Application modernization and infrastructure modernization
Enterprise CIOs talk a lot about application modernization. On their agenda are things improving the UI/UX of enterprise applications, modern technologies like microservices, and moving their application stack and data storage to the cloud. This is a valid concern given the need to enable employee performance and gain enterprise agility and resilience. However, application modernization in itself may not be enough. It is imperative that application modernization strategies be supported by infrastructure modernization too. It is now also necessary to drag the enterprise IT infrastructure into the modern age. This may well mean changing equipment, network components, architectures, and implementations to ensure application performance, availability, scalability, and security. When applications modernize, they demand more memory, computing power, and bandwidth. If the infrastructure is unable to provide that, the application is likely to deliver less than optimal outcomes. There are benefits beyond speed and performance too. Modern infrastructure is definitely more resource-efficient, leading to operational cost savings and better energy utilization. This infrastructure is also usually easier to manage, more flexible and accommodating to changes, and expanding it is also simpler. That’s why I always recommend that when CIOs start thinking about application modernization they should focus on infrastructure modernization also.