Caroline Sosebee is a Senior Software Engineer at ThreeWill. She has 30+ years of software development experience and a broad scope of general IT knowledge. At ThreeWill she has a proven track record of quality consultative and software development skills, focusing on the design and implementation of SharePoint solutions, both on-premises and in the Microsoft 365 cloud.
Do you have older applications that have you wondering if it would be worth the effort, added cost, and disruption to your business to modernize? Yeah … most companies struggle with this at some point, as it is no small step to take and can be disruptive (for a time) to the business. But outdated or legacy applications could hold back business growth, impact the efficiency of your team, and be a security risk.
Recognizing warning signs that it’s time to modernize your application is crucial to staying competitive and meeting your constantly changing business needs. But when should you do this? What is the tipping point that makes you finally decide it’s time to modernize? Read on for some of the top indicators that it might be time to consider modernizing your application.
Security Vulnerabilities
Outdated applications are much more susceptible to security breaches and cyberattacks due to the lack of regular updates and security patches. If your application is using older technology, it is a given that it could contain known vulnerabilities that cannot be easily resolved. In this day and age, I would consider this the number one most important reason to consider modernizing.
Performance Issues
Does your application suffer from frequent crashes, slow response times, or poor overall performance? If so, I suspect it is causing user frustration and hindering productivity. What about the ability to handle increasing workloads or data volumes? These issues can really impact the growth of your business as well as potentially cause employee turnover due to their frustration with the application. Hmm … might be time to consider modernization.
Cost of Maintenance and Support
Legacy applications often require specialized skills and resources for maintenance and updates. If the cost of maintaining the application is becoming much higher than it used to be, modernization might be more cost-effective in the long run. Especially if that application is running on an older framework or technology stack that is no longer supported, making it hard to find resources with the right skillset. And as mentioned above, it also opens the app to more security risks.
Changing Business Needs
Does the application still align with your current objectives and goals? Does it integrate with recent technologies you might have introduced for other processes? How does your older application compare with your competitor’s newer and shinier application? Keeping up with the Joneses might be something we don’t want to do in our personal lives but is critical in the business world. Definitely something to consider as you make this decision.
I hope this has been a help in your decision-making process as you move towards modernizing those old applications. ThreeWill would love to be a part of your journey to the new world, so feel free to contact us today to see what we have to offer!
READY TO MODERNIZE YOUR APPLICATIONS TO HELP YOUR EMPLOYEES THRIVE?