Migrating enterprise applications to the cloud
IDC projects that about half of all organisations were looking to replace their current enterprise applications over the next 3 years. Many of those were looking to move their applications to the cloud. In fact, they project that about 66% of all enterprise application spending in 2027 will be in the cloud. This is likely to be a time of intense and dramatic changes in the enterprise application landscape. Existing tools will continue to evolve to become more suited to the cloud, even as some of them transition fully to becoming cloud-native. They will add features and functionalities to suit the cloud era and will innovate to embed the many attractive tools available on the cloud into their functionality. For enterprises too, this is likely to be a time of flux. Many of the applications on the “migration list” are responsible for core business functions. Shifting them to the cloud will be a complex, multi-stage effort involving carefully thought-out and planned transitions. There will be periods where on-premise and cloud systems will coexist, overlap, and take over. Over this period, it will be essential to not only manage the migration but also support and sustain the existing application. There will be many complex choices to navigate along the way and business users will need support and advice as environments keep changing. The new world promises a lot but getting there will be a serious effort that will take a lot of planning and strategic thinking.