As new technologies become available within the digital space, businesses must adapt quickly by modernizing their legacy systems and harnessing the power of the cloud to stay competitive. Forrester’s 2024 report recognizes 42 notable providers– and we’re proud to announce that Perficient is among them.

We believe our inclusion in Forrester’s Application Modernization and Multicloud Managed Services Landscape, Q4 2024 reflects our commitment to evolving enterprise applications and managing multicloud environments to enhance customer experiences and drive growth in a complex digital world.

With the demand for digital transformation growing rapidly, this landscape provides valuable insights into what businesses can expect from service providers, how different companies compare, and the options available based on provider size and market focus.

Application Modernization and Multicloud Managed Services

Forrester defines application modernization and multicloud managed services as:

“Services that offer technical and professional support to perform application and system assessments, ongoing application multicloud management, application modernization, development services for application replacements, and application retirement.”

According to the report,

“Cloud leaders and sourcing professionals implement application modernization and multicloud managed services to:

• Deliver superior customer experiences.
• Gain access to technical and transformational skills and capabilities.
• Reduce costs associated with legacy technologies and systems.”

By focusing on application modernization and multicloud management, Perficient empowers businesses to deliver superior customer experiences through agile technologies that boost user satisfaction. We provide clients with access to cutting-edge technical and transformational skills, allowing them to stay ahead of industry trends. Our solutions are uniquely tailored to reduce costs associated with maintaining legacy systems, helping businesses optimize their IT budgets while focusing on growth.

Focus Areas for Modernization and Multicloud Management

Perficient has honed its expertise in several key areas that are critical for organizations looking to modernize their applications and manage multicloud environments effectively. As part of the report, Forrester asked each provider included in the Landscape to select the top business scenarios for which clients select them and from there determined which are the extended business scenarios that highlight differentiation among the providers. Perficient self-reported three key business scenarios that clients work with us out of those extended application modernization and multicloud services business scenarios:

• Infrastructure Modernization: We help clients transform their IT infrastructure to be more flexible, scalable, and efficient, supporting the rapid demands of modern applications.
• Cloud-Native Development Execution: Our cloud-native approach enables new applications to leverage cloud environments, maximizing performance and agility.
• Cloud Infrastructure “Run”: We provide ongoing support for cloud infrastructure, keeping applications and systems optimized, secure, and scalable.

Delivering Value Through Innovation

Perficient is listed among large consultancies with an industry focus in financial services, healthcare, and the manufacturing/production of consumer products. Additionally, our geographic presence in North America, Latin America, and the Asia-Pacific region was noted.

We believe that Perficient’s inclusion in Forrester’s report serves as another milestone in our mission to drive digital innovation for our clients across industries. We are proud to be recognized among notable providers and look forward to continuing to empower our clients to transform their digital landscapes with confidence. For more information on how Perficient can help your business with application modernization and multicloud managed services, contact us today.

Download the Forrester report, The Application Modernization And Multicloud Managed Services Landscape, Q4 2024, to learn more (link to report available to Forrester subscribers and for purchase).

Introduction

A quick summary of the new official digital sign requirement of the FDIC is that effective January 1, 2025, this logo:

must be replaced by this logo:

For readers who missed part 1 of this series or want to reread the original blog can find it here.

However, the new lengthy regulation raised many questions by the industry, and Perficient’s Financial Services Risk and Regulatory consultants have been researching answers and questioning regulators to provide in order to provide our current and future clients the answers to the following questions that have been raised.

Detailed Q&A:

#1. Are IDIs’ websites considered deposit taking channels for purposes of the digital signage requirements?

Answer: Under part 328, the FDIC official digital sign must be displayed on “digital deposit taking channels,” which includes IDIs’ “websites and web-based or mobile applications that offer the ability to make deposits electronically and provide access to deposits at insured depository institutions.” 12 CFR § 328.5(a). If an IDI’s website is purely informational, with no ability to make deposits or access deposits, it would not be a digital deposit-taking channel.

#2. Can the official digital sign appear only on the IDI’s “home page” and not on the other web pages that make up the website?

Answer: No. Under part 328, the FDIC official digital sign must be displayed on the (1) initial or homepage of the IDI’s website or application, (2) landing or login pages, and (3) pages where a customer may transact with deposits. For example, the FDIC official digital sign should be displayed where a mobile application allows customers to deposit checks remotely, because this electronic space is in effect a digital teller window. 12 CFR § 328.5(d).

#3. Where are we required to place the official digital sign on a bank webpage or app to ensure compliance with the “clear,” “continuous,” and “conspicuous” placement of the digital sign?

Answer: The final rule requires IDIs to display the official digital sign in a clear, continuous, and conspicuous manner. In general, the FDIC would expect to see official digital signs displayed on the applicable pages in a manner that is clearly legible to all consumers to ensure they can read it easily. The official digital sign could be displayed above the IDI’s name, to the right of the IDI’s name or below the IDI’s name, but under all circumstances, the official digital sign continuously displayed near the top of the relevant page or screen and in close proximity to the IDI’s name would meet the clear and conspicuous standard under the rule.

#4. Can the official digital sign be dismissed once a customer logs in?

Answer: No. The final rule requires that the official digital sign be displayed “in a continuous manner,” which means it must remain visible on the (1) initial page or homepage of the website or application, (2) landing or login pages, and (3) pages where the customer may transact with deposits. 12 CFR § 328.5(d). The final rule, however, does not require the official digital sign to continue to follow the user as they scroll up or down the screen.

#5. How should IDIs display the FDIC official digital sign on mobile devices with screen resolutions that do not support the ability to display the entirety of the digital sign on one line?

Answer: If the image does not fit a particular device or screen, the official digital sign can be scaled, “wrapped,” or “stacked” to fit the relevant screen and may satisfy the “clear and conspicuous” requirement.

#6. If an IDI’s name appears at the top of its website, and it also appears in the website’s footer, does the new FDIC official digital sign need to be displayed at the top of the page and also in the footer?

Answer: Under the final rule, IDIs are required to display the FDIC official digital sign “clearly and conspicuously” in a continuous manner; the official digital sign continuously displayed near the top of the relevant page or screen and in close proximity to the IDI’s name would meet the clear and conspicuous standard under the rule. 12 CFR § 328.5(f). IDIs are not required to display the FDIC official digital sign every time the IDI’s name appears, such as in the footer of the website.

#7. To satisfy the final rule’s official digital sign requirements, can the official digital sign be placed in the footer of the webpage?

Answer: No. For purposes of satisfying the final rule, IDIs are required to display the official digital sign in a clear, continuous, and conspicuous manner. The official digital sign continuously displayed near the top of the relevant page or screen and in close proximity to the IDI’s name would meet the clear and conspicuous standard under the rule. 12 CFR § 328.5(f). Therefore, placing the official digital sign in a footer of an IDI’s webpage would not meet the clear, conspicuous, and continuous display requirement.

#8. If an IDI displays the FDIC official digital sign on its mobile app’s homepage and alongside the IDI’s logo within the app, is it also necessary to include this signage on the transaction portal before a customer completes a transaction?

Answer: It depends in part on what type of transaction is being completed. The FDIC official digital sign must be displayed on the (1) initial or homepage of the bank’s website or application, (2) landing or login pages, and (3) pages where a customer may transact with deposits. 12 CFR § 328.5(d). For example, the FDIC official digital sign should be displayed where an IDI’s mobile application allows customers to deposit checks remotely, because this is an electronic space where a customer is transacting with deposits.

However, if a consumer is completing a transaction by using an embedded third-party payment platform that consumers: (a) access after logging into their IDI’s website; and (b) utilize to initiate payments/move funds out of the IDI, then the official digital sign should not be posted on those pages.

#9. What are examples of “pages where the customer may transact with deposits” that require the display of the FDIC official digital sign?

Answer: Examples of “pages where the customer may transact with deposits” that require the display of the FDIC official digital sign include, but are not limited to: mobile application pages that allow customers to deposit checks remotely; and, pages where customers may transfer deposits between deposit accounts held within the same IDI (e.g., checking to savings or vice versa). On the other hand, the FDIC would not expect an IDI to display the FDIC official digital sign on pages where a customer is transferring money from a deposit account to a non-deposit account.

#10. What is the definition of “landing or login page”?

Answer: For purposes of the final rule, a “landing or login page” generally refers to an insured depository institution’s (IDI’s) webpage or screen from which a customer is able to log into the IDI’s digital deposit taking channel. Specifically, the terms include pages where customers enter their credentials (e.g., username and password) or use other authentication methods (e.g., face identification) to access an IDI’s website or banking application. The terms are intended to cover various types of logins, whether with usernames and passwords, face IDs, thumbprints, etc.

#11. Where should the official digital sign be placed if the IDI’s app or website does not currently display the IDI’s full name; it only displays the IDI’s logo or a partial name?

Answer: The final rule provides that an official digital sign be continuously displayed near the top of the relevant page or screen and in close proximity to the IDI’s name would be considered clear and conspicuous. 12 CFR § 328.5(f)

If an IDI displays its full name, a partial name of the IDI, or the logo of the IDI (or any similar symbol used to identify the IDI) near the top of the page or screen, and continuously displays the official digital sign in close proximity to it, this approach would be considered clear and conspicuous.

#12. Do the FDIC official digital sign requirements apply to downloadable content such as terms and conditions or other digital collateral available via an IDI’s online channels?

Answer: Part 328 requires IDIs to display the official digital sign on their digital deposit-taking channels on the following pages or screens: initial or homepage of the website or application, landing or login pages, and pages where the customer may transact with deposits. Downloadable content that is available from an IDI’s website would not likely be viewed as a page or screen where the official digital sign would be required.

#13. Is an IDI required to display the FDIC official digital sign in the app store where the IDI’s app is available for download?

Answer: No. An IDI is not required to post the official digital sign in the app store where its app is available for download.

Contact us to discuss your specific risk and regulatory challenges. Our financial services expertise, blended with our digital leadership across platforms and business needs, equips the largest organizations to solve complex challenges and compliantly drive growth.

In the wake of VMware’s recent license cost increase under Broadcom’s new pricing model, many enterprises are facing the pressing need to reevaluate their IT strategies. For those reliant on VMware’s virtualization technologies, the cost hike poses a significant challenge to maintaining budgetary control while continuing to drive digital transformation efforts.

Rather than simply absorbing these increased expenses, businesses now have a prime opportunity to explore more cost-effective and future-proof solutions. Perficient and Amazon Web Services (AWS), a robust and versatile cloud platform, can help organizations not only manage but also optimize their IT spending.

Why AWS?

AWS stands out as a premier choice for enterprises seeking to transition from traditional VMware environments to the cloud. Amazon Web Services Optimization and Licensing Assessment (AWS OLA) evaluates your third-party licensing costs to help you right-size your resources, reduce costs, and explore flexible licensing options. With its comprehensive suite of cloud-native services, AWS offers unparalleled flexibility, scalability, and cost-efficiency, enabling businesses to innovate and grow without being constrained by rising license fees.

AWS Finance Data shows that customers who used OLA benefited from a 36% reduction in total cost of ownership (TCO). Licensing is a critical yet often overlooked factor in cloud migration decisions. The cost associated with commercial licenses and the specific terms can significantly impact the total cost of ownership (TCO). A 2023 AWS study of 439 customers, encompassing over 300,000 servers, revealed that factoring in licensing considerations along with utilization optimization resulted in an average potential savings of 25.8%. This highlights the importance of a comprehensive approach to cloud migration, where licensing plays a key role in achieving substantial cost reductions.

How Perficient Can Help

As an AWS Advanced Tier Services Partner with the Migration Consulting Competency, Perficient is uniquely positioned to perform your AWS Optimization and Licensing Assessment (OLA). Our deep expertise and proven methodologies ensure a thorough evaluation of your current infrastructure, delivering actionable insights to optimize your AWS environment and reduce costs. With our extensive experience and strategic approach, Perficient helps you navigate the complexities of AWS licensing, ensuring your transition to the cloud is seamless and cost-effective.

Turning VMware Cost Hikes into Cloud-Driven Success with AWS and Perficient

Perficient is your trusted partner in this transition, offering the expertise, tools, and support needed to successfully migrate to AWS. Together, we can transform this challenge into a strategic advantage, positioning your business for long-term success in the cloud era.

For more information on how Perficient can help you transition to AWS, contact us today. Let’s embark on this journey to a more agile, efficient, and cost-effective IT future.

Sources:

https://aws.amazon.com/optimization-and-licensing-assessment/

https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/mt/reduce-software-licensing-costs-with-an-aws-optimization-and-licensing-assessment/

VMware (Broadcom) has discontinued their VMware partner resell program. This announcement forces customers to move forward with one of three options:

1. Buy directly from VMware,
2. Migrate workloads to another hypervisor, or
3. Make a platform change.

For many VMware customers, the price changes were abrupt, while others have the luxury of taking a little more time to explore their options.

The Cloud Advantage

As organizations reassess their IT strategies, the shift toward cloud architectures is becoming increasingly attractive. Cloud solutions, built specifically for the cloud environment, offer unparalleled flexibility, scalability, and cost efficiency. They allow businesses to take full advantage of modern infrastructure capabilities without being locked into the escalating costs of traditional on-premises solutions.

Making the Transition

At Perficient, we understand the complexities and challenges associated with such a significant transition. Our expertise in cloud consulting and implementation positions us as the ideal partner to help you navigate this critical shift. Our consultants have developed a comprehensive and flexible plan to assist you in maximizing the efficiency of your platform change.

Comprehensive Assessment and Strategy Development

Our team begins with a thorough assessment of your current IT infrastructure, evaluating the specific impact of the VMware cost increase on your operations. We then develop a tailored strategy that aligns with your business goals, ensuring a smooth and cost-effective transition to cloud solutions.

Migration Services

Moving from a VMware-based infrastructure to a cloud environment can be complex. Our migration services ensure a seamless transition with minimal disruption to your business operations. We employ best practices and proven methodologies to migrate your workloads efficiently and securely.

Ongoing Support and Operational Efficiency

Post migration, we provide ongoing support to ensure your cloud environment operates at peak efficiency. Our team continuously monitors and optimizes your infrastructure, helping you to maximize the return on your cloud investment.

Cost Management and Optimization

One of the key advantages of cloud migration is the potential for significant cost savings and licensing cost avoidance. Our cost management services help you to leverage cloud features to reduce expenses, such as auto-scaling, serverless computing, and efficient resource allocation.

Embracing the Cloud

Perficient stands ready to guide you through this transition, providing the expertise, tools, and support necessary to successfully navigate this change. Together, we can turn this challenge into a transformative opportunity for your business.

To learn more about how these changes might impact your organization and explore our detailed strategy for a smooth transition, visit our cloud page for further insights. Our team is here to help you every step of the way.

Imagine a world where your business can effortlessly keep pace with technological advancements and continuously changing customer expectations. The ability to swiftly develop new technology products and applications is crucial to staying competitive. However, relying solely on in-house development capabilities is not always feasible for many organizations.

Forrester released its Modern Application Development Services Landscape, Q3 2024 report to help businesses understand the value they can expect from modern application development (MAD) service providers and explore potential partners.

Modern Application Development Services

Forrester defines MAD service providers as:

“Service providers that work collaboratively with their clients to cocreate custom modern applications and, in parallel, assist them in the transformation and modernization of their software development capabilities and organization.”

In Forrester’s Priorities Survey, 2024, “64% of business and technology professionals said that bringing more development in-house would be a high or critical priority for their IT organization over the next 12 months.”

According to the report, “tech execs and application development leaders implement MAD services to:

• Increase cocreation. … MAD services can cocreate with clients while supporting them in learning how to modernize capabilities with agile, DevOps, native cloud, and edge, including generative AI (genAI).

• Improve customer experience. The goal isn’t to insource 100% of all application development work, but to improve internal capabilities and be efficient partners with MAD service providers.
• Focus on business outcomes, not just outputs. The shift to assessing modern development by measuring benefit realization and business value is a reality.”

Perficient’s Recognition and Focus Areas

We believe Perficient has been recognized for our ability to deliver on these promises, helping clients navigate the complexities of modern application development and achieve tangible business results. Perficient self-reported the following extended use cases as the top three for which clients select them:

• Backend Integration and Modernization: We specialize in integrating and modernizing backend systems to ensure seamless and efficient operations, enabling businesses to stay competitive in the digital age.
• GenAI to Increase Employee Productivity: We leverage genAI technologies to help clients boost employee productivity by automating routine tasks and enhancing decision-making processes.
• Product Operating Model: We focus on developing robust product operating models that align with our clients’ business objectives, ensuring sustainable growth and innovation.

Perficient’s Expertise and Industry Focus

Forrester based its analysis of service providers on two factors: market presence and services functionality. They segmented vendors into three categories based on MAD services revenue: large, midsize, and small; and five categories based on services functionality and global reach.

Perficient was listed as a large provider in this space with $250 million or more in annual MAD services revenue. Perficient’s listing as a consultancy in this Landscape report includes our geographic presence (North America, Latin America, and Asia-Pacific) and industry focus areas (healthcare, financial services, and manufacturing/production of consumer products).

We are proud of this achievement and remain committed to leveraging our expertise in modern application development to help our clients succeed. For more information on how Perficient can help your business with custom application development and digital transformation, contact us today.

Download the Forrester report, The Modern Application Development Services Landscape, Q3 2024, to learn more (Link to report available to Forrester subscribers and for purchase).

Navigating the complexities of cloud technology requires an exceptional partner. We are thrilled to announce that Perficient has been named a Major Player in the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Cloud Professional Services 2024 Vendor Assessment (Doc #US51406224, June 2024).

What Does This Inclusion Mean for Perficient?

“We’re honored to be recognized as a Major Player in this IDC MarketScape Report, a distinction we believe highlights our holistic approach to cloud strategy and our implementation expertise,” said Glenn Kline, Perficient’s Area Vice President of Product Development Operations. “We combine our Envision Framework, migration and modernization expertise, and our strong network of partnerships with leading cloud providers to drive measurable business outcomes for our customers. Our Agile-ready global team enables businesses to think big, start small, and act fast so they can scale their cloud ecosystem over time and deliver on the outcomes promised by cloud computing.”

According to the IDC MarketScape, businesses should “consider Perficient if [they] are looking for a midsized cloud services provider that can combine client intimacy with industrial-strength capabilities in technology transformation and experience design and build.” Additionally, our global managed services group has created comprehensive accelerators such as the App Modernization IQ, Cloud FinOps IQ, and Green Impact IQ, serving as effective tools for guiding clients in cloud operations strategies.

What Does This Mean for Our Clients?

We believe this inclusion reaffirms Perficient as a trusted partner in cloud transformation. Perficient Cloud, our comprehensive suite of six solution areas, serves as a roadmap to navigate the evolving landscape of cloud technology. These areas focus on delivering critical business and technology capabilities, with agnostic offers and accelerators tailored to meet the unique needs of each client. Our Agile-ready global team enables businesses to think big, start small, and act fast, allowing scalable cloud ecosystems that maximize investment. Our focus areas include:

• Technology Modernization: Enhancing performance and efficiency through updated infrastructure.
• Product Differentiation: Creating innovative product offerings that stand out.
• Customer Engagement: Improving interactions and experiences with personalized, data-driven approaches.
• Data & AI Enablement: Driving insights and innovation with advanced analytics and AI.
• Automation & Operational Agility: Boosting efficiency with automation solutions.
• Sustainable Practices: Promoting responsible and impactful cloud strategies.

Join Us on Our Cloud Journey

We believe our inclusion in the IDC MarketScape report highlights our commitment to helping businesses navigate the complexities of cloud transformation. We are dedicated to delivering top-tier cloud solutions that drive growth and innovation.

To learn more about Perficient’s cloud professional services, download the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Cloud Professional Services 2024 Vendor Assessment report available to IDC subscribers and for purchase. You can also read our News Release for more details on this recognition.

Cloud modernization is the primary driver of digital transformation and impactful business value. Cloud platforms have evolved from core technology to disruptive ecosystems of strategic advantage.  Migration and modernization are vital to reach new markets, deliver innovative products, improve resiliency, reduce costs, and improve customer experiences.  But it’s easy (and common) to lose sight of your business mission as you navigate complicated technological challenges.

Sometimes, visualization can help.  We’ve created our Enterprise Cloud Transit Map as a simple blueprint for navigating complexities while staying focused on the win themes that really matter: creating competitive advantages, adding customer value, building a strong operational core, and growing your business:

The Tracks of Transformation: I Think I Can

Our map consists of five distinct tracks, each with its own set of ‘stations’ or focus areas, designed to guide your voyage towards the real value prop outcomes of cloud modernization:

• Competitive Advantage
• Business Growth
• Innovation & Acceleration
• Profitability
• Operational Maturity
• Foundational Core
• Customer Value

Strategy & Architecture: This is where your journey begins. Aligning organizational goals with industry insights and crafting fit-for-purpose architecture lays the foundation. Business Alignment, Product Strategy, Scalability, and Interoperability are key stops for this line, as well as Centers of Excellence ensuring adoption success and leading to innovation and differentiated products.

Platform Foundation: The next path is getting your infrastructure, platform, connectivity, and governance set up for success across multicloud and hybrid cloud architectures, modernizing legacy IT, solving for resiliency issues, and setting the table for sustainability and cost optimization wins down the line.

Migrate & Modernize: The heart of transformation lies in scalability, cost optimization, and interoperability. This track is a deep dive into streamlining deployments, embracing cloud-native capabilities, and modernizing applications to deliver differentiated products more efficiently.

Data Insight: Data is the engine driving intelligent decision-making. This track emphasizes modernizing your data platform, ensuring regulatory compliance, and unlocking (and trusting) the potential of AI, setting the stage for insightful, data-driven decisions and truly impactful applications of emerging tech.

Cloud Operating Model: The maturity of your journey, focusing on developing team skills, optimizing costs, enabling new business objectives, and establishing a modern operational model. Success here aligns your cloud model to your existing organization while embracing transformative tools, technologies, and processes, with effective resource management and sustainable policies & governance.

On the Path to Business Impact

For IT and business leaders committed to modernizing their organizations, our Enterprise Cloud Transit Map is more than just a navigational guide; it’s a sanity check on delivering real-world business impacts and outcomes.  Understanding the key themes of the map helps you set a course to resiliency, performance, profitable growth, and competitive innovation.

All Aboard!

Perficient is excited to introduce two transformative products to help businesses optimize software health, expedite cloud migration, manage open-source risks, and enhance their environmental footprint: App Modernization IQ and Green Impact IQ. These offerings come as a result of our new partnership with CAST, a market leader in software intelligence.

These offerings layer services on top of CAST’s software intelligence technology that automatically “understand” custom-built software systems, providing actionable insights across all applications. They transform Perficient’s application modernization and cloud migration operating model across cloud practices with insights that enable rapid application assessment and portfolio transformation planning, providing even more immediate value to enterprise customers, along with extensive internal sales enablement and delivery readiness efforts.

Both new offerings are powered by CAST Highlight:

• App Modernization IQ equips businesses with actionable insights to optimize software health, accelerate cloud migration, and mitigate open-source risks.
• In parallel, Green Impact IQ empowers organizations to enhance their environmental sustainability by identifying opportunities to reduce their carbon footprint and energy consumption–often paired with cloud migration to address ESG initiatives.

The true value of these offerings lies in the speed and accuracy they provide. Highlight is the premier software intelligence offering in the modernization landscape, replacing traditional, time-consuming methods with rapid fact-based insights. By integrating its capabilities into our products, we can quickly understand a customer’s application portfolio, layer on their expertise, and provide an actionable roadmap in a much shorter time than competitors.

CAST Highlight’s four key categories of intelligence–Software Health, Cloud Maturity, Open-Source Risks, and Green Impact–give businesses a comprehensive view of their application landscape. This ensures cloud migration isn’t merely a lift-and-shift operation, but a strategic transformation that addresses health, security, and sustainability concerns.

Perficient and CAST are currently planning to deepen the impact of this strategic partnership by developing additional tools and services offerings that integrate CAST Imaging’s deep-analysis software intelligence capabilities.

To learn more about Perficient’s cloud capabilities, click here.

In a comedy special, Jerry Seinfeld once humorously said, “I saw a study that said speaking in front of a crowd is considered the number one fear of the average person. I found that amazing. Number two was death. Death was number two? This means to the average person if you have to be at a funeral, you would rather be in the casket than doing the eulogy.”

The crowd roared with laughter. Of course, it’s amusing because it touches on a truth we all know too well – fear is a powerful force in our lives, influencing our decisions and actions in various situations. Whether it’s the fear of public speaking, the fear of failure, or even the fear of snakes, we all experience it in some form or another.

However, when it comes to the business world, fear can be one of the most significant obstacles we encounter on a daily basis. Specifically, fear of how to keep up with competitors and modernize our software, which holds the key to success in what we call app modernization. In fact, approximately 74% of businesses fail at app modernization.

Most people don’t know this but there is a neurological hack to mitigate fear. Once you understand the science behind fear, you can use this technique to reverse fear and overcome obstacles to ignite fearless app modernization.

The Science Behind Fear

People often experience fear in business due to the uncertainty and potential risks involved. Our brain’s primal urges take over, perceiving risks as a threat to our survival. This fear triggers the amygdala (see image), the brain’s fear responder, making it extremely difficult to embrace transformative changes. In fact, Norwest reports that 90% of CEOs agree that fear is their leading cause of distress, leading to stagnation and missed opportunities.

You Won’t Expect the Solution

The key to reversing fear is not deep breathing or yoga, nor is it the latest relaxation technique or motivational seminar. While these methods have merits, the true antidote to fear may surprise you: Generosity. Yes, you read that right. Acts of generosity, both in business and life, have a remarkable power to reduce fear and ignite progress in ways you might never have imagined.

Scientifically, generosity naturally reduces the amygdala response, reducing fear and anxiety. By directing your attention away from yourself and toward others, you are more empathetic, more genuine, and effectively calm the fear response. Lisa Firestone, Ph. D. said, “Generosity is actually (selfishly) in your best interest.”

But… How Do I Do That?

It may seem like a strange question, but it’s completely normal to ask, “How can I be more generous?” Especially when we’re discussing app modernization. Generosity is the key to unlocking the potential for fearless app modernization. By embracing the power of generosity and implementing strategies that foster collaboration and employee growth, businesses can overcome fear and drive successful app modernization initiatives.

Here are ten practical ways to actively mitigate the fear of app modernization through generosity.

1. Embrace Change as an Opportunity: Instead of fearing change, view it as an opportunity for growth and progress. Embrace the idea that modernizing your apps can lead to improved efficiency, enhanced user experience, and a competitive edge in the market. In 1997, Netflix recognized the need to adapt and changed their company strategy to shift focus to online streaming, with more than 200 million subscribers worldwide today.
2. Foster a Culture of Support and Openness: Establish a culture that encourages open communication and values input from all organizational levels. Create an environment where team members can freely share their insights, experiences, and concerns, fostering a supportive atmosphere that empowers everyone to contribute effectively.
3. Encourage Cross-Functional Collaboration: Form cross-functional teams to work on app modernization projects, bringing together diverse perspectives and expertise. Collaborative efforts lead to more comprehensive and effective solutions.
4. Implement Open-Door Feedback: Embrace an open-door policy for feedback and suggestions, enabling employees to voice their concerns and contribute to the decision-making process. This inclusivity boosts morale and confidence in the modernization journey, reducing fear of the unknown.
5. Foster Knowledge Sharing: A Forrester Study reveals that 36% of employees find it hard to exchange information across different teams causing silos. Encourage mentorship programs and regular team meetings to facilitate knowledge sharing. Generously support the exchange of knowledge and ideas, empowering employees to tackle modernization challenges collectively.
6. Embrace Employee Innovations: Be open to and generously embrace innovative ideas from employees at all levels of the organization. When team members feel that their contributions are valued, they become more engaged and are more likely to actively participate in the app modernization process.
7. Provide Abundant Learning Opportunities: Offer continuous learning opportunities and resources for employees to upskill and adapt to modernization demands. Generously investing in employees’ growth helps build confidence and reduces fear about adopting new technologies.
8. Recognize and Reward Efforts: A 2019 Employee Engagement Report showed that only one-third of workers received recognition the last time they went the extra mile. When employees don’t feel valued, they’re more likely to look for new opportunities. Acknowledge and generously reward employees for their contributions to the app modernization process. Recognizing their efforts fosters a sense of ownership and motivation within the team.
9. Prioritize Employee Well-Being: According to recent research conducted by global education tech firm Cengage Group, 89% of 1200 U.S. workers included in the study reported burn out and feeling unsupported as one of the top reasons they are leaving their jobs. Provide work-life balance initiatives and wellness programs to support employees during the app modernization process. Generously investing in employee well-being helps create a healthy and balanced workforce that is better equipped to handle challenges and stress.
10. Empower Career Advancement: 94% of workers said they would remain with a company if their employer invested in their careers. Provide opportunities for career advancement and personal growth. Generously empowering employees with the right skills instills confidence and reduces apprehension about adopting new practices.

The Key to Fearless App Modernization

When Jerry Seinfeld humorously pointed out that people would rather be in the casket than giving the eulogy, he made us laugh at the truth we are all familiar with – fear is a powerful force in our lives, affecting our decisions and actions. But in the business world, fear can hinder progress, especially when it comes to app modernization.

Don’t let your business end up in the casket. Instead, when considering your own business initiatives, embrace the power of generosity, mitigate fear, unlock your true potential, and fearlessly embark on your quest toward app modernization.

Next Steps

For more in-depth solutions for IT leaders, we highly recommend checking out our free guide called the “VP of IT’s Guide to Transforming Your Business.” This guide provides further insights into cloud strategy, data, DevOps, and product development to kickstart your modernization journey.

In our fourth and final segment of our Cloud Transformation for IT Leaders series, we will focus on driving enterprise velocity while maintaining best practices and consistency as your portfolio migration program matures. If done well, this is where your organization achieves true cloud maturity and is on its way to unlocking the incredible innovation possible with modern cloud, including data & analytics, AI / ML and automation – and lowering capital investments in data centers, support vendors and licensing commitments.

If you are just joining us, please check out our previous blogs on the building blocks of a successful cloud transformation program: building a Cloud Program Model, getting your Cloud Foundations right, and designing a Portfolio Transformation approach.

Enabling Your Product Teams for Enterprise Migration

Now that your cloud strategy, business objectives, governance and baseline infrastructure are in place, it’s all about enabling your product teams to be successful in delivering business value – and that means meeting them where they are in their transformation journey. Working with a partner like Perficient provides immense value during this period to maintain momentum, build organizational buy-in, and work through common challenges.

A strategic partner is your thought-leader to:

• Provide perspective on the journey ahead
• Reinforce best practices and guidance
• Demonstrate a reference approach
• Inform overall planning and timing
• Value the impact of change management
• Provide baseline guidance for self-sufficient teams
• Provide white-glove peering for novice teams
• Evangelize standards and patterns
• Embrace pilots and prototypes to inform decisions
• Enable global delivery with confidence
• Ensure consistent program oversight and visibility

As velocity increases, your goal should be to make intelligent decisions for every workload while staying inside the guardrails of your program strategy. Enable your teams to leverage architectures and services that suit their needs – and provide guidance and support to them where it is needed.  There is a lot to consider! (See more below)

Streamlining Your Application Strategy for Successful Enterprise Migration

Almost certainly, your organization has evolved with a wide range of technology platforms, operating systems, programming languages, DevOps tools and hosting models. You’ve probably acquired a few companies along the way and folded those solutions in as best you can in a challenging environment.  You’ve modernized and innovated, but likely not consistently across your portfolio. And that’s ok – you are not alone.

Portfolio migration is a perfect time to simplify your ecosystem and eliminate technical debt and regret.  And while there isn’t enough funding, time, resources or business value to consider rewriting everything, you can make smart decisions per-solution on what is the best approach moving forward.  You can study the 5Rs below but what really matters in the end is focusing on the problems you are trying to solve and making informed decisions from there. A leading concept to help simplify this is: Are you focused on gradual improvement while maintaining existing business value, or targeting total replacement of a solution?  The following guide may provide insight on this decision process:

From Planning to Execution: Maximizing Velocity for Enterprise Migration

As your per-workload decision structure evolves, you are going to build confidence in your approach, gain buy-in from your architecture & security teams, your Cloud COE, and your product teams – and velocity will start to increase across modernization tracks. A pilot phase can be helpful in getting the first migrations off the ground but remember you don’t have to be perfect to be successful. Use learnings from early phases as feedback to future phases. Did you find security issues? Hardcoded config values? Unknown dependencies? Poor software health? See these as silver linings – and use this information to improve your estimates, planning and process for future workloads.

Achieving Operational Excellence Through Intelligent Enterprise Migration

As the program progresses towards steady-state solutions, it’s essential to ensure that program leadership collaborates on management processes and delivery standards. Regular reporting, communication, and change management coordination are crucial for smooth enterprise adoption, migration, and transition. Additionally, embrace automation and quality assurance improvements, invest in monitoring and observability tooling across infrastructure, network, applications, and data to inform operational oversight. It’s also important to revisit the FinOps and cost optimization strategy actively and tune resources to maximize investment. Finally, explore ways to report on sustainability scores and improve them as part of your existing or future ESG program.

The Conclusion (Or the Beginning?) of Your Enterprise Migration Journey

We’ve come a long way in this process, and we’ve covered a comprehensive approach to designing, executing, and accelerating an entire enterprise cloud modernization program. To be successful takes committed buy-in, a willingness to look hard at existing processes and investments, daily collaboration across internal teams, and an ecosystem of vendors and partners. It’s certainly a journey, but the impacts are long-lasting and provide real and sustainable value to your enterprise for decades to come. Thank you for taking this journey with us!

For more in-depth solutions for IT leaders, we highly recommend checking out our free guide called the “VP of IT’s Guide to Transforming Your Business.” This guide provides further insights on how to achieve success in cloud strategy, data, DevOps, and product development to set your organization up for continued growth and success.

Happy Transformation!

In this blog series, we’re exploring the four pillars of a successful Cloud Transformation: Program Model, Cloud Foundations, Portfolio Transformation, and Enterprise App Migration.  The first in the series focused on designing a successful cloud Program Model, and our second blog provided an overview of Cloud Foundations to start your cloud transformation journey on the right track for sustainable success.

Today, we are covering the key elements of Portfolio Transformation. Get excited, because this is where all the strategy and foundational work in which you’ve invested starts to produce business outcomes you’ve been pursuing around modernization, automation, agility, resiliency, data insights and new feature delivery!  And with app modernization, you’re very likely going to see FinOps impacts around cost savings and improved ROI, and ESG/sustainability impacts by moving to a cloud platform and improving your application performance and energy consumption.

As part of your cloud strategy, you’ve determined the hosting strategy you’ll use for modernizing and migrating your workloads, solutions, applications and data (your “Portfolio”).  This may be a cloud-first approach to a single public cloud provider, a multicloud approach or a hybrid cloud approach that includes your existing data center investments.  From there, you’ve aligned on the application platforms and service models that will act as your runtime platforms. You may be targeting cloud-native PaaS services, Kubernetes, OpenShift, serverless, or other options for your service enablement.

Remember, our primary goal is to enable your product teams to deliver on your organizational mission with a secure and governed approach, delivering unambiguous business value that clearly demonstrates the return on your transformation investments.

The Four Phases of Portfolio Transformation

Organizations progress through four phases of an app modernization journey. We believe in “strategy for the real world” and creating cloud programs that are strategically aligned and foundationally sound – and at the same time quickly demonstrate tactical progress that builds trust, excites teams, and confirms stakeholder buy-in.

[See More Below…]

With your initial cloud strategy, cloud foundations and organizational alignment in place, you are at the starting line for your App Modernization program:

Phase 1 of Portfolio Transformation: Discovery and Assessment

During this phase, the focus is on discovering, inventorying, and assessing your server workloads, applications, and data. We recommend intelligent tooling such as CAST Highlight for rapid application assessment to quickly inform direction and prioritization of your portfolio.  This phase includes a series of business, technical, and architectural workshops, including current-state analysis, future-state architecture and design, mapping critical dependencies, considering data strategy, planning for interoperability, conducting gap analysis, and creating a DevOps and automation strategy.

After completing Phase One, you’ll have a better understanding of your portfolio and be able to make informed decisions about the modernization path ahead.

Phase 2 of Portfolio Transformation: Portfolio Rationalization

Phase Warning! Rationalization can be tricky and is a common pitfall for transformation to stall out. To avoid this, commit to discovery tooling to lead your vision forward, and plan for an immediate “Wave One” migration and modernization effort with a small subset of applications to prove out your vision, gain cloud team buy-in, and remediate any bumps in your plan that may emerge as hands start to hit keyboards. It’s okay if things aren’t perfect – this the ideal time to assess and improve your migration strategy – and you’ll likely discover some existing application issues to address along the way (security gaps, hardcoding, configuration issues, etc.), so plan for some remediation time here as well.

During this phase, your modernization program takes shape, your vendor and partner teams define their roles and collaborate, and your migration strategy solidifies based on your cloud strategy and technical vision. Perform an ROI/TCO assessment and cloud cost estimation to ensure your business case remains solid. Define your key migration team roles, define your migration scope, create your migration backlog and roadmap, and select your initial wave of applications.

Remember, the goal is to work toward tangible progress! PDFs sit on shelves. But pilot migrations transform enterprises.

Phase 3 of Portfolio Transformation: Portfolio Migration

This phase steps on the gas pedal. Migration waves are increasing in scope and your teams & pods are adding velocity, perhaps at a global level. Your migration runbook is starting to evolve to meet various application needs, and the migration teams are making informed modernization choices for each application (we’ll talk about the ‘5Rs of App Modernization’ in the next blog post).

During this phase, automation is key for infrastructure and application deployment pipelines. Data integration should align with overall data strategy and fit into the APIM & interoperability vision. Quality assurance is critical to ensure performance, security, integration and feature reliability is working as expected. This is an exciting time for IT leaders as velocity is increasing and early investments are paying off for organizational transformation.

Phase 4 of Portfolio Transformation: Portfolio Operation

In this phase, Operations becomes a first-class citizen! The focus is on ensuring comprehensive monitoring, selecting appropriate tooling (likely a mix of cloud-native monitoring and logging, along with a third-party toolset for single pane of glass visibility – or integration with on-prem monitoring investments and processes.)

Cost management is critical, and we recommend CloudBolt for optimizing cloud spend and identifying remediations and savings recommendations. Analytics and intelligence capabilities now emerge for further business and operational insight, and additional enhancements and innovations start to enter the backlog. A sometimes-overlooked aspect is to sunset legacy applications and retire hardware to maximize savings and improve operational efficiency.

Knowledge sharing with internal operational teams and mobilization of a managed services partner often occurs as part of this phase to ensure seamless transition into the “Run” phase of the solution lifecycle – make sure to include planning for this early in the program so mobilization is seamless, and all teams feel ownership of the transformation journey.

Modernization Impacts

Whether you are migrating 10, 20, 500 or thousands of workloads, you are well on your way to changing how your organization delivers business value to your employees and end customers. You have set the path for impactful data insights, the emergence of incredible AI technology capabilities, and the ability to bring new features and product offerings to your customers faster than ever before. It’s an exciting time!

Next Steps

The last segment in our blog series will dive deeper into enterprise app migration and modernization, reviewing the various approaches to application transformation that provide direction for at-scale transformation programs. Be sure to check it out.

For more in-depth solutions for IT leaders, we highly recommend checking out our free guide called the “VP of IT’s Guide to Transforming Your Business.” This guide provides further insights on how to achieve success in cloud strategy, data, DevOps, and product development to set your organization up for continued growth and success.

App Modernization is the most common buzzword we hear these days along with Digital Transformation. We have been hearing these words for a long time in the IT space. In fact, they go in a circular motion every now and then. But as an organization, the journey of Application (App) Modernization may look different than another organization. In this post, we will answer the three basic questions that every organization should consider.

• Why should we consider App Modernization?
• How do we go about with App Modernization?
• What are the key benefits to be realized from App Modernization?

Why should we consider App Modernization?

Most organizations proceed with their modernization journey without understanding the “Why”. I would recommend watching this talk by Simon Sinek on “Start with Why”. Though this talk is centered around leadership, we can use the same questions for any transformation or modernization program.

For a majority of organizations, the IT transformation programs are carried over to support business initiatives. Whether it is to gain a considerable amount of market share, stay ahead of competitors, improve turnaround time to go to market strategies, reduce technical debt, stay relevant with current technologies, access to talent, improve operational margins, or reduce capital expenditures. We can keep on adding to this list.

But it is a common concern expressed in many organizations that the pace of IT transformations does not align or provide the expected outcomes at the end of transformations. In a 2021 McKinsey Study, you can see that often organizations will start with an understanding of their “Why” during the initial stages of transformation, but then they forget the “Why” after day one and miss those as part of the implementation stages.

“What’s more, while much of a transformation’s value loss (55 percent) occurs during and after implemen­tation, a sizeable portion happens as early as day one (Exhibit 2)“

It is important to prioritize the most strategic goals that align with the core mission and values of the organization. Once we finalize the strategic goals, we need to measure them at every phase of our modernization journey to make sure we are not deviating from our goals.

How do we go about with App Modernization?

Once we have a clear understanding of the “Why” and our goals prioritized, it is easier to execute to meet our targets and goals. The details of transformation or modernization programs no longer stay within the executive team. We need to communicate the key goals to every person who is part of the transformation program and make sure that everyone knows why they are undergoing the transformation program.

Having everyone aligned with program goals helps in the transformation journey. As an organization, it is important to choose a framework. For example, when it comes to performing a Cloud Transformation or Modernization with Microsoft Azure, we can choose the Cloud Adoption Framework. Cloud Adoption Framework is proven guidance and best practices that help us confidently adopt the cloud and achieve business outcomes.

Once we identify or choose a framework it is important for us to consider the areas of People, Process, and Technology.

Cloud Adoption Framework covers all the aspects of People, Processes, and Technology that are needed to be considered as part of the transformation program. We can apply the same steps to any Cloud Transformation Programs, whether it be Amazon Web Services (AWS) or Google Cloud Platform (GCP), as these are technology agnostic.

READ MORE: Perficient Earns Modernization of Web Applications to Azure Advanced Specialization

What are the key benefits to be realized from App Modernization?

What is the fun in spending budgets on the transformation program when we do not know the benefits at the end of the modernization program? It is important to list the benefits in terms of the “Why” by mapping the benefits against our strategic goals which we choose at the start of the modernization. As we execute the program, we need to ensure that we have the right levers and controls in place that would help us in measuring the benefits after the program.

Measuring benefits can be achieved if we are able to manage the benefits using a benefits management system. We need to have a comprehensive approach to benefits management. For example, if one of our strategic goals is to reduce operating expenses, we should be able to measure the amount of cost reduction which we have realized by implementing the program. If we do not measure the outcomes of benefits and have a system in place to measure the benefits the entire program does not realize its expected outcome.

Once we have a clear understanding of the “Why”, “How” and “What” organizations should be able to prepare themselves to execute successful modernization programs.

Perficient’s Application Modernization Expertise

The world’s leading brands partner with Perficient because we have the resources to scale major custom application development projects. We partner with leading technology companies to help Fortune 1000 clients across all industries, and we’ve been recognized by analysts as a top service provider for application modernization and migration.

Contact us today to get started on your app modernization journey.

References –

Start with why — how great leaders inspire action | Simon Sinek | TEDxPugetSound

https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/successful-transformations

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/cloud-adoption-framework/

https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2022/03/21/the-importance-of-aligning-people-processes-and-technology-amid-transformation-initiatives/

https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/mckinsey-digital/our-insights/how-do-you-measure-success-in-digital-five-metrics-for-ceos

https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/benefits-management-accelerate-value-delivery-5959