When faced with a legacy application in need of modernization, the range of options can appear bewildering. Replace with off-the-shelf software. Just lift-and-shift. Rewrite it. Containerization. MIcroservices are your friend, and on it goes. Most, if not all, ‘solutions’ come from those with an agenda. Ours does too, but our agenda is doing what’s right for the client and, if … Read More
Rewrite Code from Scratch? Case Studies and Conundrums
When you’re dealing with legacy code, whether it’s just old or old and difficult to work with, there’s the temptation to simply get rid of it and rewrite it. With superstar developers on board, who are up to date in the latest technologies, and with clean coding skills, it sounds like simply rewriting the application will deliver a better end … Read More
Microservices, Containers and the Best Option for Modernizing Your Legacy Application
Much has been written recently about the role of microservices in reducing technical debt and as an approach to modernizing legacy applications, not least in this excellent article by Gene Hughson. My overwhelming question is how many different ways can you put lipstick on a pig? This post explains microservices (briefly), how they relate to containers, how they can be … Read More
The Modern Stack: Evolution at Lightning Speeds
Noticed that tech companies are continually changing up the technologies used to produce their offerings? If you’re sitting on legacy code, languishing in a legacy stack with components you’re sure have passed their sell by date but don’t know what to do about it without a huge overhaul/cash/talent injection then you’re not alone. Back in software’s yesteryears (the 1980s and … Read More
Learning to Fish – What Tackle Do You Need?
In developing and maintaining applications, there’s really no such thing as stability. Up around the next bend in the river, you’ll encounter another new technique or new programming language that you’ll need to assimilate. Technology will continually evolve: many technologies that were bleeding edge only a few years ago have been entirely eclipsed today. With the continual rapid pace of … Read More
What’s All This I Hear About Containerization?
Unless you’ve been off-the-grid for a while, you’ve probably heard enthusiastic software developers talking about Docker and similar containerization technologies. As an executive or senior business leader, you may not understand containers or how they might add value to your virtual or cloud infrastructure. You may also be unaware of how containerization intersects with the modernization of legacy applications. Take … Read More
Technology in Portugal – Right Choice, Right Time
I once said (as an Englishman living in Colorado) that the only thing I miss about England is Portugal. Meaning, my favorite country to visit was now a 14 hour commute away rather than the 2 hour flight from London Gatwick. As you probably know, Morphis is a Portuguese company, based in Lisbon but with offices globally in the UK, … Read More
Think Legacy Modernization Is A One-Time Event? Think Again!
Moore’s Law. I won’t bore you, but you need to learn to fish to manage your application portfolio going forward. Not only is the speed of technological change impacting how quickly your applications fall into technical debt, but Government’s are unable to legislate ahead of new technologies such as driverless cars. For a great read on this latter point, check … Read More
Legacy Modernization – Let’s Get Real!
Two things happened on Monday that left me shaking my head, wondering just what the hell is going on in the US government when it comes to legacy modernization. It’s not just the US government, or government generally, this applies much more broadly and is something we’ve touched on in the past. The first head shaker was the visit of … Read More
COBOL to MVC – C#/.NET or J2EE/Java
In our last post, The Silver Tsunami – Out with the Old, and in with the…, we highlighted the three main options available for dealing with legacy systems: migrating, wrapping and modernization. With a specific focus on COBOL based systems, we concluded that both migration (lift-and-shift from, for example, mainframe to a Windows environment: COBOL to COBOL) and wrapping (adding … Read More
