Assessment and Planning

ISM works closely with its clients to educate them on the what (Workbook), the where (Strategy), and the how (Roadmap) of legacy modernization. Organizations need to understand and document their application portfolio, where they want to go, and how they will get there.

ISM deliverables from the assessment and planning effort include:

• Modernization Business Case
• Portfolio Assessment
• Application Inventory and Evaluation
• Modernization Strategy
• Modernization Roadmap

Modernization Business Case

ISM helps organizations understand and document the value of modernization. The Modernization Business Case will document and quantify the benefits of a modernization effort.

Modernization goals and objectives include:

• Enable business agility
• Reduce financial constraints
• Minimize organizational risk
• Allow for business process documentation and improvement
• Reduce maintenance costs
• Free up resources for new development
• Enable quick SOA integration
• Reduce reliance on scarce legacy skills

Portfolio Assessment

A portfolio assessment provides organizations with a level setting regarding their modernization effort. Input is solicited from both IT and the business. ISM will facilitate a workshop to assist organizations in completing a Portfolio Assessment Workbook.

Components of the Portfolio Assessment Workbook include:

• Education on modernization
• Modernization current state
• Modernization business drivers
• Current state of systems environment
• Current state of data architecture
• Current state of application architecture
• Strategy considerations
• Next steps

The completed Portfolio Assessment Workbook, in addition to the Application Inventory and Evaluation, is then leveraged to create the Modernization Strategy and Roadmap.

Application Inventory and Evaluation

The Application Inventory and Evaluation service rounds out the information needed to successfully complete a Modernization Strategy and Roadmap. ISM has integrated some of the leading modernization technology partner tools into our proven modernization processes and methodology to deliver a complete inventory of the legacy application portfolio.

ISM's automated Application Inventory and Evaluation deliverables include:

• A complete inventory of the application portfolio
• Analysis of the inter-relationships between the elements of the system
• Analysis on the complexity and maintainability of each application within the portfolio as well as the portfolio as a whole
• Analysis of areas of the applications that may require special consideration

The results of the Application Inventory and Evaluation assists ISM and our clients in making logical business decisions on what applications to modernize, in what sequence or priority.

Modernization Strategy

Modernization can be a risky endeavor, therefore developing a sound strategy and plan, is critical to successfully and safely modernize an application portfolio. ISM uses the completed Portfolio Assessment Workbook and the results of the Application Inventory and Evaluation to build the client's Modernization Strategy.

ISM's Modernization Strategy addresses the following objectives:

• Modernization options from current to future state
• Minimize negative impacts to the existing business
• Determine estimated cost and duration
• Align the modernization effort with the overall requirements of the business
• Map applications to business processes
• Determine the order in which the applications or application subsystems will undergo a modernization effort
• Develop a specific modernization approach for each application or application subsystem
• Ensure the modernized applications are truly agile and easy to maintain
• Determine skill sets and resources required to support the target environment

Modernization Roadmap

ISM works with organizations to create a roadmap that is tailored to their unique business. The Modernization Roadmap -- including both automated and semi-automated solutions -- addresses critical applications and infrastructure requirements, providing the framework for a successful modernization effort.

Typical components of a Modernization Roadmap include:

• Platform migration plan
• Database migration plan
• Application modernization plans
• Test strategy
• Test plans
• Training/education plan
• Transition plan
• Deployment plan

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