Organisations are caught in a legacy trap, bound by ‘legacy’ technology that needs to change but, for some reason, is left to languish. This has triggered a fear around modernisation – a hidden anxiety that is too difficult to manage so they just struggle on. But today there's no more room on the margins to avoid modernising core systems. No more new features can be added to software and no more progress can be made on transformation journeys until this fear is faced.

Escaping this legacy trap is one of the most important business issues right now, but there’s no point starting on an empty stomach. So, stop fighting it. Take a break. Maybe eat a burger? Better yet, consider the ingredients you need to build the modernisation burger your organisation needs. A large part of escaping the legacy trap is realising that you're experiencing a business problem. It’s not just about the technology: modernisation covers people, culture and architecture. Only once the burger’s cooked can you consider whether now’s the time to take a bite out of new technologies.
Let’s break this monolithic meatstack down.

Start with the meat

The legacy trap isn't just about modernising hardware and software, but about modernising the meatware stack – how people work together with technology and how the organisation is structured. This is what most enterprises fail to take into account.

Most enterprises today are facing the same problem; the reliance on monolithic systems has stymied business innovation. In short, over the years they have layered on more and more apps and features. And now things have slowed down. A lack of innovation based on legacy issues has become a crisis and a task force, all the way to the CEO level, is now probably in place to modernise the behemoth.

What’s missing is the realisation that the legacy trap isn't just about breaking apart the core system but transforming the organisation monolith and the way it generates software. It’s about taking a bigger picture view to then be able to take down stagnant structures and re-align varying priorities. The all-important meat of this modernisation stackburger is organisational transformation across every level.

Perfect the sauce

The perfect burger sauce is what sets this mouth pleaser apart, both differentiating and bringing out the best of the meat. In this modernisation sandwich, the sauce is your business goal. Setting the objective for modernisation brings it all together. An application modernisation strategy that focuses on business capabilities delivered will fare better than a strategy that focuses on “fixing the old stuff.”

This starts with a strategic analysis of the current state of your organisation and its IT systems. For enterprise companies, their business now and in the future will depend on how effective, easy, and meaningful their application experience is. Older applications and services slow down business innovation, if not stopping it completely. When this happens, customer experience goes out the window: the death knell.

Get your hands around the right bun

The bun is what makes the burger come to life and what hosts all your elements together, in a digestible package. Pick the brioche and aim for a cloud-native architecture – it will only make everything taste better. As Accenture warns, ‘The reality is, for complex mission-critical applications with many interdependencies, modernisation can’t happen overnight. It requires a strong architecture upfront.’

Businesses need to be in the driving seat of being able to modernise, build, run, manage, secure and deliver any application at speed, and that can only really be achieved through cloud.

In fact, following the pandemic Deloitte urges organisations to ‘redouble digital transformation efforts, with an emphasis on improving cloud infrastructure.’

The truth is that the menu for modernisation is written in the cloud. It’s telling you to reduce your dependence on complex, brittle, and inflexible app environments and infrastructure by moving the cloud infrastructure to add more agility to your burger-stack.

Forget limp lettuce but know when to upgrade your add-ons

There are always tech trends that will catch your eye and make you question whether you need to jump on board. But, just like the infamous 24-Karat Gold Wagyu-truffled monstrosity on the menu in Las Vegas, don’t be tempted to stack everything together all at once. Newer technology, such as Kubernetes, that everyone is rushing to add to their technology stack may look shiny and gold, but they will only add worth after you get the basics right! Don’t try to sprinkle gold dust on a stale, greasy mess.

Kubernetes, AI, ML, PaaS and microservices all offer a tasty deal in the right conditions. Kubernetes, for example, standardizes cloud infrastructure for developers and operators, increasing agility and accelerating software delivery. It’s catching on with enterprises adopting it to accelerate digital transformation. However, some are experiencing growing pains due to a lack of expertise, complex deployments and challenges integrating new and existing systems. They’ve often not got the basics right enough to benefit from the treats on the new menu.

So, before you fire up the grill, make sure all your ingredients are lined up and ready to assemble. Modernisation isn't piecemeal, but a carefully personalised recipe with a clear goal - to satisfy long after consumption.