Let’s talk about legacy apps.
First off we shouldn’t really use the term ‘legacy’ any more, and rightly so. Legacy has a bad rap. It’s always used as the go-to scapegoat word for anything in the organisation that is no longer shiny and no-one wants to take responsibility for. But let’s be realistic; your legacy sunset app is probably one of your major revenue streams.
However, over time your app has spaghettied out of control and you’ve been applying band-aids to it for years. The original developers have long since been promoted, left or died, it’s built on frameworks or technologies which have long since passed end-of-life, or have more security holes than a piece of swiss cheese.
So how are we going to address this?
With legal frameworks such as GDPR coming into force in May 2018, you, as an individual within an organisation, can no longer bury your head in the sand. This is where modern, agile DevOps practices come into their own. Here at The Network Factory we have expertise in taking your existing app, unmodified, packaging it up and moving it into a modern, compliant platform.
Now this may not necessarily address all of the security flaws within your app or, let’s face it, make it look any prettier, however it does go a long way towards fixing the vast majority of the underlying components your stack sits upon, which can be replaced and brought into the modern world, with all the benefits of auditable, compliant infrastructure.
An additional benefit is the ability to deploy your app within minutes, as opposed to how long it currently takes. That is, if you can deploy it at all, or recover it from a failed disaster recovery situation without relying on the ‘backup and keep your fingers crossed’ method. I mean, you have tested this right?
Why are we doing this?
It is not a magic bullet, however it does go some way to reducing your attack footprint, whilst benefitting from modern practices such as Containerization, Infrastructure as Code, Continuous Integration, Intelligent Logging and Compliance as Code.
So before you hail microservices as the solution to all your woes and chuck your sunset app out with the bath water, you may want to take a less risky, more cost-effective approach first, whilst planning for your next iteration.
Building on a long-established foundation on Linux, Docker Enterprise Edition can now run containers on IBM z Systems and with the introduction of Microsoft Windows Server 2016, Docker Engine can now run containers natively on Windows. Now with a single cross-platform technology to leverage, you have never been in a better position to modernise your operations with minimal risk.
Here at The Network Factory we can help you extend the life and value of your existing apps and automate your platform whilst helping you plan for the future.
To learn more about our services and what we can do for you, call us on +44(0)207 100 666 8 or email us at hello@thenetworkfactory.com and we'll find a dependable, cost-effective solution that works for you.