Even before the pandemic hit, industry 4.0 had brought sweeping changes across manufacturing functions. With COVID-19, manufacturing organizations were compelled to deal with the new realities vastly different from the old normal. To stay ahead of the competition and relevant in a highly volatile market, manufacturers must remain agile, make their supply chains flexible & resilient and adopt digital technologies in unprecedented ways.

Global disruption and Industry 4.0 are now driving a new wave of modernization in the sector. Innovative manufacturing technologies are transforming factory floors, supply chains, customer & employee experience and partnerships on an ongoing basis.

Here’s looking at top trends that will further accelerate the adoption of smart manufacturing globally.

Industrial IoT (IIoT) will see higher adoption: If numbers are anything to go by, smart manufacturing will increasingly leverage IIoT in several ways to improve industrial processes. According to reports, more than 50 per cent of industrial enterprises will use IIoT platforms by 2025, a massive leap from the mere 10 per cent that adopted the technology in 2020. IIoT will be critical as manufacturers shift their focus from linear transactions, prioritizing cost and efficiency to effectiveness and customer value.

IIoT will be the cornerstone of organizations’ modernization journey, as it will drive a more holistic and sustainable approach to delivering new customer experiences. It will also allow industrial organizations to extend and enhance their IoT use cases and facilitate seamless IT-OT convergence, considered the next big wave in manufacturing.

Enhanced AI/ML use cases to drive predictability & efficiency: The global disruption has had manufacturers relooking at demand forecasting, production-, supply- and logistic- planning. Instead of using traditional data sets that only derive restricted insights, manufacturers will increasingly leverage advanced automation technologies such as AI/ML and predictive analytics to optimize planning. This means that firms will leverage external data sets encompassing the entire value chain of suppliers, customers, or weather forecasters. A combination of ML-based tools and IIoT will be leveraged significantly in process improvement, production, quality control and security.

Additive manufacturing to become true industrial manufacturing technology:

COVID-19 has proven to be a turning point for additive manufacturing or 3D printing technology. Manufacturers across the globe used the power of 3D printing to invent new products quickly, manufacture on-demand and, most importantly, manufacture locally when supply chains were severely hit. One of the most significant advancements in the additive manufacturing process is the infusion of machine learning which is bringing a data-driven approach to 3D printing and opening up more mature use cases. A digital twin is another trend that is set to revolutionize 3D manufacturing.

In the long run, innovative manufacturers take 3D printing beyond prototyping and leverage the technology’s potential as a more sustainable manufacturing approach.

Digital Technologies to Aid the New Normal in Manufacturing: Remote work and collaboration was a new shift that the manufacturing sector had to adapt to. As an industry for which remote working was an alien concept, the manufacturing sector had to make significant alterations to how it worked. In the new standard, firms must ensure that noncritical employees can continue to work remotely while critical employees are provided with safe working environments. As a result, firms will extend their investments beyond collaboration, physical distancing and location-tracing technologies. For example, there will be an increased uptake in technologies such as machine vision algorithms and wearables for employees.

Manufacturing firms will also invest in process automation technologies to improve efficiencies. At the same time, Cloud will continue to be a strategic area of investment to drive digital transformation and all these modernization initiatives in the sector. In 2021, the manufacturing industry is expected to outpace the average cloud adoption rate as firms strive to stay agile and resilient.

Smart manufacturing is all set to be the new normal for the industry in 2021!

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What is a Hybrid Cloud?

The term “hybrid cloud environment” refers to a storage and computing infrastructure that is made up of a combination of:

• Minimum of 1 private cloud and 1 public cloud
• 2 or more private clouds
• More than 2 public clouds

The many resources are coordinated to function together with as little trouble as possible. The “best of both worlds” can be achieved using a hybrid cloud implementation. For example, companies can employ cloud services where it makes sense but maintain other functions on-premises or inside a private cloud. As a result, there will be more room for adaptation.

What is a Hybrid Cloud Strategy?

Some companies get a multi-cloud approach and a hybrid cloud strategy confused with one another.

• A hybrid cloud strategy is a plan for setting up and running applications and services on several public and private clouds.
• A multi-cloud approach may or may not involve a hybrid cloud. The fundamental purpose of implementing a multi-cloud approach is to lessen reliance on a single cloud host in case of failure.

An organization that is in the process of undertaking a digital transformation has to have a hybrid cloud adoption. Your company may wish to (or be required to) integrate public clouds, private clouds, and resources located on-premises to achieve the level of agility required to achieve the competitive edge it seeks.

Hybrid Cloud Architecture: How do Hybrid Clouds Work?

The idea behind hybrid cloud systems is that they are a mix of public and private cloud services. Companies benefit from this by having more control over how their storage and computing resources are effectively used. There are no restrictions on moving an operation from the cloud to an on-premises data centre if it is better equipped to handle it than the cloud-based counterpart.

Companies can be flexible concerning the configuration settings, picking just the features required to meet business goals. When connecting the components of a hybrid cloud, resources may be linked through a local-area network (LAN) or wide-area network (WAN) (WAN). Additionally, companies may employ a virtual private network (VPN) or application programming interface (API). Your cloud solution providers can safely maintain the hybrid cloud system and adjust its functions to suit the company’s unique requirements best.

What is the Purpose of a Hybrid Cloud Strategy?

If you want to take advantage of the scalability and security offered by public clouds while still maintaining control over your data on-premises, a hybrid cloud solution is the right choice. Hybrid cloud computing can be an excellent choice for those of you with essential systems running in private and public clouds. Examples of possible applications include the following:

1. Optimize at Your Comfortable Pace

Using a hybrid cloud, you can gradually shift your IT infrastructure from on-premises to the cloud at a pace that works best for your organization.

2. Keep Up With All of the Regulatory Requirements

Regulations govern your app’s ability to function in many different industries. Utilizing private and public cloud services without violating applicable regulations is easier with hybrid cloud solutions.

3. Bringing Applications to Geographically Distant Edge Locations

If you are in the business of operating in an industry that requires edge hybrid computing for low latency, such as retail kiosks or network nodes in the telecommunications industry, a hybrid approach gives you the ability to execute certain applications at the edge.

5 Hybrid Cloud Advantages

Compared to other cloud-based and non-cloud-based options, a hybrid cloud is a preferable alternative for many businesses. The advantages outweigh the cost.

1. Scalability

The cost of building, maintaining, and growing infrastructure is a crucial obstacle a private network faces. Before the availability of cloud services, a corporation had to wait until it had sufficient finances to acquire additional physical equipment to expand its IT system.

Using a hybrid cloud configuration makes it simpler to add additional processing power and execute more complicated and resource-intensive applications using public cloud possibilities. There is no need to wait until you can afford to purchase several more servers since you can use the cloud services resources at the get-go.

2. Control

Instead of placing your whole IT infrastructure at the disposal of a third-party provider, you can tailor the private end of your cloud model to your company’s specifications. Adjusting which infrastructure components should handle various applications and processes is much simpler with a hybrid system. A multi-cloud or on-site solution may need new agreements with service providers or procuring new equipment to achieve the agility required. When you use a hybrid cloud, you’re in complete command and can avoid these expensive or time-consuming procedures.

3. Security

Hybrid cloud architecture allows your company to benefit from both the security of a private cloud and the flexibility of a public cloud simultaneously. The data saved inside a private cloud environment will still need to be transferred to a public cloud to be processed and used by apps, analytics systems, and other procedures. However, while working in a hybrid cloud environment, it is pretty simple to use encryption strategies to guarantee that the data will remain secure during the procedure. The IT department has many alternatives, with a hybrid cloud to make transferring and storing data more secure.

4. Speed

Speed is another benefit of having control over your network’s resources. A cloud service provider can improve the network to minimize latency and simplify data transmission in a hybrid cloud environment, even if it is not faster than a public or multi-cloud system. In addition, a hybrid environment enables the utilization of edge computing, which can speed up your whole IT infrastructure. If each programme is placed in a section of the environment tailored adequately for its function, this improved control may save necessary processing time.

5. Cost

On-site storage can limit growth, which results in increased opportunity costs. Hybrid clouds can help the company save money in the long run by reducing long-term expenditures. Because scaling up a hybrid cloud is simpler and less costly, the organisation saves money throughout its expansion. As an added benefit, transferring digital assets between two separate clouds would be less expensive when sensitive data is kept in the private section of a hybrid cloud.

Helping Companies Adopt Hybrid Cloud Strategy with Rapyder

The hybrid cloud strategy provides unrivalled agility, scalability, and innovation. Organisations are going to the cloud to improve company operations and efficiency. This requires a partner with experience, dependability, and various technological skills. Rapyder is your partner, with an unrivalled track record of success across many clients in India.

Conclusion

It should come as no surprise that the hybrid cloud has witnessed the fastest adoption rate in 2022. Compared to alternative cloud-based or non-cloud-based solutions, a hybrid cloud strategy is often seen as the best choice by many businesses. A hybrid cloud strategy provides businesses with increased adaptability, an increased number of deployment choices, increased security and compliance, and more value from their already-existing IT infrastructure.

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From ease of use to cost-effectiveness, security, and reliability, developing your IT infrastructure on AWS has many benefits. But every business has different goals and requirements, and to implement the technology, they need to understand the pros and cons of AWS offerings. That’s where an AWS well-architected framework steps in to help cloud architects build a better understanding and create a resilient and scalable architectural design.

What Is AWS Well-Architected Framework?

AWS’s Well-Architected Framework provides a consistent set of best practices to help businesses make the right decisions while building their systems on the cloud. Businesses can refer to these and evaluate how well their architecture aligns with AWS’s best practices.

The AWS reference architecture comprises the foundational questions based on the experience of thousands of customers. The goal of the AWS well-architected structure being simple – enable customers to measure the AWS architecture against best practices and address shortcomings.

The 5 pillars of an AWS well-architected framework

Amazon solutions architect also defines the five pillars that lie at the core of the best practices laid down in the AWS reference architecture. Each of them further strengthens the concepts on which the technology is built.

1. Operational Excellence

Operational excellence refers to the enhanced ability to run systems and monitor operations for delivering business value. It also takes into account the continuous improvement of supporting processes and procedures.
The three actionable that complete the definition of Operation excellence in an AWS Well-Architected Framework are: Prepare, Operate, and Evolve.

• Prepare: The preparation step requires you to understand your workload. Having done that, you can then design and build the procedures to support your work.
• Operate: In this step, you define the metrics and measure operational outcomes against them. This will help you understand your operational health and identify where to improve.
• Evolve: Based on your operational health, the next step of achieving operational excellence lies in ‘evolution.’ You implement frequent small incremental changes based on your previous efforts in this step.

The Operational excellence pillar is what is used to derive the six design principles of an AWS architecture diagram:

• Perform operations as code
• Annotate documentation
• Make small, reversible changes
• Refine operations frequently
• Anticipate failure
• Learn and document outcomes, even failures

2. Security

This pillar refers to safeguarding systems, information, and assets using risk assessment and mitigation to help securely achieve business value. The security pillar of an AWS architecture includes identity and access management, detective controls, infrastructure protection, data protection, and incident response.

• Identity and access management: Critical for data and information security, identity and access management ensures that only authorized and authenticated users have access to your information and resources, just as much as intended and approved by you.
• Detective controls: An essential part of the governance framework; detective controls can be used for identifying potential security threats. Any anomalous activity while setting up the AWS architecture can be investigated using these controls.

• Infrastructure protection: Encompassing a set of methodologies, infrastructure protection ensures that your systems and services are safe from unintended, unauthorized access and guard against potential vulnerabilities.
• Data protection: Data classification, encryption, protection of data at rest as well as in transition, data recovery, and any other possible measure that protects data from theft or loss is included in the purview of data protection.
• Incident response: You aren’t completely risk-free, even with tight governance and security. Having incident response management in place ensures that if a security incident occurs, it does not affect the ability of your teams to operate efficiently. Additionally, it helps mitigate the effect of that incidence.

The design principles hence derived from the security pillar in an AWS architecture diagram are as follows:

• Build a strong identity foundation and define access rules
• Create traceability
• Automate security
• Protect data in transit and at rest
• Prepare for security events

3. Cost-Optimization

For every business, cost optimization can make a huge difference to the bottom line. This pillar in the AWS well-architected checklist is the foundation for removing all practices that add unnecessary costs or suboptimal resources, benefiting the business.

The best practices laid down by Amazon solutions architects in the AWS well-architected framework help businesses build processes without worrying about resources. It helps them achieve this by utilizing cost-effective resources, matching supply with demand, expenditure awareness, and continually optimizing over time.

• Utilizing cost-effective resources: Comprises right-sizing, appropriate provisioning, managed services, careful geographic selection, and purchase options that suit your business needs.
• Matching supply with demand: Moving to the cloud has one big advantage – you pay only for what you require. When IT service supply matches the demand when needed, you don’t need to waste your resources on overprovisioning.
• Expenditure awareness: You need to identify your cost drivers to set benchmarks to optimize expenditure. The cost can be considerably reduced (and curbed from being wasted) once you correctly attribute resource costs to the systems, individual businesses, or product owners. Accurate cost attribution allows you to identify profitable business units and products and allocate resources intelligently.
• Optimizing over time: Measuring and monitoring cost-optimization metrics can help you discover how large or less your resource utilization gap is. Continuously reducing this gap will make you more and more cost-effective over time.

This pillar serves as an AWS well-architected framework tool to derive the following design principles:

• Work out a consumption model
• Measure overall cost efficiency
• Don’t waste money and resources on data center operations
• Analyze expenditure and allocate to profitable business units
• Reduce the cost of ownership

4. Reliability

The pillar of reliability encompasses practices enabling a system to recover from disruptions, make available computing resources to meet service demand and address misconfigurations or transient network issues in the AWS architecture.
At the core of reliability’s definition is serviceability. By definition, service availability reduces when the application isn’t operating normally because of scheduled or unscheduled interruptions. To measure and improve availability, you first need to understand system dependencies with the help of an AWS solution architect associate.
It is also just as important to consider the cost of availability under this pillar. Designing applications for higher levels of availability spell additional costs. Therefore, you need to first analyze and identify your exact availability needs before embarking on application design.

The design principles hence derived from the security pillar are as follows:

• Test your recovery procedures in case of interruptions,
• Increase aggregate system availability,
• Measure the cost of designing an application with high availability levels,
• Don’t guess capacity.

5. Performance Efficiency

This pillar emphasizes efficiently utilizing computing resources to meet business requirements. It also establishes practices to maintain that efficiency as your business scales, demands grow, and technologies evolve.

The four main components of performance efficiency in an AWS architecture diagram include selection, review, monitoring, and trade-offs.

• Selection: Selecting the optimal solution for your business depends on the kind of workload involved. This optimal solution is often a mix of approaches to help improve business performance, such as request-response, event-driven, extract, pipeline, etc.
• Review: Initially, when you implement your first AWS architecture solution, you have limited choices. However, it becomes easier to adopt new features and experiment with time. Reviewing the results of your previous architecture and new ones shows how you are progressing. For example, you can use visualization techniques to identify performance issues, hot spots, and low utilization areas.
• Monitoring: After implementing your architecture, you need to continuously monitor it for performance and take corrective actions when problems arise. Corrective measures need to be quickly deployed so that you can resolve problems before your customers are aware of them.
• Trade-offs: An AWS solution architect associate will always keep trade-offs in mind. You can set up the framework for trade durability versus time to suit your business needs and deliver higher performance.

The design principles hence derived from the security pillar are as follows:

• Experiment often
• Have performance metrics in place
• Focus on going global as you evolve
• Use serverless architectures

Choosing The Right AWS Solution Architect Associate For Your Business

For any business looking to set up a cloud-based architecture, balancing all five pillars is impossible. You have to make a choice that’s best suited for you. However, identifying what you can trade off requires a deep analysis that only an expert partner can help you with.

Rapyder is a partner that you can rely on for your architectural solution. By evaluating your current business needs, understanding your current architecture, and predicting your future requirements, Rapyder helps craft winning solutions. But that’s not all; as an expert Amazon solutions architect, Rapyder also educates clients about the key elements of an AWS Well-Architected Framework and how to:

• Lower or mitigate risks before they happen
• Leverage best practices
• Create a consistent approach to reviewing architectures
• Focus on value-adding features, not firefighting
• Influence future architecture and more

For more about Rapyder and how it helps you take your infrastructure swiftly and smoothly to the cloud, look at our services or get in touch with our experts.

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Do You Know? The cloud computing market is expected to reach USD 1.24 trillion by 2028.

In this blog post, we’ll explore the top 10 cloud computing service & developments shaping the industry this year, each poised to profoundly impact how businesses leverage technology for enhanced efficiency and innovation.

1. AI and Machine Learning Optimization 

AI and machine learning (ML) are set to play a major role in optimizing cloud resource management. Integrating AI-driven cloud management tools will become the norm, empowering organizations to reduce costs, enhance performance, and streamline cloud operations. Expect an era where intelligent algorithms dynamically allocate resources based on real-time demands, ensuring optimal efficiency.

Gen AI: Shaping the Digital Future 

Gen AI (Gen AI) will significantly influence cloud computing trends as digital natives increasingly dictate the pace of technological advancements. Gen AI’s expectations for seamless integration, personalized experiences, and efficient services will drive innovation in cloud solutions, impacting everything from AI-driven applications to user interfaces and collaborative platforms.

2. Public Cloud Offerings Reinvented

Managed cloud services, exemplified by industry giants like AWS and Azure, will undergo significant advancements to address the increasingly complex needs of businesses. These platforms will offer more robust solutions, providing organizations with the scalability, flexibility, and security required to thrive in today’s dynamic business environment.

3. Sustainability as a Central Pillar 

Sustainability will take centre stage in cloud computing. The industry will witness a surge in innovations related to energy efficiency, cooling technologies, and the integration of renewable energy sources. As organizations aim to reduce their carbon footprint, they expect to see a shift towards eco-friendly practices within the cloud infrastructure.

4. Advancements in Cloud Privacy 

Cloud privacy remains a critical concern, and 2024 will see ongoing developments in technological, regulatory, and legislative solutions. These solutions aspire to strike a balance between leveraging the benefits of the cloud and ensuring that customer data is fully protected. Strengthened security measures will build trust and confidence in cloud services.

5. Container Orchestration’s Continual Rise

Container orchestration, an essential aspect of cloud-native applications and microservices architecture, will continue to rise in prominence. Platforms like Kubernetes will play a pivotal role in automating containerized applications’ deployment, scaling, and management, facilitating agility and efficiency in cloud environments.

6. Hybrid Cloud Dominance 

Hybrid cloud solutions will dominate the cloud computing landscape, offering a flexible approach that combines on-premises infrastructure with public and private clouds. This hybrid model allows organizations to seamlessly integrate legacy systems with modern cloud services, providing a balance between security and scalability.

7. Edge Computing Unleashed

With its focus on processing data closer to the source, edge computing will gain traction. This approach reduces latency and enhances real-time processing capabilities, making it ideal for applications requiring instant responsiveness, such as IoT devices and autonomous vehicles.

8. Serverless Computing’s Evolution 

Serverless computing will continue to evolve, enabling organizations to develop and run applications without managing the underlying infrastructure. This trend will further simplify development processes, reduce operational overhead, and enhance scalability for varying workloads.

9. Quantum Computing Advances

Quantum computing will make strides in 2024, with cloud providers exploring ways to harness the potential of quantum algorithms. While still in the early stages, enhancements in quantum computing promise to solve complex problems beyond the reach of classical computers.

10. Multi-Cloud Strategies in Action 

Multi-cloud strategies will become mainstream, allowing organizations to strategically distribute workloads across multiple cloud providers. This approach enhances redundancy, mitigates vendor lock-in risks, and provides greater flexibility in choosing the best services from different providers.

Conclusion 

Rapyder’s unparalleled expertise in cloud computing service technologies, coupled with its distinguished status as an AWS advanced consulting partner, makes it an invaluable ally for organizations aiming to fully leverage the transformative cloud computing trends of 2024.

With a deep understanding of the intricacies of cloud solutions, Rapyder is well-equipped to assist businesses in optimizing resource management, ensuring robust privacy and compliance measures, and seamlessly integrating cutting-edge technologies. As businesses navigate the evolving cloud landscape, Rapyder stands ready to provide strategic guidance, fostering successful cloud adoption and transformation that aligns seamlessly with the unique goals and aspirations of each organization.

The post Fundamental Cloud Computing Developments Demanding Attention in 2024: A Look at the Top 10 Trends appeared first on Rapyder.

Cloud migration services offers numerous benefits to organizations. It provides scalability, allowing businesses to quickly and easily scale their resources up or down based on demand. It offers cost-efficiency by eliminating the need for extensive on-premises infrastructure and upfront hardware investments. It provides flexibility by enabling remote access to applications and data from anywhere, fostering collaboration and remote work.

Though migration to the cloud brings a plethora of benefits for organizations, but, post-migration, organizations frequently encounter significant challenges, with cost management being a prominent issue. Insufficient monitoring and governance can cause cloud costs to spiral out of control, resulting in unanticipated expenses. Accurate estimation and control of cloud expenses become challenging, potentially straining the organization’s budget. Inadequate optimization of resource usage and the absence of effective cost management strategies further compound the problem.

Without proper visibility into resource utilization, organizations find it arduous to identify areas of high expenditure, track expenses, and optimize resource allocation. The resultant lack of visibility can lead to cost overruns and pose budgetary difficulties for the organization.

Modernization: A way to go 

Let us first understand what is application modernization? 

Application modernization refers to the process of updating or transforming legacy software applications to leverage modern technologies, architectures, and functionalities. Its significance in today’s IT world lies in enabling organizations to enhance agility, scalability, and performance while reducing maintenance costs and technical debt.

Modernization serves as a viable solution to overcome the challenges associated with cloud migration. By modernizing legacy applications, organizations can enhance their competitiveness, operational efficiency, user experiences, and overall business objectives. It enables them to embrace digital transformation, leverage emerging technologies, and adapt to changing market dynamics, laying the groundwork for future growth and success.

Modernization provides organizations with cost reduction benefits through various means. By optimizing infrastructure and improving resource efficiency, organizations can eliminate wasteful practices and streamline their operations. Automation of processes helps reduce manual effort and increase productivity, resulting in cost savings. Leveraging the scalability of modernized applications allows businesses to efficiently allocate resources according to demand, avoiding unnecessary expenses.

Moreover, modernization can lead to reduced licencing and software expenses by adopting cost-effective alternatives and eliminating redundant or obsolete software. Streamlined maintenance processes contribute to operational cost savings by minimizing downtime and optimizing resource allocation. Overall, application modernization empowers organizations to optimize costs, enhance efficiency, and achieve sustainable financial advantages by leveraging modern technologies and practices.

Let’s look at 4 ways modernizing applications can play an important role in optimizing the  cloud.

1. Streamlining Costs through Modernization 

• Exploring the potential cost savings through modernization

By modernizing applications, organizations can identify opportunities to optimize costs. Legacy systems often come with high maintenance and operational expenses, which can be reduced or eliminated through modernization.

• Reducing licensing and infrastructure expenses

Legacy applications typically require extensive maintenance and expensive licensing costs. Modernization allows organizations to streamline these expenses by leveraging cloud computing, containerization serverless architectures or moving to open source databases from commercial ones, resulting in reduced infrastructure costs and simplified maintenance.

• Optimizing resource utilization and eliminating redundancies

Modernizing applications enables organizations to assess and optimize resource utilization. This process involves identifying redundant or underutilized resources and streamlining them, resulting in cost savings and increased efficiency. By eliminating redundancies, organizations can avoid unnecessary expenditures on licensing, hardware, and maintenance.

2. Enhancing Operational Efficiency with Modernization

• Improving system performance and responsiveness

Modernization optimizes code and architecture, resulting in improved system performance, faster response times, and an enhanced user experience.

• Simplifying workflows and reducing manual tasks

Legacy applications often have complex and inefficient workflows. Through modernization, processes can be streamlined, eliminating redundant steps, and simplifying user interactions, leading to increased efficiency and productivity.

• Automating processes to save time and resources

Modernized applications can leverage automation technologies to automate repetitive tasks, reducing the need for manual intervention. This saves time, minimizes errors, and frees up resources to focus on more strategic initiatives, ultimately improving overall operational efficiency.

3. Achieving Scalability and Flexibility through Modernization

• Adapting to changing business needs and market demands

Modernization enables organizations to update their applications to meet evolving business requirements and stay competitive in dynamic markets.

• Scaling applications easily and cost-effectively

Modernized applications are designed to scale efficiently, allowing businesses to expand their IT infrastructure as needed without incurring significant costs or disruptions.

• Embracing cloud-native architectures for increased flexibility

By adopting cloud-native architectures, organizations can leverage the flexibility and scalability offered by cloud platforms. Modernized applications can be easily deployed, managed, and scaled in cloud environments, providing greater agility and responsiveness to changing business demands.

4. Mitigating Risks and Ensuring Security with Modernization

• Strengthening data protection and compliance measures

Through modernization, organizations can implement enhanced security measures, such as encryption, access controls, and data loss prevention, to safeguard sensitive information. It helps organizations meet compliance requirements and protect against data breaches.

• Upgrading outdated security protocols and frameworks

Legacy applications often have outdated security protocols that are vulnerable to cyber threats. Modernization allows for the implementation of robust security frameworks, patches, and updates, ensuring protection against evolving security risks.

• Enhancing disaster recovery capabilities for business continuity

Application modernization enables the integration of robust disaster recovery mechanisms, including backup and restoration processes, data replication, and failover systems. This ensures quick recovery and minimal downtime in the event of a disaster, ensuring business continuity.

Key Takeaways

In conclusion, application modernization plays a crucial role in effective IT budget management. As organizations migrate to the cloud, they encounter challenges, particularly in cost management. However, by modernizing legacy applications, they can optimize costs and streamline processes.

Modernization not only improves cost efficiency but also strengthens data protection and compliance measures. It enhances disaster recovery capabilities, ensuring business continuity. Moreover, by leveraging modern technologies and frameworks, organizations can drive innovation and future-proof their IT infrastructure. Embracing application modernization is key to achieving efficient IT budget management while staying agile and prepared for the evolving digital landscape.

The post 4 Ways to Optimize Your Cloud with Modernization: A Comprehensive Guide appeared first on Rapyder.

This practice is also called “legacy modernization,” “legacy application modernization,” or “software modernization.” The need for application modernization is the rising competition amongst companies, and the leading cause for that is our root dependency on technology.

In this article, we will discuss the top 5 mistakes to avoid in modernizing applications so that no time or money you invest is wasted.

1. Lack of Clarity of the Outcomes

Many organizations today are modernizing their applications to enhance their IT capabilities. This makes many businesses with no plan or need to think they would also go for application modernization. However, this is not a valid reason to do so. When companies modernize without proper planning or clarity about what they want to accomplish through modernization, it leads to many problems.

Application modernization is a process that can be successful only when the organization is equipped with the necessary skills and is committed enough throughout the process. This is not possible when there’s no specific goal to achieve. Hence, it’s important to have realistic goals before you set out to modernize your application. Only then will it be worth your time and investment.

2) Thinking legacy application modernization is a one-time event

As mentioned in the previous point, modernizing a legacy application is a long-term process and requires regular maintenance. Many companies, however, assume their job is done once they have modernized their applications. Well, that’s not how it works.

While deciding to modernize, you must consider the investment you’ll have to make for years in IT and developers. This is because businesses keep evolving, and thus business requirements keep changing. , Legacy systems must constantly be worked on to meet the changing expectations. This is called “legacy maintenance” – enhancing legacy applications over time as necessary rather than upgrading them completely every few years.

3) Failure to adjust to technological changes and user expectations

Since modernizing your application is not a one-time event, having a long-term vision is crucial. If you don’t plan well enough to make the required changes in the future, you’ll be in deep trouble. Most companies fail to make this plan, so they either have to invest more than expected or rewrite the applications from scratch when it needs new features. So, make sure your technology and budget are created considering the future and the present.

4) Trying to modernize too many parts of your system at once

Trying to modernize all the parts at once is a huge mistake many companies make. Modernizing your applications achieves more efficiency and increases the organization’s productivity. However, doing everything at once defeats the purpose, and you may not see the results by modernizing at once.

Hence, it’s best to keep the old legacy system running and run the new system simultaneously until the old one is fully debugged, improved, and stable. This is called the Strangler Pattern Approach. The core idea behind this pattern is that you should gradually move functionality from one part of your application to another. You can iterate on features in parallel rather than waiting for all of them to be implemented before moving forward.

5) Focusing Only on Tools And Technology

Sure, tools determine to a great extent how successful or unsuccessful the digital transformation process will be. But it’s not the only thing you need to focus on. Apart from the tools or technology, teamwork is a major factor that decides whether your applications will be modernized smoothly or not. If the culture, leadership, and mindset of all the people in an organization aren’t set right to match the upgradation, then all your transformation efforts will go in vain.

So, companies must work on finding ways to scale DevOps adoption and emphasize culture change when going for application modernization. Efforts should be made to adopt continuous feedback loops, optimize end-to-end flow, move from silos to collaboration, automate, and empower teams.

Looking for an expert who can help modernize your applications? Rapyder is here to help you find the best ways to modernize your business applications keeping in mind all critical factors of business.

The post Top Five Mistakes to Avoid While Modernizing Your Applications appeared first on Rapyder.

While many enterprises considered moving to the cloud, the COVID-19 outbreak has fueled the need for application modernization. To ensure business continuity, organizations have ramped up their application modernization effort to enable large-scale remote working facilities without compromising data security.

What is application modernization?

Application modernization involves refactoring, re-purposing, or consolidating legacy software to create new business value from existing applications. It involves breaking down legacy applications into individual functions to make the framework agile, scalable, easy to deploy, and independent.

The four key factors driving application modernization are:

1. Cloud services
2. Large-scale workload migration to cloud-based and Service-Oriented Structure (SOA)
3. Need to modernize legacy systems
4. Modern infrastructure to ensure business continuity

SWOT – Understanding the driver, restraint, opportunity, and threats

Roadblocks to application modernization

Though enterprises are adopting SaaS and IaaS to build cloud-native digital capabilities, few have made fundamental advances in application modernization. Most businesses fail to operate cloud-native, creating inefficiencies in cost and operations. According to Gartner, nearly 90% of enterprise applications are ignored when investing in modernization.

Despite knowing the compelling need for modernizing legacy applications, enterprises often lack the skills and tools to interpret the data required to take a call for modernization without getting into technical debt. Moreover, they often confuse “application modernization” with “cloud hosting and microservices architectures.” While both are similar, application modernization involves much more than lifting and shifting legacy applications to the cloud.

Navigating through the roadblocks

In the post-COVID-19 world, businesses must focus on delivering quality to meet ever-changing customer desires and business needs. Moreover, they would need to assess the modernization effort’s cost, complexity, and risk before embarking on the new journey. A successful application modernization strategy rests on the following five pillars:

1. Identifying the accumulated technical debts to make business decisions easier
2. Analyzing the cost benefits due to modernization
3. Identifying the candidates for migration/modernization
4. Realigning legacy applications with new business requirements to get business value from them without reinvesting
5. Planning the modernization journey in detail to ensure business continuity

AWS’ 6 R’s strategy for application modernization

Benefits of application modernization

If optimized properly, modernizing applications to be cloud-native has multiple business benefits like agility, scalability, security, and saving operational and resource costs. Cloud platforms like AWS help organizations to foster business transformation by:

1. Optimizing compute, storage, and database costs to save IT costs
2. Offering reliable and high-performing applications to ensure fewer business disruptions

According to an IDC survey of 27 companies, AWS lowered operating costs by 51%, reduced downtime by 94%, and contributed an estimated $36.5 million in additional revenue annually.

A born-on-the-cloud company like Rapyder can help you transform your IT infrastructure with AWS cloud services. One of India’s leading Amazon cloud computing services providers, Rapyder has deep expertise in managed Amazon cloud services, cloud migration, DevOps, and a well-architected framework. With end-to-end cloud solutions across industry verticals, we’re a cloud partner that is agile, precise, innovative, and quick with solutions providing 24/7 support and monitoring for our services.

The post Navigating Through The Challenges of Application Modernization To Drive Business Growth appeared first on Rapyder.

The process of modernizing outdated software for newer computer paradigms, such as newer programming languages, frameworks, and infrastructure platforms, is known as application modernization.

Application modernization services help a company safeguard its financial commitments and update its software portfolio to benefit from modern infrastructure, tools, languages, and other technological advancements. An enterprise’s entire digital transformation strategy typically includes an application modernization plan as a component.

Re-architecting outdated apps into cloud-native ones is made more accessible by cloud modernization for businesses. This makes it possible to take advantage of cloud benefits, including a quicker time to market, scalability, agility, and cheaper costs.

Some of the reasons why app modernization is gaining importance are:

• It saves cost on infrastructure by 15-35% annually.
• Reduces application operation and maintenance expenses by 30–50%,
• Organizations can spend 74% less money on staff, equipment, and software,
• Businesses can achieve a 10% increase in the effectiveness of their application’s operations,
• Some significant enterprises can save 1 billion USD in annual income, or 14% more on average.

Fact check: By 2023, 65% of firms will spend heavily on new technology platforms and actively improve legacy systems.
– TechRepublic

What value does App Modernization add to a business?

The ability of businesses to develop and stand out from competitors in the developing environment depends critically on the modernization of legacy applications. As business and IT activities become more automated, upgrading your apps is essential for moving your firm forward.

By upgrading business procedures, lowering maintenance costs, and improving data accessibility, app modernization enables enterprises to accelerate innovation and go to market more quickly.

One of the critical components of application modernization services is the migration of outdated platforms or applications to new ones and the integration of new functionality to meet the most recent business needs.

Here are a few values that App Modernization can add to the business:

• Cost-cutting: By cutting back on capital expenditures, you can switch them out for an operating expense that is easier to control and more scalable.
• Employee Productivity: Modernized apps provide staff members with more significant features and functionality, improved team utilization, and fewer application incidents.
• Customer Experience: Modernized apps enhance customer experience by providing new services and processes with a more user-friendly user interface, just like your workers.
• Increased Revenue Streams: Upgrading your system allows you to offer consumers new services and procedures that are valuable additions and produce additional income.

Why is app modernization considered crucial for digital transformation?

Applications that have been modernized, consolidated, and simplified gain several definite advantages. These are a few reductions in infrastructure and software costs, security upgrades, and functionalities like operational availability and business agility. A new solution must be implemented to accomplish these benefits while selecting the best tool for each situation, including cloud migration, micro-services, architectures without a server, and integration based on APIs and events.

How are the two related?

Modernization is now a need. Enterprises will confront several difficulties and dangers without digitization. Unfavorable brand perception, market share loss, exposure to rivalry, and difficulty in recruiting top personnel are a few of these dangers.

Application modernization must be a fundamental component of the guiding strategy for digital transformation if it is to be successful. Modernizing an app entails more than simply general enhancement. It primarily refers to putting infrastructure and processes in place to evaluate and optimize your application mix for measurable business consequences. It also entails changing the mindsets and competencies of your business to capitalize on cutting-edge technologies.

Rapyder’s Role

Rapyder, a born-in-the-cloud consulting firm, has a clear mission to assist businesses in achieving their objectives by utilizing the best and most recent technology.

Experts from the Rapyder team assist businesses in rapidly and painlessly converting their legacy infrastructure to the public cloud, enabling them to maintain a competitive edge in the market. We have been a leader in digital transformation services and have assisted numerous companies in upgrading their technological foundation with ease.

As a cloud consulting partner, we offer knowledge, tools, modernization patterns, and blueprints tailored to your particular sector that can speed up your change.

Conclusion

Numerous businesses’ operations still depend heavily on legacy applications. However, most of them do not correspond to the most cutting-edge technologies. Solutions for digital transformation and associated technologies are an example of this being especially true.

To compete in this industrial landscape that is evolving so quickly, businesses must update their outdated systems.

Get in touch with Rapyder to know more about how app modernization can help increase the use of your existing apps and minimize your maintenance costs.

The post Application Modernization: An Essential Step Towards Digital Transformation appeared first on Rapyder.

When you think about how much time a typical mobile app development process takes, it can range from 6 months to more than a year. So if you’re looking at addressing a current market need, there is a high chance that you cannot build an app in time for a take-to-market strategy to kick in.

What’s more?

The cost of maintaining your app when you’re not using a cloud-based app development process can start from less than $5000 to $25,000 or more. This only means that on-premise mobile app development processes eat into resources that can be used to scale your business instead.

AWS offers a wide range of cloud benefits for AWS mobile app development. Right from database storage, content delivery, computing power, and other functionalities, it helps companies improve the productivity of their development teams by making the mobile app development process more agile and prepared for easy scaling.

AWS mobile app services often include a combination of – platform-as-a-service (PaaS), infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS), and software-as-a-service (SaaS).

7 AWS services that are perfect to make your next AWS Mobile App development projects more efficient

1. AWS DynamoDB

AWS DynamoDB is a fully-managed cloud service for AWS mobile app development. It offers accelerated and calculated performance to enable maximum scalability. So app developers can store and retrieve large volumes of data depending on demand without facing latency. The AWS mobile app development service also has encryption, eliminating the complexity of securing sensitive user data.

2. AWS Device Farm

Cloud-based app development also requires continual testing to ensure the app continues to deliver high performance. AWS Device Farm is an application testing service enabling you to simultaneously test and interact with Android, iOS, and web apps across various devices. You can also clone issues on a device in real-time to test solutions for future AWS mobile app updates. Automated testing makes it easier for developers to identify roadmaps and incorporate user feedback in mobile app development.

3. Amazon Pinpoint 

Push notifications are a promising channel when it comes to being able to reach and engage users. Amazon Pinpoint is an AWS mobile app development service that makes it easier for developers and app marketers to run targeted campaigns and measure their performance. Be it promotional alerts, customer retention campaigns, or transactional push notifications, Amazon Pinpoint will also provide insights into how users engage with the app.

4. AWS Lambda

AWS Lambda is another promising AWS mobile app development service that enables you to run code without managing or provisioning servers. So at any given point, you’re only paying for the actual computing time you use. You’re not paying for resources when your code is idle. All you need to do to use this AWS mobile app development service is upload the codes, and AWS Lambda does the rest. It also helps you scale the code for maximum availability without managing servers.

[Also Read: Getting Started With AWS Lambda And Use Cases ]

5. AWS Cognito

An AWS mobile app development service that lets you create a unique yet secure sign-up, sign-in, app authentication, and access control on mobile and web for users. AWS Cognito maintains a user directory that can accommodate data from millions of users. It supports all principal authentication, security, and compliance requirements.

6. Amazon CloudFront 

Amazon CloudFront is a global content delivery network for AWS mobile app development. It offers highly secure data, applications, videos, and APIs for cloud-based app development with low latency. It integrates with your physical location using the AWS global infrastructure and other AWS mobile app development services.

7. AWS S3 

Amazon Simple Storage Service or AWS S3 is a cloud object storage service. It stores and enables easy access to data from any device in cloud-based app development for AWS mobile apps. Amazon S3 can store and secure any amount of data from mobile apps, websites, backups, IoT devices, and others while ensuring 99.9% reliability.

Now if you’re using the conventional mobile app development process, you may be wondering why one should move to the cloud – especially if you already have an app. In the next section, we discuss how a cloud-based app development environment has much more to offer than the on-premise one.

Why should you opt for AWS mobile app development?

A lot of companies still have on-premise mobile app development processes in place. But as different industries worldwide move to the cloud and closer to digitization, cloud-based app development is fast picking up. Here are a few reasons fast-scaling companies are adopting AWS mobile app development for their products.

1. Development language

On-premise applications are mostly written in traditional programming languages. You’ll see languages such as C, C++, C#, Visual Studio, etc, being followed throughout the mobile app development process. But when it comes to cloud-based app development, developers utilize web-centric languages. They opt for HTML, Javascript, Python, Ruby, etc.

2. Dynamic scalability

If there is a surge in usage, the cloud-based app development process can expand resources easily. In fact, these extended resources can be let go of when the spike subsides, and the demand normalizes, giving developers the environment to scale the applications dynamically. But with the on-premise mobile app development process, this is not a possibility.

3. Multitenancy

The on-premise mobile app development process has limitations regarding the virtual environment. It will require a non-virtual space for app development. But AWS mobile apps can work quickly in the virtual space. They can also share resources with other apps to keep their processes and their budgets optimized at all times.

4. Network and storage

Since most of the resources used in an on-premise mobile app development process are hard-coded, they’re immutable. Be it setting connections with network resources for security, permissions, or even storage. But with AWS mobile app development, network and storage connections are flexible, giving developers an agile and dynamic environment.

5. Monolithic vs. modern design

AWS mobile app development follows a modular design, breaking functions into microservices. It lets developers shut down certain services when not needed and make updates to specific modules without affecting the entire application’s performance. The on-premise mobile app development process follows a monolithic design, which does not offer this kind of flexibility to a developer or a scaling company.

Conclusion

AWS mobile app development comes with endless benefits for a fast-scaling company. The above AWS services offer great support for cloud-based app development, making developing and deploying AWS mobile apps more efficient.

In fact, according to Smart Insights, AWS mobile app development or cloud-based app development is one of the trends we’re set to see in 2020. The statistic only goes to say that cloud-based mobile app development is more trusted when developing a mobile app.

But getting started requires you to understand cloud-based services in detail. That’s where an AWS advanced consulting partner like Rapyder comes in. The experts can not just help your team get started with AWS mobile apps or set up a cloud-based app development environment but also migrate an existing app to the cloud.

The post AWS Mobile App Development: AWS Services to Consider for Your Next Project appeared first on Rapyder.

The old-age technologies have become a roadblock in their path of digital transformation. Nearly 80% of IT leaders believe that not modernizing their legacy infrastructure can negatively impact their organization’s long-term growth. It is also true that most leaders and C-level executives lack information about application modernization and its subsequent benefits.

Hence, with an intent to help them all, here we are presenting this blog that discusses:

1. What is application modernization?
2. Why should you modernize your business application?
3. Top benefits of app modernization
4. What are the key technologies used in app modernization?
5. Role of DevOps in application modernization, and
6. How Rapyder help you in app modernization?

What is application modernization?

Application modernization is repurposing old legacy applications with entirely new features, internal architecture, and infrastructure platforms. It can also be understood as upgrading and updating the legacy applications with the latest features, which no longer function properly and have become incapable of meeting your business needs.

Why should you modernize your business application?

Running outdated applications or legacy systems can be problematic and challenging, especially when they cannot align with modern business requirements. However, considering the pace at which the IT arena is evolving each day with the latest tools and technologies, it is inevitable for every company to go for operational modernization to meet their business challenges.

A study reveals that maintaining the old legacy system can be very time-consuming and makes up 60%-80% of the IT budget in the average corporation. In such scenarios, modernizing legacy systems is the right solution.

Some common challenges faced by legacy apps are listed below:

1. Some legacy apps no longer receive any support and maintenance from their developers’ team.
2. Legacy apps neither integrate well with new technology nor are they seldom compatible with modern solutions.
3. Some legacy apps are monolithic; hence, updating or scaling them up is difficult.
4. Many legacy apps contain known or unknown security vulnerabilities.
5. Maintaining legacy apps is time-consuming and not cost-effective.

Do You Know? Around 88% of IT leaders agree that modernized IT systems must meet emerging digital business demands.

Top 7 benefits of app modernization

Some of the top benefits of app modernization are as follows:

1. Reduced costs:

Since outdated apps require vast amounts of money for maintenance, they are not economically viable for organizations. In addition, most of these apps are hosted on on-premises data centers, which are expensive to maintain. Thus, organizations do not get a chance to reap the benefits of the public cloud.

Moreover, hiring specialists for maintaining legacy apps can also prove extremely expensive because we don’t find specialists familiar with aged tools and outdated technologies. Hence by modernizing their applications, organizations achieve 30-50% lower application maintenance and running costs.

2. Enriches customer experience:

A company’s success is determined by how well they provide customer service. If they fail to deliver a best-in-class customer experience, their business or brand will not stand out in a competitive marketplace. In addition, it is quite painful to have older versions of applications if you are trying to enrich your customer experience. In contrast, once you modernize your existing applications, you can use the public cloud environment and provide premium customer service.

3. Enhances productivity:

Often legacy apps are incompatible with modern systems and hardware, causing productivity issues. Hence while using such applications, employees might struggle with lags, bugs, and other errors without reliable help from the application developer.

In contrast, a modernized system can facilitate better communication between teams since modern software facilitates communication between teams. Thus, it would help an organization to enhance its productivity.

4. Improved security:

Due to their age and by using deprecated technology, legacy applications might contain unidentified or known security vulnerabilities. Due to the lack of modern security practices, developing these applications allows attackers to exploit these flaws to breach an organization\’s network.

On the other hand, modernized applications continuously receive security upgrades and bug fixes against new threats. Therefore, companies must use such applications to ensure the safety of their data.

5. Generate better revenue:

Modernizing applications helps businesses to boost their revenue streams. To grow their business, companies can add new services or processes that will improve the customer experience. But legacy apps cannot offer the same flexibility as modern applications; therefore, it isn’t easy to make profitable changes.

In contrast, a modern application enables you to add new features, services, and functions that improve customer experience and more revenue. A happy customer is more likely to promote your business resulting in more revenue.

Do You Know? Around 65% of businesses believe that legacy systems are incapable of addressing the emerging requirements of the digital business.  

6. Build Cloud-native apps:

Once organizations modernize their old-age applications with new features and functions, they can easily rearchitect their legacy applications to cloud-native applications. It empowers them to leverage public cloud benefits such as faster go-to-market, agility, scalability, secured data, and many more.

7. Stay relevant with new technologies:

With application modernization, organizations use today’s digital technologies, including Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Big Data, and the public cloud. It allows organizations to adapt their IT ecosystem to current trends and develop a flexible platform for future innovation.

What are key technologies used in app modernization?

Now that you understand the top benefits of app modernization, let us further know about the key technologies involved in this process.

Some of the most prominent technologies used in modernizing applications are:

1. Cloud migration: Cloud migration is the fundamental technology used in app modernization. Companies can scale apps using public, private, and hybrid cloud services efficiently and at a lower cost than on traditional IT infrastructure.
2.  Containers: Applications are packaged, deployed, and operated using containers in a cloud-centric way. Containerization makes it possible to package an app consistently and lightweight to run across workstations, cloud, or on-premises environments steadily.
3.  Kubernetes: It is an open-source container orchestration platform used to automate deployment, manage, and scale-up applications.

Role of DevOps in application modernization

DevOps is a widely used practice by most organizations in modernizing applications. DevOps helps increase collaboration between different teams, resulting in increased delivery speed, reliability, faster go-to-market, and stability in production.

Some of the standard practices followed in DevOps are as follows:

1. Develop smaller, independently deployable microservices from monolithic services
2. Improves performance and availability by choosing the right cloud technology
3. It ensures improvement with early feedback, monitoring, and analysis
4. It implements automation practices such as continuous integration, testing, and deployment.

How Rapyder helps you in app modernization

Infrastructure migration using cloud solutions remains one of the critical pillars of the application modernization process. This strategy does not require adding new hardware, modifying the existing operations, or completely rewriting the existing codes. Hence, it is considered the easiest way to upgrade an organization\’s legacy system, ensuring that they meet your business requirement efficiently.

Rapyder, a born-in cloud consulting company, works with a clear vision to help enterprises achieve their business goals, leveraging more suitable and latest technologies. Rapyder team comprising experts, helps organizations smoothly and efficiently migrate to the public cloud, transforming their legacy infrastructure to be more reliable to remain at the forefront of the competition in the marketplace.

Conclusion

Application modernization plays a vital role in accelerating the digital transformation journeys of an enterprise. Hence, we presented this blog discussing what it means, its benefits, and key technologies used in this process. I hope you found some valuable information reading this blog. At this point, we request you share this blog among social media circles and help others to understand this subject.

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