IBM Application Modernization Field Guide

IBM Application ModernizationField Guide

Download the current version of theApplication Modernization Field d-guide/appmodernization-field-guide Copyright International Business Machines Corporation 2018, 2021. USGovernment Users Restricted Rights - Use, duplication or disclosure restrictedby GSA ADP Schedule Contract with IBM Corp.

Continuously respond to therapid pace of changeChampion digital transformation and embrace agile ways of workingthat fuel growth and keep you competitive. Optimize business operatingmodels within a hybrid cloud strategy to drive cost efficiency, increaseproductivity, and create opportunities for innovation. To unlock thevalue of a hybrid cloud approach, IT leaders need architectural flexibilityand leading technologies like AI to modernize apps for improved ROIand faster time to market.MODERNIZATION PROVIDES IMMEDIATE BENEFITSAccelerate digital transformation. App modernization is driven by theneed to transform business to build new capabilities and deliver themquickly.Create a future-ready culture. Quickly develop and deliver newapplications and services through the adoption of a cloud-nativearchitecture, containerization, and AI accelerators.Accelerate delivery. Adopt DevOps best practices to drive a culture ofautomation and transformation.Deploy enterprise applications on hybrid cloud platforms. Improveefficiency by automating operations in your hybrid multicloudenvironment.What’s inside?This field guide provides a high-level overview of IBM’s applicationmodernization approach.LEARN ITA summary of the concepts.GET STARTEDTips to start the journey tomodernize your apps.

LEARN ITReady your applications forcloudWhen you modernize your existing applications, you can ease yourmove to the cloud with the full promise of cloud technology. With acloud-native microservices approach, you can capitalize on the scalability and flexibility inherent to cloud. Modernizing your cloud-nativeapplications enables applications to run concurrently and seamlesslyconnect with your existing investments. Barriers that prohibit productivity and integration are removed to create new user experiences anddevelop new applications.BUILD ONCE AND DEPLOY ON ANY CLOUDAssess your applications. Identify apps that can be readily moved intothe cloud platform and those that will require refactoring.Build applications quickly. Leverage containers as the foundation forapplications and services.Automate deployments for productivity. DevOps pipelines automatedeployments quickly and reliably.Consistently run and manage. Consolidate operations for allapplications into a common management approach to ensure reliabilityand faster problem resolution.Learn moreCheck out the IBM Garage.https://www.ibm.com/garage2

Modernize your applicationsquickly and safely using ouraccelerators and tools.IBM guides your cloud transformation journey with leading technology andprescriptive guidance to help you achieve your business outcomes.

LEARN ITModernization journeyTo get started on your modernization journey, you must understand theapproaches that are available to rearchitect your estate. The IBM CloudTransformation Advisor helps you select the best entry point to delivervalue at each step in your journey. IBM can assist you in understandingthe patterns to help you achieve your modernization goals.CHOOSE THE APPROACH THAT BEST FITS YOUR NEEDSContainerize the monolith. Reduce costs and simplify operations bymoving applications to a cloud runtime. Start with one and then identifysets of applications to move as a wave.Expose on-premises assets with APIs. APIs enable legacy assets thatare difficult to enable to the cloud.Refactor into macroservices. Break down monoliths into smallerdeployable components based on maturity, modernization objectivesand requirements.Add new microservices. Innovate incrementally, reduce complexity,and establish success early.Strangle the monolith. Incrementally sunset the monolith.Learn moreCheck out the Application modernization itectures/application-modernization4

Mix and match yourapproaches as needed!Increase your delivery velocity throughout the journey.

GET STARTEDBuild on a trusted foundationContainer platforms, like Kubernetes, provide the foundation forapp modernization. This open source-based container managementsystem targets both development and operations staff. Withcontainerization, developers can treat configuration as code toenable a modern DevOps toolchain. IBM provides a consistentcontainer platform for application modernization across IBM Cloud–both public and private.REDUCE COSTS & MINIMIZE DISRUPTIONSIBM Cloud Paks. Enterprise-ready, containerized software solutionfor modernizing existing applications and developing new cloudnative apps that run on Red Hat OpenShift.Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform. Based on the Kubernetescontainer orchestration project, OpenShift is the starting point. Astrong foundation with resiliency and security in the forefront isessential.Deploy anywhere. Use any public or private cloud provider.Learn moreCheck out IBM Cloud Paks.https://www.ibm.com/cloud/paks/6

IBM delivers enterprise software for cloud running on theRed Hat OpenShift Container Platform, based on Kubernetes.

GET STARTEDAssess your app portfolioBefore tackling the job of modernizing your applications, you need tounderstand your application inventory and how it aligns with businesspriorities. This will help you determine the best technical path tomodernization and evaluate the effort required.APPLICATION MODERNIZATION IS BUSINESS MODERNIZATIONAlign to your business priorities. Understand where your businessneeds are driving you to modernize.Take inventory of your apps. Run IBM Cloud Transformation Advisorto collect information from your existing Java environment andrecommend modernization activities.Spend your modernization dollars wisely. Make better decisions byunderstanding how your application portfolio aligns to your businesspriorities.Learn moreCheck out the IBM Cloud Transformation Advisor tool.ibm.biz/cloudta8

Advice based on IBM’sexpertise!Get expert tailored advice about your modernization options.

GET STARTEDAlign priorities and optionsClassify your application modernization portfolio by choosingan optimal combination of modernization techniques and effortrequired to meet your business goals.NOT ALL APPLICATIONS ARE CREATED EQUALSimplify. Understand where your business needs are driving you tomodernize. Run the IBM Cloud Transformation Advisor to gain clarityon your modernization options.Select the right modernization approach. Evaluate all possiblemodernization options relative to their complexity, cost, andbusiness value.Plan and prioritize. Plan your modernization based on matchingeffort to business priorities. Your first few projects should be bothshort in duration and high in potential business value.Learn moreCheck out the IBM Cloud Transformation Advisor tool.ibm.biz/cloudta10

Choose a modernization approach based on yourapplication code timeline and appetite for risk.

GET STARTEDContainerize your appsWrapping an application in a container image is a good first steptoward modernization, but many applications are not optimized forcontainers. Load balancing, application state handling, and monitoring are different in containerized applications. As a result, you mightneed to rewrite portions of your applications. Likewise, performancetuning and DevOps processes must be aligned to containers.YOU WRAPPED YOUR APP IN A CONTAINER IMAGE - NOWWHAT?Adapt your applications. If you have existing IBM WebSphereapplications from a non-cloud environment, the IBM Cloud Pakproduct family and IBM WebSphere Hybrid Edition include pre-builtcontainerized middleware and services to support your journey.Modernize your DevOps and configuration. Automatically generatepipelines for new applications as well as orchestration tools thatautomate configuration.Consolidate and standardize operations. Manage and monitoroperations based on open container technologies.Learn moreCheck out the Application modernization itectures/applicationmodernization12

Containerized middleware and applications are key to movingto modern development and operations approaches.

GET STARTEDAdopt a modern applicationplatformMoving to the cloud can be a large and complex effort. You will needto carefully review your business inventory and prepare infrastructure to determine the best path forward for each application. If youare running on a WebSphere platform, you can use TransformationAdvisor (part of the IBM WebSphere Hybrid Edition) to facilitate yourjourney.A CLOUD-FIRST FRAMEWORK FOR THE FUTUREBuild cloud-native microservices. Build new applications with IBMWebSphere Liberty, a light-weight runtime optimized for cloud.Extend with new services. Use IBM WebSphere Liberty containersto modernize and extend existing WebSphere applications.Migrate unchanged apps. Containerize your traditional IBMWebSphere apps and use common operational services, includinglogging and monitoring.Adopt standardized operations. Achieve scalability, availability,maintainability, and security with Kubernetes.Learn moreCheck out the Application modernization itectures/applicationmodernization14

Your WebSphere app investments have served your businesswell; migrate them to a cloud-first container platform andextend their reach to new cloud-native apps via APIs.

GET STARTEDRefactorRefactoring is the process of replacing existing, hard to maintaincode with new, better code in a piecewise way. You “strangle” theold monolith by replacing each business function incrementally.MODERNIZE INTELLIGENTLYProductivity. Refactoring an application to microservices improvesdeveloper productivity and allows you to quickly release more code.Scalability. Refactoring to a more scalable architecture should bedone incrementally. It’s important to provide real business value ateach step in the refactoring process.Containerize. Repackage your monolith as an IBM WebSphereLiberty or Open Liberty container. Then add new containers to yoursolution as you separate business functions into new microservices.Use IBM Mono2Micro to identify optimal microservice candidates.Learn moreCheck out the Application modernization itectures/applicationmodernization16

When you replace a monolith piecewise, you gainefficiency and business value at each step.

GET STARTEDExpose and integrateSome existing applications are best exposed as APIs that are easilyreused for building new capabilities that augment the existingapplication. You can then leverage those APIs to integrate futureapplications into the ecosystem. Running on Red Hat OpenShift ,the IBM Cloud Pak for Integration gives you agility to deploy and runworkloads on-premises and on private and public clouds.UNLOCK BUSINESS VALUE FROM EXISTING SYSTEMSExpose. Expose existing value as REST APIs for easy access fromany endpoint.Manage. Place APIs under management control to improve security,performance and visibility.Leverage. New applications can build on freshly-exposed APIsfrom existing applications without requiring changes to existingapplications.Learn moreCheck out the IBM Cloud Pak for r-integration18

Simplify the management of your integration architecture and reducecost with the IBM Cloud Pak for Integration.