Actual-world success with steady modernization

Check out three corporations who invested in steady, holistic modernization with exceptional success.

In my final two blogs, I explored what modernization actually means, what it takes, and why it issues for improvements like AI. Then, we walked via an efficient modernization strategy knowledgeable by the Forrester Software Modernization Guidelines.

So, what does profitable modernization seem like in the true world? Let’s check out three corporations who invested in steady, holistic modernization with exceptional success. You’ll see how these organizations not solely applied steerage from the Forrester Software Modernization Guidelines within the quick time period, but additionally how they plan to maintain making use of these ideas for steady modernization.

Sapiens reduces downtime whereas growing agility

Sapiens, an insurtech firm serving over 600 insurers throughout 30 nations, confronted a well-recognized problem. Their legacy apps had turn into a barrier to scale, since all their administration teams, safety, and monitoring had been put into place earlier than they moved to the cloud. To resolve this, Sapiens knew they needed to embark on a holistic modernization mission that tied collectively technique, processes, and know-how to help their current wants and future ambitions.

Forrester Guidelines #1: Technique. Although their goal was easy, it wasn’t easy. “Our principal objective on the outset was to be updated with our know-how stack,” stated Michael Mirel, Head of Cloud and DevOps Middle of Excellence. “To start with, it was IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service). We rapidly realized that microservices are the place we have to be by way of merchandise.”

After defining their objective, Sapiens set a plan to infuse AI into their workflows. Log Analytics in Azure Monitor enabled them to evaluate the provision of their providers (for instance, by measuring variety of service calls). From there, Azure Monitor Software Insights helped them higher perceive how their apps had been behaving and alert them to any anomalies, an strategy that wouldn’t have been potential with their on-premises programs alone.

Forrester Guidelines #2: Course of. Sapiens established a Cloud Middle of Excellence and a delegated group to assist their total group embrace modernization. The command heart helped information their modernization journey and infused a transformative mindset all through their each day operations.

Forrester Guidelines #3: Know-how. Sapiens began out with conventional IaaS digital machine consumption. Modernization moved them to being a heavy shopper of Azure Kubernetes Service with direct entry to Microsoft’s product group. And adopting Azure Arc introduced collectively their patching and monitoring dashboards and safety administration instruments in a single pane of glass.

As a result of insurance coverage is a tightly regulated sector, Sapiens additionally sought a strategic associate that put trendy safety on the forefront of their choices. They determined Microsoft Safety was the perfect match to assist guarantee cloud safety and compliance with international rules. Microsoft product groups additionally provided focused help to constantly enhance Sapiens’ merchandise proper alongside alongside their very own builders.

Steady modernization. Sapiens achieved their preliminary objectives—however they’re nonetheless not carried out. After migrating clients from knowledge facilities to the cloud, they then launched a long-term modernization mission guided by their Cloud Middle of Excellence. Mirel explains why. “We need to break down the partitions and supply extra self-service to our customers and higher service to our clients in consequence,” he says. “If I’m an end-user, developer, tester, or product supervisor, I ought to be capable to spin up one other check setting and launch through the night time as a substitute of being depending on DevOps or IT and having to attend a number of days.”

Altogether, Sapiens’ considerate modernization strategy has helped them scale back downtime, enhance agility, future-proof the group, and supply higher service to each their engineers and clients. “We’re coping with the largest insurance coverage corporations on the planet which might be taking our software program as a service, however we additionally have to interoperate with the prevailing ecosystems of those corporations,” displays Mirel. “Because of Azure Non-public Hyperlink, we are able to join cloud to cloud in a single click on, which lowered deployment efforts by 50 p.c.”

Coles will get AI-ready and improves the client expertise

Main Australian retailer Coles grappled with assembly the altering calls for of their clients. They observed consumers anticipated to seamlessly swap between channels (bodily shops, their cellular app, and web site), and Coles wished to enhance this physical-digital expertise via modernization.

Forrester Guidelines #1: Technique. To create a seamless purchasing expertise, Coles wanted to first create a seamless improvement expertise. Their groups had to have the ability to make steady, nimble app updates to maintain tempo with shifting buyer preferences. To that finish, Coles outlined a method that saved engineers knowledgeable on what they had been setting to perform and why, so they might make selections that had been aligned to their frequent objective. After launching their journey, Coles frequently checked their progress with insights from buyer knowledge to make sure their work was efficient.

Forrester Guidelines #2: Course of. Coles additionally took a tough take a look at their processes. Azure DevOps helped streamline workflows by enabling fast change integration for brand spanking new options in channel apps. Then, they started monitoring (and proceed to trace) their progress by measuring construct time and different KPIs. Anton Vishnyakov, Senior Engineer and Supervisor for Platform Engineering, has seen a distinction. “As an alternative of doing six-week releases, we now do weekly releases. And the construct instances now take roughly 10 to fifteen minutes, in comparison with what was once a few hours.”

Forrester Guidelines #3: Know-how. To modernize their tech, Coles first recognized Microsoft as a strategic innovation associate. They knew Microsoft’s extremely collaborative engineering course of was well-suited to steady innovation, and Microsoft Azure may assist replace their stacks to restrict know-how sprawl. Azure enabled sooner deployments whereas nonetheless delivering a safer and protected web-based expertise for patrons.

Extra particularly, options together with Azure Cosmos DB and Azure Kubernetes Service helped Coles get buyer insights throughout channels to additional refine their operations. After they had been prepared to show these insights into significant product updates, they might then use Azure App Service to check them earlier than launch. All of the whereas, Azure API Administration ran within the background to assist Coles hold safety on the forefront of each stage of the method.

Steady modernization: Since embarking on their journey, Coles has solely deepened their relationship with Microsoft. Microsoft groups and choices are serving to them constantly refine their operations, resulting in better Azure providers ROI and a seamless, well-orchestrated buyer expertise throughout channels.

Because of their considerate modernization strategy, Coles is now AI-ready, and so they’re already utilizing analytics and AI to foretell stock distribution, optimize employee scheduling, and extra. Coles’ engineers are additionally capable of rapidly combine new product updates to handle points and add new options, a profit that’s not misplaced on Patrik Mihailescu, Senior Engineering Supervisor, Internet. “We’re going to be transferring to each day deployments within the subsequent six to 9 months and undoubtedly with the Azure tooling, that’s going to be tremendous key in enabling us to go even faster.” They will additionally safely create these adjustments by testing them independently with Azure App Service earlier than they’re deployed, serving to preserve safety and compliance.

Credit score Europe Financial institution NV improves safety and streamlines the event course of

Credit score Europe Financial institution NV confronted a broader modernization problem, their quickly ageing on-premises infrastructure. Although the financial institution serves practically a million clients globally, their IT groups usually discovered themselves ready on {hardware} deliveries and consistently managing on-premises complexity. It was time for a brand new strategy.

Forrester Guidelines #1: Technique. Recognizing the necessity for holistic modernization, Credit score Europe Financial institution NV outlined a plan to completely reshape their infrastructure, beginning with changing their on-premises programs with the cloud. The cloud would streamline duties for his or her IT group and allow scalability, since groups would not want to attend on {hardware} or spend time configuring complicated, dated programs. Then, they turned to their workforce. Modernizing introduced a serious studying curve for the financial institution’s IT groups, so that they developed a plan to upskill workers on cloud ideas.

Forrester Guidelines #2: Course of. Credit score Europe Financial institution NV additionally wanted to revamp their processes and measure success. They paid shut consideration to their buyer onboarding time all through their modernization, and ultimately discovered that they’d lowered it from three days to 9 minutes. “We now supply a contemporary, partaking digital banking platform,” says Ulaş Ergin, IT, Digital Banking, and Software program Structure Division Supervisor. “Every thing has been revamped for smoothness and velocity, making the entire banking expertise extra satisfying.”

Forrester Guidelines #3: Know-how. When launching their tech transformation, Credit score Europe Financial institution NV wove in safety from the beginning by selecting the Microsoft Azure cloud. As a pacesetter in safety and compliance with built-in instruments for monetary providers, Azure may assist them handle their delicate knowledge in accordance with industry-specific rules. They then tackled their aged infrastructure with Azure Kubernetes Service, a managed container orchestration platform. AKS helped simplify their operations and velocity up improvement, leading to smoother useful resource administration and a extra environment friendly setting arrange course of.

Steady modernization. Credit score Europe Financial institution NV continues to find new alternatives within the cloud. They’re utilizing Azure Cognitive Providers to enhance the safe dealing with of buyer ID photographs and are constantly releasing new options and merchandise. Subsequent, they’re turning their consideration to GitHub Copilot to remodel their in-house banking system.

Now, Credit score Europe Financial institution NV’s safety is stronger than ever, since migrating to the cloud enabled them to undertake digital, mobile-based comfortable tokens and biometric authentication. They’ve additionally improved their buyer expertise and even launched new providers like real-time foreign currency trading, which might have been unattainable on their outdated system. “Buyer suggestions has been overwhelmingly constructive,” displays Berkay Çavuşoğlu, Program Supervisor. “Our company clients famous that the system’s efficiency is quicker.”

The financial institution has additionally accelerated their improvement cycle by easing the system arrange course of and administration with Azure. Azure handles many on-premises duties behind the scenes, resembling upgrades and safety patches, so builders can deal with extra strategic duties. “We not have to handle the underlying infrastructure, which enormously lowered the operational pressure,” displays Teoman Sevinç, DevOps Specialist. “Previously, if we wished to make updates to our surroundings, it could disrupt our non-production setup. However with Azure, managing and establishing environments is streamlined, which positively impacts our improvement life cycle.”

Are you prepared to begin your modernization journey?

With that, we’ve wrapped our weblog collection on software modernization—however similar to modernization is rarely carried out, there’s all the time extra to study. Should you missed them, revisit my earlier blogs within the collection on the fundamentals of modernization and the small print of an efficient modernization strategy.

Don’t neglect to additionally learn the foundational texts that guided our work: the Forrester Consulting Software Modernization Guidelines that Microsoft commissioned, and the Forrester Consulting research Unlock Aggressive Benefit with Software Modernization. You too can try the next sources: