Application Modernization

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Application Modernization

Turn legacy applications into assets that support the business — not slow it down

Most organizations have at least one application everyone depends on and nobody wants to touch. It runs on outdated infrastructure, has no automated testing, and every change carries risk because the person who understood it best left years ago. Meanwhile, the business keeps asking that application to do more — integrate with new systems, scale to more users, support new features — and it wasn't built for any of that. SiS runs a structured modernization program that takes these applications from liability to asset: re-architected, cloud-ready, and built to change safely going forward.

This is not a rewrite-everything project. It's a structured program covering assessment, targeted modernization, and operational handover — delivered by a Microsoft Solutions Partner with an Application Development and Azure specialization.

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The problem organizations run into

• Legacy applications nobody wants to change. Critical business logic lives in aging code with no tests and no documentation, so every change is high-risk and slow to deliver.
• Infrastructure that can't scale. Applications built for on-premises servers or a fixed load can't handle growth, seasonal spikes, or new integration demands without manual intervention.
• Tight coupling that blocks change. Monolithic architectures mean a small change in one area risks breaking something unrelated, so teams become cautious and delivery slows down.
• Rising maintenance cost. Specialized skills to maintain legacy platforms are increasingly scarce and expensive, and vendor support for older frameworks is often ending or already gone.
• No path to the cloud. The application can't move to Azure as-is, but nobody has assessed what it would take to get it there — so it stays exactly where it is, by default rather than by decision.

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Our approach

We run this as one connected program across three phases, each with clear deliverables — so you always know what stage you're at and what you're getting.

Phase 1 — Application Portfolio Assessment (typically 3–6 weeks)

We evaluate your applications against business value and technical risk to determine what's worth modernizing, and how.

• Application portfolio discovery — architecture, dependencies, code quality, and infrastructure for each candidate application
• Business value and technical risk scoring to prioritize which applications to modernize first
• Modernization strategy per application — rehost, replatform, refactor, or rebuild — based on what the application actually needs, not a default approach applied to everything
• Cloud-readiness evaluation against Azure PaaS and container services
• A prioritized modernization roadmap with cost and effort estimates for each application

You leave this phase with a clear, defensible view of what to modernize, in what order, and why.

Phase 2 — Modernization Execution (typically 10–20 weeks per application, scales with scope)

We modernize each application according to its specific strategy, not a one-size-fits-all rebuild.

• Re-architecture of monolithic applications into modular, independently deployable services where it makes sense
• Migration to Azure PaaS services (App Service, Azure Functions) or containerization with Azure Kubernetes Service where appropriate
• API-first integration design so the application can connect cleanly to other systems going forward
• Automated testing and CI/CD pipeline implementation, so future changes are lower-risk and faster to ship
• Performance and scalability improvements validated under realistic load

Phase 3 — Operational Handover & Optimization (typically 3–5 weeks, plus ongoing)

We make sure your team can own and evolve the modernized application confidently after we leave.

• Documentation of the new architecture, integrations, and deployment process
• Knowledge transfer sessions with your development and operations teams
• Monitoring and alerting configured in Azure Monitor, so issues are caught before they become incidents
• A recommended backlog of further improvements, prioritized by value

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What's included

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What you can expect to gain

• Lower risk on every future change — automated testing and CI/CD mean changes are validated before they ship, not after something breaks
• Applications that scale with demand — no more manual intervention to handle growth or seasonal spikes
• Reduced dependency on scarce skills — modern, well-documented architecture is easier to hire for and maintain
• A real path to the cloud — applications that were previously "stuck" are now running on Azure PaaS or containers
• Faster delivery going forward — modular architecture means teams can ship changes to one area without re-testing everything

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Is this the right fit for you?

This program is built for organizations with one or more business-critical applications that are difficult, risky, or slow to change — and increasingly expensive to keep running as-is. It's especially relevant if any of the following is true:

• You have an application everyone depends on but nobody wants to touch
• The application can't scale to meet current or projected demand
• Vendor support for the underlying platform or framework is ending or already gone
• You want to move the application to Azure but don't know what that would actually require
• Every change to the application takes longer and carries more risk than it should

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Built on Microsoft's own platform

Microsoft Azure App Service · Azure Functions · Azure Kubernetes Service · Azure DevOps / GitHub Actions · Azure API Management · Azure Monitor · Azure SQL Database

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Typical timeline

Execution timelines scale with the number of applications in scope and the modernization strategy each one requires — the assessment phase gives us the real numbers for your specific portfolio.

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What you'll walk away with

• A prioritized application modernization roadmap with cost and effort estimates
• One or more modernized applications running on Azure PaaS or containers
• Automated testing and CI/CD pipelines in place
• Full architecture documentation and completed knowledge transfer
• Monitoring and alerting configured, plus a prioritized backlog for continued improvement

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Common questions

Do we need to rebuild the application from scratch?
Rarely. Most applications don't need a full rebuild — the assessment identifies whether rehosting, replatforming, or targeted refactoring gets you the outcome you need at a fraction of the cost and risk of a rewrite.

Can we modernize just one part of the application instead of the whole thing?
Yes. Modernization is often done incrementally, starting with the highest-risk or highest-value component, so you see results without pausing the rest of the business.

What if the application has no documentation and the original developers are gone?
This is common, not a blocker. The assessment phase includes code and architecture discovery specifically to reconstruct that understanding before any changes are made.

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About SiS

SiS is a Microsoft Solutions Partner with an Application Development and Azure specialization. We treat legacy applications as solvable problems, not permanent constraints — matching the right modernization strategy to each application instead of defaulting to the most expensive option.

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Ready to see what your applications need? Talk to SiS about an Application Portfolio Assessment.