Bytes Blog: Driving Innovation via Modernisation
Tuesday 29th August 2023
Modernisation, in the context of IT, is taking old, legacy systems and updating them with new infrastructure — and there’s much to be gained from doing so. The results of modernisation range from cutting the cost of maintenance and licensing, to making something easier to use and improving security. In other words, it’s one of the fastest ways to drive innovation within a business.
So, practically speaking, how does it work? Simply put, by moving to a more modern platform, it's easier to scale your operations. For example, by upgrading your system to take advantage of cloud features, you can distribute your data across multiple availability zones for resilience, or accommodate users better and take the strain off your servers by scaling horizontally as traffic goes up and down. This allows costs to be lowered, and your infrastructure becomes more sustainable as you're only paying for the resources when you need them.
You can modernise almost any aspect of your system, but there’s one key area in particular that yields enormous benefits across the board: migrating from Microsoft Windows legacy systems.
Why modernise your Microsoft workloads?
Your version of Microsoft Windows may have served you well for a long time, but there are huge gains to be made by moving on. Typically, we see people migrate away from it as their system is 'out of support' or 'end of life', meaning the vendor no longer provides security patches, leaving your business vulnerable to cybercrime. Legacy systems are also inflexible with new software and costly to run, both in terms of hardware required and licensing costs.
Let's compare this to our modernisation recommendation, AWS. Through AWS, customers can transform monolith applications into microservices. In other words, you’re going from one single unified unit to a collection of smaller, more flexible, more useful services.
This immediately brings the freedom to adapt and experiment quickly as each microservice is independently deployable, alongside lowering costs by moving to an open source system — no more expensive Windows or SQL licences! For example, by moving from SQL to Amazon Aurora, you get the same functionality at a tenth of the cost.
AWS is also incredibly security-centric, offering hundreds of different security, compliance, and governance services and features. Plus, unlike a legacy system, it gives you full control over how your data is stored, who can access it, and what resources your organisation is consuming at what rate.
Where to start with Microsoft modernisation
The good news is, you probably already have most of what you need to get started. Depending on precisely what systems you’d like to migrate, you’ll require an MS SQL database administrator or a developer who has experience with .NET framework. If you're already supporting these technologies, you'll likely have the people power for this already. If not, we can provide staff who are well-versed in these technologies to help you.
It's possible to conduct modernisation projects yourself, but unless you have AWS expertise in-house, you may find yourself unable to take full advantage of the elastic scalability of the cloud. As such, working with an Advanced AWS Partner such as Bytes gives you access to features and benefits that would otherwise be too time-consuming and complex to reach. This way, you can leverage the full potential of cloud computing with tools, services, and infrastructure to take your modernisation journey to the next level.
Once you have the expertise on your side, it's important to consider the operational changes you’re aiming for. Think about the elements of your old system that were holding you back - this will help guide you to what the goals of your modernisation project should be. It’s an organisational transformation as much as a technological one, so it’s also important to plan out how a new system will change the way you work, and ensure your teams are trained in best practice for AWS systems.
With all of the above in place, your business is practically futureproof. It’s simply a matter of embracing the benefits of AWS with the right partner to support the transition.
Modernisation isn’t the only development driving innovation for businesses in 2023 and beyond. Keen to learn more? Attend our event, on 12th October where we will be joined by AWS and other key partners including SPOT by NetApp, Veaam and Lacework. Discover how together, we are reshaping technology, revolutionising businesses, and propelling us into a future where imagination knows no bounds. Spaces are limited - sign up here.
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