December 12, 2018 // By Dave Sauer
For companies with a large portfolio of .NET applications, the idea of modernizing and moving those apps to the cloud can seem daunting. Thankfully, there are platforms like Pivotal Cloud Foundry (PCF) that enable companies to continuously deliver any app to every major private and public cloud with a single platform.
To get started, key determinations must be made – simply re-platforming or modernizing, using .NET core or .NET Framework, deciding which level of cloud-native – that can drastically change your approach.
.NET monolith systems are a paradox – crucial to business processes today, yet an obstacle to tomorrow’s requirements. Enterprise developers spend much of their time reconciling these two realities. And for companies looking to wield software as a differentiator, they must be able to adapt to the latest technology and do it with speed.
There are two common patterns for moving a legacy application onto a modern platform like PCF: replatforming and modernizing. Most companies that have a large portfolio of .NET apps will need to consider a mix of both.
Replatforming
Commonly referred to as a “lift and shift,” replatforming is a simple migration from legacy client-server infrastructure to a modern platform like PCF. This is a good option when the app is simple, like a form-based app, and can be deprecated in a reasonable timeframe. Replatforming should also include the setup of the continuous integration and continuous delivery pipelines for code delivery. Replatforming almost always results in hardware optimization, application availability and increased security.
Modernization
Modernization is redesigning and reworking an application to being truly cloud native. This approach helps you realize the full benefits of PCF. This process decomposes an app and reassembles those pieces in more of a microservice architecture. This isn’t done as one fast swipe across the application but rather smaller, repeatable steps. Done correctly this should insure a longer lifespan for your application and enhance its business value.
With an understanding of when to re-platform versus when to modernize, the next step is to determine which level of modernization for each application makes sense for your organization. For a step-by-step guide on how to effectively modernize .NET applications to fully leverage PCF, read the full white paper.
Magenic is a proud partner of Pivotal and recipient of Pivotal’s 2018 “Breakthrough Systems Integrator Partner of the Year” award.