Cloud modernization: The need for continuous application optimization in the cloud

Business applications must continually evolve to address new challenges and opportunities, often by moving IT environments to the cloud. This process, known as cloud modernization, involves approaches like rehosting, replatforming, and refactoring to optimize applications and infrastructure for cloud-native benefits. Unlike cloud migration, which primarily focuses on transferring existing systems with minimal changes, cloud modernization emphasizes transforming these systems to leverage the full capabilities of the cloud, such as scalability and innovation. Continuous cloud modernization fosters business agility, accelerates time-to-market, and enhances customer engagement while reducing costs. However, it requires ongoing commitment and observability to navigate the complexity of modern cloud systems. Companies often find that as they modernize applications, they simultaneously modernize their business practices, leading to benefits like significant cost reductions and faster deployment cycles. Successful cloud modernization demands a strategic approach that includes assessment, objective-setting, migration planning, and continuous optimization, with observability playing a crucial role in ensuring system performance and stability.