According to technical experts, the global business sector spent almost $3.5 trillion on information technology (IT) in the year 2017, out of which around $1.3 trillion was spent on the management of legacy enterprise applications and IT services. Since legacy applications are now considered outdated or obsolete, enterprises should opt for app modernization services and shift towards modern cloud platforms like Microsoft Azure in order to increase their business’ productivity and efficiency.
Microsoft Azure is an enterprise grade cloud computing platform which is fast, flexible and efficient. It is an ever-growing set of cloud services that aid enterprises to face several business challenges and meet their organizational goals. It builds, tests and manages applications and services through a global network of Microsoft-managed data centers, and can effectively help enterprises to overcome challenges of a legacy system in terms of security, compliance, skills, and cost.
Some effective ways to modernize legacy applications with Microsoft Azure include:
Cloud Infrastructure based Applications
Typically known as “lift and shift”, it helps enterprises in the migration of existing on-premise applications to cloud’s Infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) platform. It allows applications to have the same composition while being deployed to the VM’s cloud. It is one the fastest ways of modernizing or migrating as it allows enterprise applications to immediately leverage Azure’s IaaS scalability, while saving time and money.
Cloud Optimized Applications
This provides enterprises with extra beneficiaries without altering the existing codes of legacy applications and running them with modern cloud technologies, including containers or other cloud managed services. IT experts can also deploy containers on Platform-as-a-service (PaaS) or IaaS platforms. According to technical experts, modernization and migration of existing cloud application to Microsoft Azure platform aids in building an enterprise’s innovation and competitive approach.
Cloud Native Applications
Driven by enterprise needs, this level targets modernization of mission-critical applications. It uses PaaS services for moving applications to PaaS computing platforms and requires the development of new codes for modernizing legacy applications to cloud native applications. Though it is the ultimate cloud goal, it remains optional for many applications.
With the emergence of a global competitive market, enterprises seek to migrate and modernize their existing legacy applications to the cloud. According to experts, choosing Microsoft Azure provides a scalable and a cost-effective solution that can help enterprises in achieving long-term business goals. However, it is extremely important to opt for Azure cloud management services only from the leading cloud service providers having globally recognized certified consultants with rich expertise in helping enterprises transform their IT services, while enabling them to simplify and extend their data center capabilities.