What Is an Example of Application Modernization?

Countless organizations are considering application modernization initiatives in 2023. 87% of business leaders said application modernization would be crucial to their success in a recent survey. At Programmers, we also list modernizing software as one of our three keys to digital success.

Application modernization takes outdated software and makes it more efficient, secure, and user-intuitive. That can reduce your total cost of ownership, improve business agility, and boost customer satisfaction.

However, modernization may still feel like an abstract concept to you. The real business value of application modernization must be clear before making an investment of your company’s limited time and money.

In this article, we’ll look at four examples of application modernization, learning about different modernization initiatives that benefit a diverse range of companies.

Example #1: Automation for More Efficient Applications

Your legacy systems may rely on employees to manually complete tasks. At the time your company launched the application, that made sense. There was no viable way to automate certain kinds of work.

However, the list of tasks that can be automated grows every day. And relying on manual processes puts your organization at a disadvantage. You risk higher rates of human error and burnout as employees keep doing redundant tasks.

Application modernization can help your organization automate these manual functions. That makes your applications more efficient and frees up your employees’ time to focus on higher-level objectives.

Let’s look at an example. One of our clients is a revenue cycle management (RCM) company that helps oncology practices detect when they undercharged insurance companies for procedures. Before working with Programmers, they had to manually merge spreadsheets and send weekly reports to each oncology practice. 

This workflow opened the possibility of human error in every report. Plus, it took employees three hours every Sunday night to compile and send the documents, a major blow to morale.

Using our Fast-Track Application Modernization process, we automated data ingestion for the RCM company. We also automated report deliveries, ensuring every practice receives its document at the right time and giving employees their Sundays back.

Our Fast-Track approach works in iterative, 90-day modernization cycles. That allowed us to rapidly improve the experience for the RCM company’s employees and customers.

Example #2: Boost User Engagement with Enhanced UX

In its predictions for 2023, Forrester said that customers will choose “fewer, richer experiences” in the digital space. Customers have more digital options than ever. However, with a looming recession, they need to be selective on where they invest their money. How can your products stand out?

Modernizing the UX design of your legacy systems can provide a more engaging experience for customers. Streamlined design helps them complete their tasks in your digital ecosystem faster and leaves them with a sense of satisfaction. That will encourage them to do more within your application and embrace new digital products you launch.

Here’s an example. One of our clients is a SaaS company that was building an all-in-one data analytics portal for marketing companies. They had all the developers they needed to create the platform. However, they needed to find a way to display all this data to their customers intuitively.

We built a scalable UI/UX framework that helped marketers navigate this application. Our client could also use the framework to quickly design new features. That way, customers could enjoy the same satisfying, high-quality experience throughout the platform.

There are a lot of factors that go into designing next-level UX, and customer expectations are evolving all the time. Read our 23 tips for UX design in 2023 to find an up-to-date list of best practices.

Example #3: Faster and Scalable Usage with Cloud Migration

Picture this: You’re a company that offers a platform that connects universities with high school seniors. But when the university tries to upload data about these students during the fast-paced recruitment process, it takes over a day to upload!

That is the situation our client found itself in because they relied on on-premises software. With on-prem solutions, it’s difficult to handle spikes in demand, such as student recruitment season. You also still need to pay for costly maintenance fees even when no one is using the platform, like holidays and school breaks.

Luckily, migrating these legacy systems to a cloud provider solves many of these issues. Companies only need to pay for cloud service when customers or employees use the application. And, when those customers use it more frequently, service can scale up instantaneously. 

We used our Fast-Track Application Modernization service to iteratively move the most important functionalities of our client’s student recruitment tool to the cloud. This iterative approach quickly improved universities’ recruitment efforts, boosting our client’s brand reputation. By the end of the initiative, we’d reduced the total upload time for university data from one day to one hour.

Beyond scalability, there are many benefits to a cloud migration-based modernization initiative. That includes increased security and reduced maintenance costs. Learn more about why organizations should migrate their applications to the cloud in our recent article.

Example #4: Lowering Costs and Improving Security with System Integration 

Our final example of application modernization is system integration. Many organizations built up digital capabilities quickly (particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic) without fully understanding how these systems would communicate. 

That leads to customers and employees alike jumping between systems in your digital ecosystem, causing frustration and reducing efficiency. Plus, employee and customer-submitted data can become isolated within one of those systems, impeding discovery of insights. 

System integration relieves these problems by either literally combining the platforms together or creating APIs that can exchange information between the systems in real-time. More interconnected applications improve morale, brand reputation, and access to insights. They also allow you to detect cybersecurity threats more rapidly. Learn more about the benefits of system integration.

Final Thoughts 

Application modernization is more popular than ever in 2023. However, organizations like yours shouldn’t just embark on an initiative because your competitors are. You must know how modernization uniquely benefits your company at this moment and in the long term. 

System integration, cloud migration, UX design, and automation are all examples of application modernization processes that improve business outcomes for organizations. Some of those may work for you, while others will be less critical. Uncover the right modernization effort for your company with our application modernization playbook.

Let us know how we can help you.