Enterprises struggle with application modernization

According to a new study 93 percent of enterprise IT leaders say the application modernization process is challenging due to staffing, tools, training and other issues.

The survey from Asperitas finds 30 percent of IT leaders say identifying the right tools and technologies is the most difficult part of the process, while 20 percent say it's finding staff with the right experience.

Other top challenges include choosing the right external partner (18 percent), getting users trained on the new systems (17 percent), and securing the support of management (11 percent).

When it comes to multi-cloud environments, 27 percent feel the biggest challenge is securing applications, 26 percent integration with on-premises systems and other cloud platforms, and 20 percent ensuring portability between platforms.

There's no clear consensus on what modernization means though, a third of respondents say their definition of modernization is using cloud-based infrastructure, while 32 percent say it's moving legacy systems to the cloud, and 22 percent using cloud-based tools. Meanwhile, 54 percent say leveraging microservices meant that they were modernizing, and 59 percent say the use of cloud-native services indicates modernization.

Whatever the method, 78 percent of those surveyed say the top priority of application modernization should be 'getting it right', giving far less importance to speed and cost.

"Leveraging cloud-based tools and services clearly is part of the application modernization process but applying these technologies alone neither solves your application problems nor helps you attain your modernization goals," says Scott Wheeler, practice lead at Asperitas. "The goal should be to create a measurable process that looks at all key elements of modernization, and build a plan to execute against those goals. To get here, companies need partners and staff who have experience using the right tools and connecting business outcomes to best practices."

There's an infographic summary of the findings below.

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