Welcome
Are You Ready To Modernize Your Applications?
Application modernization is a key foundation of digital transformation and helps organizations improve customer experience, increase agility, and harden security. A recent study from Forrester, commissioned by IBM, found that most organizations intend to use a hybrid cloud architecture (e.g., utilizing both on-premises enterprise servers and storage and cloud resources) to support their application modernization efforts.
Successful modernization using a hybrid cloud approach needs the right combination of skilled practitioners, processes, and tools to achieve successful results. How prepared is your organization for application modernization?
The assessment will yield customized results and recommendations based on your responses and should take no more than 2 minutes to complete.
Questions
Please select the option that best describes your organization’s current application modernization efforts with respect to the following statement:
“Our enterprise servers are effective at handling current application workloads.”
Questions
Please select the option that best describes your organization’s application modernization efforts with respect to the
following statement:
“We have a consistent way to build, deliver, test, and run applications on on-prem infrastructure and in one or more public
clouds.”
Questions
Please select the option that best describes your organization’s application modernization efforts with respect to the following statement:
“As we modernize our applications, we are also modernizing our development practices and DevOps tools.”
Questions
Please select the option that best describes your organization’s application modernization efforts with respect to the following statement:
“We will retain complete technical control over our cloud-native stack by assembling, integrating, and managing it ourselves (e.g., from open-source projects or best-of-breed providers).”
Questions
Please select the option that best describes your organization’s application modernization efforts with respect to the following statement:
“We have the development talent and skills we need to modernize applications with cloud-native technologies (e.g., build microservices, deploy in containers, create API and events).”
Questions
Please select the option that best describes your organization’s application modernization efforts with respect to the following statement:
“We have the testing and DevOps talent and skills we need to modernize applications with cloud-native technologies (e.g., building DevOps pipelines, packaging and deploying containers, immutable deployments, chaos testing, dark launching features).”
Questions
Please select the option that best describes your organization’s application modernization efforts with respect to the following statement:
“We have the talent and skills we need to operate cloud-native applications (e.g., platform operations, zero-trust security, monitoring and management, storage and network management).”
Questions
Please select the option that best describes your organization’s application modernization efforts with respect to the following statement:
“We have the talent and skills we need to secure cloud-native applications (e.g., network security, IDM policy, API security, observability strategy).”
Questions
Please select the option that best describes your organization’s application modernization efforts with respect to the following statement:
“We have a significant number of IT automation processes in place to streamline operations.”
Questions
Please select the option that best describes your organization’s application modernization efforts with respect to the following statement:
“We have robust policies in place to make sure enterprise data remains secure.”
Questions
Please select the option that best describes your organization’s application modernization efforts with respect to the following statement:
“Delivering new product features or application capabilities faster is an important part of our modernization efforts.”
Questions
Please select the option that best describes your organization’s application modernization efforts with respect to the following statement:
“We have a formal change management process in place to help employees learn and adapt to new processes and tools that result from modernization efforts.”
Results Overview
Based on your responses to the survey questions, your company’s overall application modernization readiness level is:
Recommendations
Your overall readiness rating is: Unprepared
The biggest challenge people have with modernization is “alignment across people, process, and technology.”
Your score of classifies your company as unprepared for application modernization. For companies with a similar level of readiness, 22% are still in the planning stages for modernization and 43% are starting to roll out new initiatives.
Companies with lower levels of readiness most commonly experience challenges with budget constraints (60%), helping employees adjust to new processes and culture (51%), data security and privacy (50%), and business disruption (49%). These challenges all tie back directly or indirectly to point to the importance of having the right skills (people), processes, and technology in place to modernize effectively.
A big part of application modernization includes the ability to integrate and operate applications between on-premises and cloud environments. Our study found that a hybrid cloud approach (e.g., inclusive of one or more public clouds and on-premises systems functioning as private clouds or traditional data centers) is the preferred modernization method. This approach offers the proper control and security for sensitive applications, and the needed flexibility and scalability for customer-facing systems. However, hybrid cloud requires organizations to have the right tools, skill sets, and processes all working together seamlessly to achieve the full benefit. Based on your current level of readiness, Forrester suggests the following for each of these three areas:
Recommendations- From a tools/technology perspective: Application modernization is most effective when taking a hybrid cloud approach, which means that companies need to ensure their internal servers and storage are operating effectively alongside cloud services. Just 23% of “Unprepared” companies feel that their internal servers can effectively manage current workloads, so companies must start there. As cloud is introduced, you must ensure that your organization has a consistent way to deliver applications to both on-premises infrastructure and one or more public clouds. Just one-third of respondents reported that their modernization efforts will begin with a migration of most of their applications to public cloud, but the majority (60%) plan to start on-premises and slowly migrate certain applications to the cloud. It’s important, however, to retain technical control over your cloud-native stack by assembling and integrating it yourselves (e.g., from open-source projects or best-of-breed providers).
- From a skills/people perspective: Just over 25% of “Unprepared” companies feel they have the proper DevOps talent to
modernize applications with or without cloud. As cloud services and cloud-native concepts are introduced, you must
ensure that you have a consistent way to deliver applications to both on-prem infrastructure and one or more public
clouds, as that will help existing staff better adapt to new cloud-native platforms and delivery models.
Focus initially on unifying concepts like containers and developing microservices in programming languages that your developers are already familiar with. Make sure that teams gain skills in API interface concepts, and in modern database concepts like not only structured query language (NoSQL) variants and streaming data concepts. - From a process perspective: The right internal strategy for application modernization is critical. Top of mind for any improvement should be ensuring that all application data remains secure amid the modernization process. This can be difficult to balance with competing priorities for increased automation and faster delivery. Just 30% of decision-makers from similar companies feel confident in their current data security capabilities, so strengthening those processes upfront is the right starting point. Once secure, the next step is getting employees to understand and embrace the change. This will be hard to do if processes are not secure, if they are cumbersome, or if they don’t deliver any apparent business improvements. Employees will be more willing to support new initiatives when the requirements for them — and corresponding outcomes — are clear.
Your overall readiness rating is: Starting
The biggest challenge people have with modernization is “alignment across people, process, and technology.”
Your score of classifies your company as on the right track for application modernization, but it still needs some refinement. Fifty-eight percent of organizations with your same level of readiness have already delivered on a number of modernization efforts — with more underway or planned — and 34% have completed their primary modernization efforts and are working on ongoing improvements.
Companies in this middle tier of readiness most commonly experience challenges and concerns with data security and privacy (39%), business disruption (37%), and organizational change (35%). The percentage of companies with these challenges is substantially less than the “Unprepared” group, indicating that the organizations are taking the right actions to address key challenges. For companies in this tier, it’s no longer a worry about knowing where to start or how to modernize, but rather about doing it securely and in a way that does not disrupt the business.
A big part of application modernization includes the ability to integrate and operate applications between on-premises and cloud environments. Our study found that a hybrid cloud approach (e.g., inclusive of one or more public clouds and on-premises systems functioning as private clouds or traditional data centers) is the preferred modernization method. This approach offers the proper control and security for sensitive applications, and the needed flexibility and scalability for customer-facing systems. However, hybrid cloud requires organizations to have the right tools, skill sets, and processes all working together seamlessly to achieve the full benefit. Based on your current level of readiness, Forrester suggests the following for each of these three areas:
Recommendations:- From a tools/technology perspective: Application modernization is most effective when taking a hybrid cloud approach, which means that companies need to ensure their internal servers and storage are operating effectively alongside cloud services. These efforts must also include updates to development and DevOps tools to support new infrastructure.
- From a skills/people perspective: As teams become more experienced with modernizing applications with cloud-native techniques, it’s time to introduce more advanced concepts like immutable delivery of containers that end patch-in-place practices. Teams should also begin to gain skills in delivering rolling upgrades and using cloud-native concepts like
operators to increase the level of automation in the daily operations of their workloads.
As application modernization picks up pace, teams will need to supplement API management concepts with more advanced skills. For example, deploying a service mesh to help “strangle” existing application logic and help integrate with existing applications components that may still run on virtual machine infrastructure. - From a process perspective: With foundational processes in place, your organization should next invest in agile practices that increase the autonomy of teams and allow them to self-provision capabilities across hybrid cloud infrastructure. Increased automation of DevOps processes helps teams move faster, surfacing data that allows teams to benchmark their progress and efficiency to observe how each is trending.
Your overall readiness rating is: Prepared
The biggest challenge people have with modernization is “alignment across people, process, and technology.”
Your score of classifies your company as well prepared for application modernization — or it could also indicate your organization has already completed substantial modernization efforts. In fact, 45% of prepared companies from the survey have already completed modernization efforts for primary applications and are working on refinements.
Despite a high level of success with modernization efforts, companies with high levels of readiness are not immune to challenges — hence the need for continual improvements. Notably, high-readiness companies most commonly see challenges with business disruption (38%), lack of business agility (36%), and lack of proper tools (34%). These are very different challenges than what “Unprepared” companies face, as prepared companies must focus more on adapting to new changes to keep their business relevant rather than being complacent with completed modernization efforts. This ongoing evaluation of which applications to modernize — and how to modernize them — is a constant consideration to help organizations stay agile and ensure they have the right tools in place to support desired outcomes.
A big part of application modernization includes the ability to integrate and operate applications between on-premises and cloud environments. Our study found that a hybrid cloud approach (e.g., inclusive of one or more public clouds and on-premises systems functioning as private clouds or traditional data centers) is the preferred modernization method. This approach offers the proper control and security for sensitive applications, and the needed flexibility and scalability for customer-facing systems. However, hybrid cloud requires organizations to have the right tools, skill sets, and process all working together seamlessly to achieve the full benefit. Based on your current level of readiness, Forrester suggests the following for each of these three areas:
Recommendations:- From a tools/technology perspective: Application modernization is most effective when taking a hybrid cloud approach, so continue to drive improvements to both your enterprise compute and storage systems along with your cloud systems. Each deployment type offers different benefits, which are valued differently based on workload type. So, having a clear roadmap for modernization by workload is critical.
- From a skills/people perspective: At this stage, your organization is ready to invest in skills related to advanced cloud-native concepts. Examples include higher levels of infrastructure automation and architecture decisions based on real-time resource costs (Fin-ops), testing in production and chaos testing, and advanced DevOps practices like dark launching and feature toggling.
- From a process perspective: Begin to focus on higher levels of automation and acceleration of developer and operator journeys. Development teams have data to make trade-off decisions between adding new features, improving product quality, reducing technical risks (e.g., security, scalability, compliance), and reducing application technical debt. Operators should also standardize common qualities and services that modernized workloads should share and establish processes that reduce the cognitive overload of development teams as they modernize, then manage application workloads. Examples include processes for applying common base images, provisioning identity and access management, and policy-based access control.
Next Steps
Read the research
Thank you for taking the time to complete this assessment! Click here to read the full Forrester report commissioned by IBM.
Want to know more?
Learn how to create a culture of IT modernization: Ebook
Further your modernization journey with IBM's application modernization field guide
Mainframe user: You can leverage IBM's Mainframe application modernization field guide
Learn more about IBM IT infrastructure modernization and application modernization services and contact us to help you advance your journey.
Methodology, Disclaimers and Disclosures
Methodology, Disclaimers
Methodology
Methodology
In this study, Forrester conducted an online survey of 412 enterprise server and application development or deployment decision-makers in the US, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, the UK, Germany, France, Japan, and Australia to evaluate the current state of organizations’ readiness to modernize their applications. The study was completed in March 2021.
Disclaimers
Although great care has been taken to ensure the accuracy and completeness of this assessment, IBM and Forrester are unable to accept any legal responsibility for any actions taken on the basis of the information contained herein. The tool is provided “as is,” and Forrester and IBM make no warranties of any kind. Forrester does not endorse IBM or its offerings.