What IT Leaders Need to Know About Application Modernization — Datanami

Moving to the cloud is a great opportunity for application modernization. Database applications, in particular, stand out. Not only are they some of the most critical applications, they are also the ones hardest to modernize. When migrating to a cloud database, dependent applications typically require significant modifications. Often so fundamental that a complete rewrite appears as the only solution.

IT leaders find themselves in a challenging position. Adopting a cloud-native database is clearly superior to moving a legacy database into the cloud. However, rewriting large numbers of applications as part of the migration is a daunting task. It will disrupt the business and ensnare IT in a costly multi-year migration project. Add to that the low rate of success of database migrations and it becomes clear why IT is hesitant to commit.

What are IT leaders to make of the situation? In the end, the lion share of a migration project is not actually about modernization. It is about making existing applications work with a new database. This situation is about to change. Technology advances in the form of database system virtualization offer a solution that optimizes business objectives: adopt new database technology rapidly without sacrificing long-standing investments in app development. Read the full article here.