A Comprehensive Guide to Application Modernization and Development for Public and Private Sectors
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Introduction
In this guide, you’ll learn about the transformative benefits and challenges with modern app development. Together we explore real-world success stories and understand how modernization aligns with future innovations and business growth.
Applications have become critical to business success. They enable companies to deliver better customer experiences at scale, streamline operations and develop differentiated services. With the pace of innovation accelerating, how you design, build and manage cloud-native applications is critical to staying competitive in a dynamic business environment.
Yet many companies face challenges in developing mission critical applications that will meet the evolving needs of their users and business. Lack of internal skills and resources can be a significant roadblock, hindering the innovation and agility needed in today’s modern business environment.
These shortcomings can cause time-to-market delays and cost overruns. According to Gartner, 26% of companies (and 30% of government agencies) have at least one core system that is ten (10) years old or older.¹ And while budget, time and staffing constraints can cause delayed development of new applications in the short term, these organizations are feeling the financial pain of those decisions further down the line.
The future is not all full of doom and gloom, though. Application modernization and development can solve problems today by empowering your organization to create and deliver services with enhanced speed, flexibility and security.
Future upgrades and enhancements are better handled with modern technology and your applications become an accelerator to growth instead of an anchor. This methodology integrates a range of technologies and processes, including:
- DevOps
- Containers
- Microservices
- Artificial Intelligence (AI)
- Cloud-Native Architecture
- Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery/Deployment (CI/CD)
Collectively, these elements streamline the software development lifecycle, fostering better communication and collaboration among teams. Together they give you the ability to bring applications to market, speeding up the rollout of new features and functionalities with fewer errors. Embracing a modern application approach involves rethinking architectural patterns, operational models and software delivery processes.
Adopting these practices can be complex, but you don’t have to navigate it alone. TekStream has mastered modern app development. Our team of DevOps specialists, engineers and developers have the technical expertise to implement apps effectively and securely. Our success in delivering enterprise-grade middleware and mission-critical applications is a testament to our expertise in this advanced approach.
If you want to adopt a modern application approach, partnering with TekStream can help you make informed, strategic decisions that align with your long-term business objectives. Whether it’s leveraging the robust AWS platform or navigating the complexities of microservices and serverless architectures, you are in safe hands. We guide our clients through each step, ensuring the journey toward modern business applications is seamless and cost effective.
[1] Robert Stoneman, Todd Kimbriel. Gartner. CIOs Must Build Momentum for Application Modernization in Government. (2024, May). Retrieved from: https://www.gartner.com/en/documents/5400863
Why Modern Application Development
Traditional application development methods are becoming increasingly obsolete. To stay competitive, you need to develop flexible and adaptable applications that easily integrate emerging technologies, such as AI/Generative AI, without requiring a complete overhaul every time, regardless of whether the environment is on-premises, cloud-native or hybrid.
Modern application development addresses this need for agility. It enables you to build a flexible architecture that scales and evolves as business needs change and new capabilities and functionalities become available. Modern app dev provides the necessary framework to adapt swiftly, irrespective of the service delivery model or the development environment.
Future-proof your business with scalable applications
Characteristics of Modern Applications
Modern applications are notable for their technical aspects, while the philosophy addresses software development. Below are some of the characteristics that encompass a modern application approach.
Generative AI & Low-Code/No-Code Integration
Modern application development is increasingly incorporating Generative AI and low-code/no-code to streamline the app creation process. By integrating Generative AI, your firm will be able to automate mundane tasks, speed up coding and provide advanced analytics and insights.
Simultaneously, low-code/no-code platforms are making app development more accessible, allowing even those without technical expertise to participate or lead in building apps. These platforms also provide developers with ready-made code for basic functions, which helps reduce errors that are more common with inexperienced developers.
Continuous Integration & Continuous Delivery/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD)
A cornerstone of modern architecture is CI/CD, which facilitates continuous automation and monitoring throughout the lifecycle of an application. This methodology allows for rapid and reliable delivery of application updates, enhancing both the development process and the push to production. It ensures that new features, updates and fixes are integrated into applications so seamlessly the end user doesn’t notice.
Emphasis on Security
In this approach, security is woven into the fabric of the development process rather than being an afterthought. A proactive stance on security involves regular code reviews, vulnerability assessments and adherence to best practices in cybersecurity, ensuring that your applications are secure from the ground up.
Serverless Technologies & Kubernetes
Modern apps incorporate serverless and cloud technologies like AWS, allowing developers to build and run applications without managing servers. This approach reduces infrastructure complexity and cost while enhancing scalability and reliability.
Kubernetes, an open-source platform for automating application container deployment, scaling and operations plays a crucial role in managing containerized applications. It provides the benefits of portability and scalability.
Self-Healing Systems
Self-healing modern applications will automatically detect and correct faults. This capability reduces downtime and improves reliability, as the applications can quickly recover from failures without manual intervention.
Scalability & Extensibility
Modern development prioritizes building applications that scale to meet varying demands and extend to incorporate new functionalities. By having a flexible application architecture, you can ensure your cloud-native applications can grow alongside your business, adapting to changing needs without requiring complete redesign. You can integrate new technologies and functionalities as they become available without being locked into a rigid framework.
Explore how TekStream can help you attain all the benefits of Modern Application Development.
Expert Guidance to Navigate Challenges
Adopting modern application development involves navigating a landscape brimming with new technologies and approaches. This journey, while promising, has challenges that can hinder your organization’s ability to leverage applications effectively. Teams might struggle to keep pace with emerging technologies, leading to inefficiencies and missed opportunities in application development. Below are some challenges that constrain agility.
The Expertise Gap
One significant hurdle is the need for more technical expertise in specific services and platforms. For example, understanding how platforms like AWS work is crucial to ensure you get the most out of your investment and that your application can scale to meet business demands.
Knowing which features to activate or deactivate, or determining the capabilities needed for optimal application development can make a substantial difference in your app performance and scalability. Many teams lack this expert guidance.
Overlooking Long-Term Application Viability
A common pitfall for most teams is building a cloud-native application without considering its future. For example, a company might develop a customer service application focusing solely on current demand but without the scalability to integrate future AI chatbot technology, limiting its long-term effectiveness and adaptability.
Applications missing that future-proof mindset can become obsolete or require costly overhauls. They risk becoming a bottleneck in your organization’s growth. Ultimately, this lack of foresight impedes your ability to adapt to new market demands, integrate emerging technologies or scale operations effectively.
Talent & Resource Limitations
Even teams with skilled developers can struggle with deployment if resources are limited. Funding for application modernization is crucial, but it can be challenging to get as a separate budget item. This situation can force a department to stretch its resources too thin or abandon some projects. Such decisions can slow down growth and cause more issues in DevOps
in the future.
Adoption & Bandwidth Concerns
Many in-house development teams, accustomed to traditional application development methods, will need help to adapt to cloud-native development. Not understanding the nuances of modern app development can lead to resistance to implementation/adoption. This resistance can stem from a lack of familiarity with new technologies or an inability to envision how they can leverage these technologies for more efficient development.
In-house teams might also need more bandwidth to consider long-term scalability and maintainability, focusing instead on immediate development needs. With the right support, teams turn into champions for modern methods.
Learn how this company scaled from proof of concept to nationwide launch.
The TekStream Model
TekStream service offerings range from coaching and guidance to full-scale development. We excel in sorting through ideas to devise a concrete application approach that aligns with your business’s objectives and technical requirements. Our expertise encompasses a strategic approach to crafting the best architecture for your business applications, with tailored architecture for each application to support current operations and future growth initiatives.
This model enables our team to build applications most effectively, whether in a cloud-centric environment or otherwise. We bring a nuanced understanding of the technology landscape, ensuring that mission-critical, enterprise-grade applications are made to scale. Here’s a closer look at our process:
Step 1: Define
TekStream begins by defining the desired outcome of the application. This step includes surveying current functionality and envisioning how the application will evolve. For example, if we are developing a supply chain management application, the end-state might consist of advanced predictive analytics features for future integration.
Step 2: Discover
The discovery step involves thorough research and interviews to align the application’s features with business needs and to develop the best possible architecture and framework for the application. This includes knowing the company’s current technologies and requirements. In our supply chain management application example, this might mean understanding the company’s specific logistical challenges and data workflow.
Step 3: Strategize
In this phase, TekStream develops a strategic plan with clear sprint objectives for rapid development iterations. This would include prioritizing developing real-time tracking features in the initial sprints.
Step 4: Iterate
Applying a sprint-based approach, TekStream rapidly builds and tests target objectives. This iterative process ensures that each component of the supply chain application, such as inventory management or order processing, is functional and aligns with overall business goals.
Step 5: Validate
TekStream continually validates each step against the established end goals throughout the modern app dev process. This ensures that the application, as it progresses, remains aligned with the original vision and business requirements.
Step 6: Evolve
The TekStream team engages in continuous integration of enhancements to support evolving requirements. This might involve integrating new technologies or expanding functionalities as the business grows and its needs change. For example, AWS continuously rolls out new features. As an extension of your team, we proactively consider these developments to implement them and maintain consistent application performance.
The Value of Expertise
Our ability to quickly understand an organization’s unique challenges and objectives stands out. This approach is not just about deploying the latest technologies; it involves engaging closely with both technical and business stakeholders, which is part of the TekStream advantage. Such collaboration ensures that each decision made in the development process is strategic and aligned with the long-term vision of the business to develop the best architecture possible. Maintaining this perspective is crucial, especially for organizations that might not have the capacity or expertise to embrace modern app dev entirely.
Benefits of Working With TekStream
Integrating Advanced Technologies & Best Practices
TekStream operates as a one-stop shop, covering all facets of application development. This includes initial concept, development, deployment and ongoing support, offering a seamless and integrated service experience.
We combine our extensive expertise with the latest security and fault tolerance best practices. By integrating advanced technologies like DevOps/CI/CD, Generative AI and no-code/low-code, we help you design innovative and robust applications.
Validated Expertise for Your Assurance
The right partner offers the technical mastery to ensure agile delivery without compromising quality. TekStream demonstrates this approach to help you get significant savings on the total cost of ownership, a crucial factor for any business. The assurance of working with certified experts in AWS serverless, serverless containers and Kubernetes-based applications adds an extra layer of confidence in your project’s success.
Financial & Strategic Flexibility
With the capability to access additional funding options like the AWS partner funding program, TekStream offers you access to financially savvy solutions that can bring tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars to your project. We focus on creating applications that are effective today but scalable and adaptable for tomorrow. This foresight is crucial for maintaining the relevance and efficiency of your applications in the long term.
Continuous Engagement for Long-Term Success
The journey does not end with the initial build. Long-term success hinges on continuous engagement that adapts and evolves your application to meet the ever-changing landscape of your business needs. This approach ensures your applications remain relevant to your business over time.
TekStream Expertise as a Service (EaaS) provides on-demand access to the best technical talent who stay up-to-date with the latest trends and services. This service will help you tackle your toughest business challenges by using your existing application environment to create the most efficient, time-sensitive and resource-conscious solutions.
Through our Managed Services Provider (MSP) practice, TekStream can build, maintain, update and monitor modern applications, providing 24×7 support. The integration of EaaS with our MSP model ensures continuous, comprehensive support for your technology needs.
Modern Application Examples
Transforming Service Delivery With Digital Training
A renowned quick-service restaurant brand faced legacy staff training system issues, including low adoption rates and usability challenges. TekStream developed a custom-built digital learning platform, focusing on intuitive design and expandability. Key features include fully searchable text, customizable training plans and multilingual support. The pilot in 200 stores led to a company-wide launch, significantly enhancing the employee training experience and paving the way for future educational initiatives.
Better Constituent Experiences & Inter-Departmental Collaboration
The Georgia Technology Authority (GTA) sought to reduce operational costs and improve infrastructure by migrating to the cloud. TekStream facilitated the migration of GTA’s portal application to AWS Cloud, improving their development process with automated CI/CD pipelines and integrating various AWS services. The migration resulted in annual savings of $1M, a 50%
reduction in infrastructure costs and enhanced application resilience and availability.
Developing Modern Applications That Scale
We recognize that the path to digital excellence is built on trust and collaboration, especially crucial for mission-critical, cloud-native applications. We provide the precision and reliability to avoid costly downtime and resource expenses.
As visionaries, strategists and relentless problem solvers, TekStream stands as that crucial partner, ready to guide you through every step to leverage modern application development to drive your business outcomes. We can help you implement our modern application approach whether you:
- Have an existing application (customer-facing or back office) and need to choose the forward path to deliver the next version
- Need a new application created (customer-facing or back office)
- Need to build new or update existing applications faster and safer in a manner that allows for future innovation without being locked into legacy development models
Visionaries, strategists and problem solvers
More Application Modernization Tools and Resources Are Available
Learn how to build enterprise-grade middleware and redefine your mission-critical applications.