Recently updated on August 8th, 2022
The inefficiency and high cost of maintaining legacy applications are forcing businesses to rethink their entire IT strategy. Redesigning their infrastructure for the cloud can cost significant money, time and overhead. Many IT strategists are utilizing alternative means with which to minimize the impact on business operations and increase the efficiency of their current legacy systems.
Migrating Legacy Systems with “Lift and Shift”
Also called cutting and pasting, the lift and shift approach to legacy migration is exactly as it sounds. You essentially “lift” the outdated system and “shift” it directly to the cloud as it is. This strategy allows organizations a simple way to modernize without having to re-architect the entire application. A significant amount of forethought and planning must be done in order to ensure full compatibility.
The lift and shift approach is useful and can buy you some time, but legacy systems are called that for a reason– they are outdated. Eventually, you should consider redesigning each asset in order to fully optimize the system. Using this approach makes it possible to make adjustments over time, keeping your current business operations intact.
Service Meshes
The lift and shift approach only works with components that have compatibility with your cloud infrastructure. Some businesses wait too long to upgrade their systems, leaving behind an antiquated system that cannot be moved and must be rebuilt. However, there is a way to redesign your legacy systems FOR the cloud in service meshes.
Many modern applications are built in separate components or services- each with specific functions that work together in a complex network.
Server meshes are a dedicated infrastructure layer that optimizes communication between those services, creating more efficient data sharing and less down time.
Server meshes allow you to rethink how your IT infrastructure can work for your organization. Starting from scratch has its advantages, but may not fit in your company’s current plans or budget. The goal here is to increase efficiency and take as much strain off the system as possible. Server meshes are a great solution for that.
Technology Isn’t the Only Hurdle
Regardless of how you want to reimagine your IT Infrastructure, you will need buy in from the important stakeholders. Change doesn’t come easy to people — large organizations especially. Sometimes your legacy software is so obsolete that the company is forced to make adjustments, causing priority shifts that can negatively affect the entire organization. Forward-thinking leadership can get ahead of this speed bump in order to open new lanes for your business.
If you are thinking about building a service mesh or you have a long-term lift and shift strategy, be sure to understand exactly who your stakeholders are, identify how they will be affected and make sure that leadership is in step with the plan. The adoption of new technology can sometimes be the largest hurdle. A new system does not benefit the business if no one is using it properly. Leadership should strive to encourage and simplify modernization across the organization.
