What is replatforming?

What is replatforming?

Replatforming occupies the space in between rearchitecting (rebuilding the application from the ground up) and rehosting (moving from on-premise to cloud hosting). Replatforming is defined as a migration strategy that supports a legacy platform’s journey to transform into a modern cloud platform.

The fact that the changes are limited to specific components of the application, means it is not as resource heavy a task as rearchitecting. The cloud optimizations within a replatforming process, however, go beyond rehosting. This means that you can reap more benefits compared to rehosting, without the investment that rearchitecting requires. 

The 6 Strategies for Migrating Applications to the Cloud blog is great if you’re looking to take a deep dive into cloud migration strategies.

Why replatform?

As architectures age, their limitations start to show.

This might be as simple as seeing reduced speed that can’t keep up with requirements, or a drop in site performance. Security is a concern as well, especially when faced with vendors that stop providing security patches.  

Finding flexible and convenient ways to increase functionality and cater to more customers is needed, to keep up with fast paced growth.

New integrations and partners appear continuously, offering capabilities that could benefit your business. With an outdated architecture, however, it’s likely your business can’t accommodate these value drivers. The platform shows its weaknesses as the lack in features affects your competitive edge.

Then, there is the case of manual processing. Even if your professional team has adapted through the years, there is still opportunity to increase operational efficiency through automation. Can your business afford to disregard it, as cloud adoption increases amongst competitors?

It’s likely that your existing platform’s shortcomings will start to affect the experience for your users. What happens to your bottom line then? Replatforming is ultimately driven by the limitations of legacy tech.

If you are eager to dive into the case for change, this Quba blog is the place to head to: Replatforming: the case for change (quba.co.uk)

What are the benefits?

Replatforming is an investment across the board – and we’ll talk about that in a minute. So, weighing its pros and how these plug in to your business’s long term goals is imperative. Efficiency, speed and scalability are the key benefits of replatforming projects.

There is a wealth of efficiencies that can result from such a project. Reducing sources of friction, or minimising their impact, can lead to streamlining processes. As digital evolves, so does the capacity for automation.

Understanding when and where can become a part of your roadmap and create more tools for your team, or less resource requirements for your business.

Cost is also a factor. The flexibility offered by subscription-based models means increased cost control. This is especially true when scaling services. Changes can be rolled out as needed, leading to more convenience.

Scalability is part and parcel of any growth strategy. Replatforming empowers businesses to scale with greater cost control – and to their individual needs. With more integrations and partnerships available for your business, there’s room to craft a tailored strategy to elevate the user experience.

The investment – impact equation of replatforming can be a huge benefit of this cloud migration strategy. There is less time investment compared to rearchitecting, while the result has great potential to impact your bottom line..

In addition, the changes are implemented faster. The fact that they don’t require an overhaul of the application’s architecture or specific prioritisations means there is flexibility to work around the business. Professional teams are burdened less with a roadmap that takes operations into consideration.

Your business can mature its cloud native level and foster innovation, while capitalising on the flexibility of replatforming.

What are the key considerations?

Launching a replatforming project is much like embarking on a journey. There’s lots to consider before even setting foot outside of your door.

Clarity is key. Understanding what you want for your company is a process in itself – and linked to the success of your replatform. This extends beyond the project itself, creating a roadmap of how it fits into a long-term strategy, key operational objectives and tangible tools required.

On the flipside, there is also scoping out how these changes will impact your team. Dedicating time to meeting with specific departments and discussing potential changes will enable you to create a roadmap firmly rooted on your business’s needs. This can also be extended to all relevant stakeholders.

It’s easy to get caught up in looking at the trees – and sometimes this means missing the forest. A replatforming process is demanding across the board. The existing platform, however, still needs to be operational. This means that you’ll need to ensure there is long term capacity for such a project.

The partnership you’ll be entering into (if you’re outsourcing the project) should be precisely that – a partnership. Choosing an agency to undertake your replatform should be about more than credentials – although their importance is not to be undermined. Chemistry, trust and communication are key when deciding your agency partner.

What are the risks?

As with any project rooted in future ambitions and serving a growth strategy, replatforming projects can also fall victim to scope creep. Investing in a thorough planning, documentation and control process empowers businesses to stay focused on their list of priorities. Finding a stream of new functionalities can be tempting, but there is the risk of disregarding cost optimization.

Even a thoroughly mapped out project has long term risks. From small changes that have potential to impact operations down the line, all the way to unforeseen compatibility issues, there’s always the wild card factor.

Change can be tricky. Even those that bring about a host of changes need a nesting period. Accounting for your professional teams’ and user’s need to adapt to new processes or features is imperative.

The scope of the project and the type of your business will dictate the risks you should consider before initiating a replatforming project. Evaluating this with a digital expert is the best step forward.

Talk to us about your business’s unique needs for expert support and advice.