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Modernize in the cloud

  • Article

Modernization is when you enhance workloads and the processes to support those workloads. It's all about maximizing value and adopting cloud technologies that allow you to unlock more benefits of the cloud. The goal of modernization is to make the cloud work for you. It can improve operational efficiency, reduce management overhead, and optimize costs. Modernization allows your business or organization to be more productive with less. Efficiency at this scale should be a priority.

We recommend modernizing in two phases:

  • Phase 1. Business alignment
  • Phase 2. Modernization strategies

Below you'll find an overview of each phase and guidance on where to start your modernization journey. We developed a framework that walks you through the most effective modernization processes.

Diagram that shows three business alignment processes (envision, evaluate, and commit) and three modernization strategies (process, application, and database modernization).

Figure 1: Overview of the modernization process

Phase 1. Business alignment

Phase 1 of modernization is where you identify your business goals and create a modernization roadmap to reach those goals. The roadmap will list the workloads you need to modernize and the modernization strategies you need to use.

When you finish creating your modernization roadmap, you can move on to phase two and begin modernizing.

Phase 2. Modernization strategies

Phase 2 is where you implement modernization strategies. Technical change happens in this phase. You'll adopt new methodologies and new technologies to enhance your processes, applications, and databases.

  • Process modernization - We recommend adopting a DevOps methodology. DevOps will help speed up your modernization efforts and drive down your total cost of ownership. Process modernization is so key to workload modernization, it should be a necessary prerequisite to workload modernization.

  • Application and Database modernization - On the technical side, we recommend adopting platform-as-a-service solutions (PaaS) in your modernization effort. Application and database PaaS technologies are cost efficient solutions that help you scale and reduce your management overhead.

Next steps

Modernization starts with business alignment.

Learn about business alignment