There are plenty of reasons to dive into a legacy modernization project. From cybersecurity to operational efficiency, the list of motivating factors is long, and controlling expenses is a huge priority for many organizations. Using legacy modernization to save costs is a proven tactic, but you have to go the distance.

Legacy Modernization to Save Costs

Legacy application modernization is a huge business; the potential cost savings explain why. According to IBM, organizations could:

• Pay 74% less for hardware, software, and staffing.
• Spend 30-50% less on maintenance and operation.
• Spend 15-35% less on infrastructure annually.

Investing in Modernization for Long-Term Cost Efficiency

Legacy modernization also encompasses elusive yet substantial cost savings, often intertwined with process optimization. By modernizing applications, organizations can effortlessly streamline workflows, leading to tangible bottom-line enhancements.

Imagine you broke down a monolith into a microservices architecture using standardized components and APIs delivered via a catalog. These changes could make it easier to implement integration best practices. Consider the benefits: tasks such as managing small commits, upholding thorough documentation, and validating new APIs become significantly more manageable when approached in discrete, independent chunks.

Another long-term benefit is that modernized apps support inherent flexibility. When you bring your software into the modern era, you lower your technical debt. You don’t have to pay so much for your mistakes.

The Risks of Legacy Software Expenses

Legacy applications have a lot going against them. Even the best legacy systems are still outclassed by modern alternatives, and old software exposes your organization to hazards like:

• Overpaying for ongoing maintenance: Maintaining legacy applications requires substantial effort, particularly amidst a rapidly evolving technology landscape. As the industry progresses, keeping up with maintenance demands specialized skills, and onboarding new team members to manage legacy systems entails increased costs. Additionally, troubleshooting and integrating outdated technology stacks as they approach End of Life (EOL) can consume considerable time and resources.
• Living with cybersecurity threats: Old software is more vulnerable to security hazards. You don’t have to be near an application’s EOL — bad actors have just had more time to explore threat vectors in legacy systems.
• Not being able to go cloud-native: Looking to transition your legacy applications to the cloud? It’s a challenge. Many older software systems weren’t designed for distributed computing, making migration a costly or even infeasible endeavor. Moreover, there’s an indirect cost: the potential loss of competitiveness as you grapple with these technological limitations.

Team Collaboration and Its Impact on Development Costs

Efficient team collaboration is a cornerstone of cost-effective development. By employing tools that facilitate seamless teamwork while preserving individual autonomy, organizations can significantly reduce engineering expenses.

Collaboration promotes efficiency and productivity. Teams that work together seamlessly complete tasks faster, consuming fewer resources.

At the product level, the advantages of speed are apparent. Collaborative efforts frequently result in shortened development cycles. By accelerating time to market, organizations mitigate the risk of encountering cost overruns.

Enhanced product quality stands as another significant advantage. Unlike siloed teams, collaborative efforts leverage shared perspectives, enabling the dissemination of valuable ideas and feedback. This collaborative approach streamlines the identification and resolution of issues, ultimately diminishing the necessity for costly rework.

Finally, there’s the sheer advantage of having reliable partners. Collaboration builds trust, so project and feature owners can call on their peers to share the load. When engineers get to focus on their proficiencies, they do better, more innovative work.

Beware of the Hidden Costs of Legacy Modernization

Only around 30% of modernization projects hit their marks. So why do so many fall short?

It often comes down to the costs you failed to anticipate. Here are some examples:

• Migrating is expensive. Technical debt can accumulate for decades, making migration prohibitively costly. For instance, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has used the same master tax software for 60 years. Even though the agency has long been known to upgrade, the cost and scope of improvements keep pushing back the timetable.
• Transitioning is tough. Migration necessitates a comprehensive overhaul across the entire organization. While conventional training methods may suffice on occasion, the transition often demands more. Establishing an engineering framework that gradually introduces individuals to agile development practices is imperative to prevent the entrenchment of highly inefficient processes.
• Maintenance costs may rise during modernization. Realizing immediate cost savings isn’t always guaranteed. In instances where you find yourself in limbo between two generations of your application, you’ll incur expenses maintaining both. Thus, meticulous planning for a seamless migration is paramount to sidestepping this predicament.
• Compliance and integration are costly. The compliance frameworks your legacy application relies on may need to be improved for the cloud. Unless you prepare to overhaul your entire governance strategy, you could risk introducing new gaps.

Cost Reduction With StackSpot

StackSpot’s enterprise development solutions give organizations everything required for a successful, modernization-driven cost reduction.

StackSpot Enterprise Developer Platform (EDP)

StackSpot EDP powers faster and has more consistent development. Instead of worrying about whether they’re following best practices, engineers can focus on the fundamentals: building, testing, and deploying.

With a Developer Platform, you gain the capability to create, reuse, and disseminate software patterns across various project contexts, fostering the development of reliable software by your teams. Integration with StackSpot EDP standardizes essential tools, support mechanisms, and security controls vital for innovation. This eradicates the need for teams to grapple with mundane tasks, allowing developers to confidently rely on streamlined processes that just work.

StackSpot AI

StackSpot AI helps engineers immediately hone in on relevant knowledge. Hyper-contextualized suggestions give developers cues to produce more readable and effective code.

Leveraging your context and technology decisions, StackSpot AI utilizes them as Knowledge Sources to generate high-quality, assertive code. Through providing top-notch code suggestions and Quick Commands to automate recurring tasks, our AI tool enhances Developer Experience and boosts team productivity. This empowers team leaders to concentrate on driving the technological innovation of your business, assured that coding tasks are efficiently handled.

StackSpot Cloud Services

StackSpot Cloud Services offers the ideal environment for cloud-native migration. Teams can run and manage applications without worrying about busy work.

With security guardrails, change alerts, and transparent cost monitoring in place, navigating project evolution becomes a safe and straightforward process. Additionally, setting up infrastructure incurs minimal overhead, a crucial factor for swift development. This streamlined approach ensures that basic tasks are efficiently handled, allowing for agile progression and peace of mind.

Watch our YouTube video for more details on legacy modernization.

Conclusion

Application modernization holds the promise of cost reduction and streamlining your enterprise operations. However, achieving success with this strategy hinges on executing a meticulously crafted, goal-oriented plan. Without the support of suitable enterprise development tools, the endeavor may result in unforeseen expenses, potentially undermining its intended benefits.Want to make your modernization as efficient as possible? Learn more about StackSpotand book a demo.