Modernization does not have to occur as an abrupt change to an application but instead can be a gradual process that occurs over a more extended period of time.
In this way, application modernization can be considered a continuum with no end state. The idea of a “modernized app” means that it uses modern infrastructure, tools, or processes compared to how it was initially built. In this way, there is no end to this modernization process, but it is instead repeated on applications until the business decides it’s not worth the cost to continue.
Applications may undergo a series of modernization stages before reaching their intended architecture. Businesses may decide to improve the application’s underlying infrastructure by moving to new hardware or a cloud platform. Companies might improve an application’s functionality by re-platforming or refactoring the code, or businesses might begin by migrating to the cloud and then re-platforming. Each application in your portfolio might go through different paths in this modernization continuum.
This continuum allows application teams to lower risks by making smaller changes to the application instead of an entire code rewrite. At some point in the continuum, after sufficiently modifying an application, there is a diminishing return on the amount of value received from updating that app further. Because of this, the application should be continuously assessed after each stage to determine whether it should continue to be optimized. You should continue modernizing an application as long as it provides a positive return on investment to the business or the opportunity costs of updating the app are too high.
