Application modernization is not only imperative for organizations running critical systems that are reaching end-of-life support, but also essential to providing the agility and efficiencies businesses need to remain relevant.
Businesses running some versions of .NET Framework 4, for instance, will no longer receive updates from Microsoft after April 26, 2022. This means security fixes and technical support, among other services, will no longer be provided for .NET Framework 4.5.2, 4.6 and 4.6.1. Enterprises running these versions will need to update their deployed runtime to at least .NET Framework 4.6.2 to continue receiving updates and technical support.
However, organizations that have been operating for a while are likely to have legacy applications that cannot be easily moved to a supported version of .NET or have dependencies on specific versions of the Microsoft platform.
In addition, it is highly probable that companies no longer have the in-house skill sets and expertise associated with the legacy applications to facilitate the move or have simply lost the source code. Getting extended support for these applications does not fully address such end-of-support challenges but simply delays the inevitable.
Organizations can get help from cloud vendors such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), which offers comprehensive plans to help customers prepare for end-of-support instances and roll out long-term solutions to future-proof their legacy applications.
For example, AWS End-of-Support Migration Program (EMP) for Windows Server encompasses the technology and expert guidance to help migrate legacy applications to newer, supported versions of Windows Server on AWS—without any code changes. The program includes tooling that decouples applications from the underlying operating system and enables migration without any refactoring.
AWS EMP identifies the dependencies legacy applications have on the outdated OS and creates a package that encompasses all the resources the applications need to run on a new version of the Windows platform. This includes application files, runtimes, components and the engine that redirects API calls from the application to files. Because EMP decouples your applications from the underlying OS, you can run them on future versions without having to worry about upgrading them.
Once organizations are on AWS, they can explore plans to modernize their Windows workloads and further optimize the operations and costs of their applications. They will not only gain agility and higher performance, but also be able to innovate more quickly and ensure that their application infrastructure can support their business requirements in the long term.
Discovery Lays Out Clear Migration Path
This was exactly what Appearition set out to achieve when it embarked on its Windows modernization journey with AWS and DNX Solutions, an AWS Partner.
An Australian immersive technology specialist, Appearition developed its flagship Experience Management System (EMS) using .NET Framework and a modular approach. This allowed the platform to be configured independently to facilitate each client's requirements and serve different verticals. It encompassed source codes, library and state management, and supported various output types, including wearable 3D headsets.
Appearition knew it needed to modernize the underlying application platform so that the base architecture would be able to support all of its business activities for the next five to 10 years. This would better enable the organization to remain agile and competitive in its market. Specifically, the company wanted a sustainable infrastructure on which the development of new features could be as automated as possible to reduce its time to market.
It also needed the system to be independent from any one platform, not coupled to a specific one, such as Windows. This would allow Appearition to avoid costly license fees just to keep the application running.
Above all, the new tech stack had to leverage modern cloud technology to bring down the solution's overall total cost of ownership. This involved the use of managed services whenever feasible to slash the number of man-hours required to maintain the platform, enabling employees to focus on innovation to enhance the immersive experience.
DNX Solutions was brought in to design and map out a comprehensive plan to rewrite EMS to a new, modern technology stack. Over six weeks, Appearition executed a Windows Discovery exercise to identify and establish a roadmap to achieve its objectives. The analysis focused on the company's business goals, technical feasibility and team knowledge.
DNX Solutions is a validated AWS Partner for implementing and managing cloud migration as well as modernization of Windows-based solutions. This specialization enables DNX Solutions to clearly demonstrate an application modernization strategy on AWS, tapping contemporary cloud-native practices.
The technological path comprised plans to modernize the source code from .NET Framework to .NET 5 as well as long-term support release of .NET technologies. The application platform also was designed to be cloud-independent.
DNX Solutions' cloud specialists worked with Appearition's technical and product experts to identify the business requirements and the strengths of the existing infrastructure so they could establish the best ways to migrate to the modern cloud architecture.
The efforts led to a well-defined and executable migration path that enabled Appearition to look at different modernization scenarios, make decisions aligned with its business roadmap and understand key success metrics.
For the company, this meant:
- Decoupling the EMS application from Windows servers
- Upgrading the code base from .NET 4.6.1 to .NET 5, with the aim to move to Docker's containerized architecture
- Future-proofing EMS to handle all business requests for the next five to 10 years
- Upskilling Appearition's technical staff to the new technology stack
The strategy further mapped out the necessary training and guidance for Appearition's technical team on cloud-native solutions, as well as the overall cost of the modernization project. This included an assessment of available funding from AWS that customers such as Appearition can tap.
Find out how you can achieve your targeted business outcomes from Windows modernization with AWS and DNX Solutions.
