Why do 70% of the companies listed on the Fortune 1,000 list ten years ago no longer exist today? Inflexibility. They couldn’t adapt to change. In the past, big companies ate small ones. Now, fast eats big.

With that in mind, it’s no wonder that CIOs list legacy modernization as one of their top priorities. Legacy applications aren’t flexible. They don’t quickly adapt to change. As such, companies that rely on these applications lack flexibility, which…kills companies.

Hence, the growing push towards modernization. Application modernization promises flexibility. It frees these companies from the shackles of their legacy software.

The problem: Modernization isn’t exactly straightforward. There’s more than one way to modernize. By my count, there’s five. How do you know which way is best?

Here are a couple of resources that will help you answer that question. First, here’s a free whitepaper entitled, “Crash course in modernization” that explains the need for modernization and outlines your options. Second, we put together a handy comparison chart based on that white paper, which you can find below. It compares your modernization options side-by-side, and helps you determine which is best for your company.

	Screen Scraping	Code Conversion	Rip and Replace	Buy new and migrate	Extend and surround
What is it?	Scrapes data from legacy apps and displays it in a graphical format	Convert legacy code into modern code	Throw out old apps and build new apps from the ground up	Purchase pre-built applications and migrate existing data	Gradually surround legacy applications with modern applications
Does it replace legacy code?	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Does it replace legacy architecture?	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Speed	Fast	Fast	Very Slow	Slow	Variable (Moves at your own pace)
Cost	Cheap	Cheap	Expensive	Very Expensive	Moderate
Risk	Low	Low	High	Moderate	Low
Ongoing maintenance	Difficult	Difficult	Easy	Easy	Easy
Business Disruption	Low	Low	High	High	Low
Advantages	Fast and Cheap	Fast and Cheap	Produces modern apps that are built for your business	Gives you completely modern apps faster than the “rip-and-replace” method	Lets you modernize at your own pace, and re-use existing code as needed.
Disadvantages	Not actually modernization Limited capabilities Difficult maintenance	Doesn’t replace legacy architecture Limited capabilities Difficult maintenance	High-risk Time consuming	High cost Requires a lot of customization	Time consuming
Ideal for…	Companies that need to appear modern, without actually modernizing	Companies that want to turn old code into new code without actually modernizing	Companies with a large developer staff who need a completely custom solution	Companies who need modern applications but lack the time for the “rip-and-replace” method	Companies on a budget who want a custom modernization solution at a prioritized pace with minimal disruption
Long-term modernization solution?	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes

One more thing: What happens if your company is tied to your legacy applications? What if they’re too expensive, time-consuming, or risky to replace? If you feel stuck, don’t worry. There’s a way to bring flexibility to your existing legacy applications (without replacing them), which you can read about right here.