, proper assessment of the organization's current business and IT environment, and strategic alignment with where the business is headed in the future.
Here, AWS offers a range of tools to help customers better navigate their modernization journey. For instance, the AWS Optimization and Licensing Assessment (OLA) assesses the organization’s existing on-premises and cloud environments and provides licensing-optimized cost models so you can make informed decisions for migrating Microsoft workloads to AWS.
Funded by AWS and offered at zero cost to customers, OLA works together with the AWS Migration Acceleration Program (MAP) for Windows, which offers the tools, support and other resources businesses need for any cloud migration. The three-step approach comprises best practices and incentives to reduce the complexity and cost of migrating to the cloud.
Organizations can work with validated AWS Partners such as DNX Solutions to perform an audit assessment of their Windows workloads, so they can identify technical considerations essential to the migration. This also provides a more comprehensive cost-benefit assessment. DNX Solutions, for example, can execute a Windows Discovery program to design a modernization roadmap that is focused on the customer's business goals, technical feasibility and team knowledge.
Migration of business-critical applications such as Windows workloads involves both people and processes, and will be successful only if organizations understand the implications for users who rely on applications, processes and data to get their jobs done.
Those that choose to move their Windows applications to AWS will be able to do so with access to an extensive library of lessons learned and best practices as well as the necessary tools to help them with their modernization journey.
Learn more about how AWS and DNX Solutions can help build a strong business case for your Windows modernization roadmap.
