mrc's Cup of Joe Blog

Join us in exploring the world of modern development, evolving technologies, and the art of future-proof software

Modernization

4 ways to breathe new life into your old systems

By / ,

EducationIs your old enterprise software hurting your company? It happens more than you think. Although your old enterprise system might still “work”, it could be wasting money, harming productivity, or holding your company back. How so? Here are three common ways that old enterprise software can hurt a company:

1. End users are forced to work outside of the system: If end users aren’t happy with the tools provided by an enterprise system, they find workarounds outside of the system. A common example: Enterprise systems often offer sub-par reporting options, driving users to create their reports with Excel. This is not only inefficient, but leads to errors and wasted money.

2. You pay for unnecessary licenses: How many of your licensed users actually use your enterprise software? For instance, maybe some licensed users are no longer with the company. Perhaps others have switched job roles and no longer use the software. Chances are, you’re paying more in licensing fees than you should.

3. Locks your company to old technology: Does your old enterprise software keep your company from taking advantage of newer technology like web applications, mobile apps, or cloud computing? If so, it not only makes your company appear outdated, it’s also keeping you from all of the benefits that come with these new features.

So, if your old enterprise software is harming your company, you must answer one big question: What are you going to do about it? After all, replacing an ERP, MRP, or any other type of enterprise system is no simple job. It’s expensive, risky, and time consuming. As anyone who has experienced it knows, when implementations like this fail, they fail spectacularly. …

4 ways to breathe new life into your old systemsRead More »

5 common problems that kill IT productivity

By / , ,

ProductivityDo you ever come to the end of a busy day and feel like you didn’t actually accomplish anything? Although you worked hard all day, you feel like you have nothing to show from all of that work?

Chances are, you got caught handling minor, yet essential tasks that kept you from tackling more important projects. Maybe you spent the day supporting untrained users, running end user reports, or trying to fix yet another problem with your company’s old, patched-up legacy software.

Tasks like these have a few things in common: They are necessary, yet time-consuming tasks that could (and should) be avoided. More importantly, they keep you from working on essential projects that could ultimately improve the company’s bottom line.

In other words: They keep you busy, but not productive.

How can you avoid these “productivity killers” and instead focus on essential tasks during the work day? First, you must identify which tasks fall within this category, and then you must figure out how to avoid them. So, what are some of the most common productivity killers? While it varies across companies, here’s a list of 5 productivity killers that commonly plague IT departments: …

5 common problems that kill IT productivityRead More »

Are legacy applications holding you back?

By /

Save TimeCloud computing and mobile are getting all the press these days, and with good reason. These two trends really offer businesses some great benefits: Mobile devices can improve employee productivity and let businesses reach more people than ever before. Cloud computing promises to cut costs and improve business flexibility.

What company wouldn’t want all of that?

Unfortunately, many companies are in no position to take advantage of these trends and the benefits they offer. These companies are still stuck using outdated architecture and legacy applications. Before they can even consider the latest trends, they must first address their outdated systems.

If your company is stuck in that situation, here are a couple of things that will help: First, here’s a free white paper that outlines the modernization basics and explains your modernization options. If you’re considering modernization, it will get you started in the right direction.

Secondly, if you’d like to learn how to replace your legacy applications with cloud-ready web (and mobile web) applications, we can help. Our development platform, m-Power, will let you create modern web (and mobile web) apps that can be deployed to the cloud, or hosted in-house. To get started, just fill out this short form and let us know what’s on your plate.

Application modernization comparison chart

By /

EducationHere’s a million dollar question: What’s the best application modernization method for your company?

Here’s the answer: It depends.

If your company needs to modernize existing legacy applications, choosing the best method varies largely on your needs, goals, and resources. You’ll need to answer a few questions before you begin, such as:

  • Why are you modernizing in the first place?
  • What’s your budget?
  • When do you need the job completed?
  • What do you hope to accomplish?

If you need help choosing the best modernization solution for your company, here are a couple of things that could help: First, here’s a free whitepaper entitled “Crash course in modernization,” that takes an in-depth look at the modernization basics. We’ve also created a handy little comparison chart, which compares 5 different modernization methods.

…

Application modernization comparison chartRead More »

5 approaches to application modernization

By /

Save MoneyHow much time and money does your company waste maintaining your legacy applications? A recent survey indicates that companies use anywhere from 70-80% of their tech budget (and countless hours) just keeping their legacy applications running.

It’s kind of like owning an old, beat-up car. The car might still work, but it lacks modern features, doesn’t run very well, and a good portion of your time and money goes into keeping that car on the road. In fact, buying a new car would probably cost less than maintaining the old one.

Modernization is similar…but different. It’s similar in the sense that modernizing your applications is often less expensive than maintaining legacy applications. However, modernization is a bit more complicated than just buying a new car. How much more complicated? The degree of difficulty varies per modernization approach. Choosing the right approach largely depends on your company’s needs and goals.

If you’d like an in-depth look at modernization requirements and methods, here’s a free whitepaper that will help you: Crash course in modernization. If you just want a basic overview of your modernization options, I’ve summarized 5 different methods below, along with the pros and cons of each: …

5 approaches to application modernizationRead More »

A quick way to modernize with a small IT staff

By /

Save TimeWhat’s keeping your company from modernizing those legacy applications? If our 2011 survey is any indication, the answer is “There’s not enough time.” In fact, the survey results show that modernization is the biggest need, but a lack of time keeps most companies from addressing that need.

If your company lacks the time required to modernize your legacy apps, you’ll certainly want to read this story. It explains how one very small IT staff with limited time and resources managed to modernize their legacy green-screen interface quickly. You can read the whole story here.

A dirty little secret about screen-scraping

By /

Save MoneySuppose you’re buying a new computer. You find a great-looking computer at a local store, bring it home, boot it up, and…it’s extremely slow. You open up the case only to discover that all of the internal parts are at least 10 years old. You storm back to the store demanding your money back because they sold you an old computer. Their response: “Of course it’s new, look at the new, beautiful case we put it in.”

Of course, that’s a ridiculous story. No self-respecting computer store would sell you a “new” computer that’s actually old on the inside. Why then, do some companies try to sell “modernization services” which do little more than put a flashy new case on old parts? …

A dirty little secret about screen-scrapingRead More »

Stop wasting money on legacy application maintenance

By /

Save MoneyAccording to a recent survey, the federal government spends $35 billion every year maintaining legacy applications. In other words, it costs $35 billion dollars just to keep everything running smoothly. When I hear numbers like this, a couple of questions immediately come to mind. How do they determine maintenance cost? How much would it cost to maintain modern applications?

I think the better question is this: Why is maintenance for legacy applications more expensive than maintenance for modern applications? After all, if you modernized your applications, you would have to maintain the new applications too. What makes legacy application maintenance so expensive? While I’m sure there are more, here are 4 big reasons: …

Stop wasting money on legacy application maintenanceRead More »

The risks of application modernization

By /

Education You probably know the benefits of application modernization – more capabilities, decreased maintenance cost, increased integration with web services, etc… All in all, most companies stand to gain more than they lose from modernization.

If that’s the case, why isn’t every company rushing to modernize? Well, as with any big undertaking, there are risks, and these risks hold many back. However, most of these risks come from a lack of experience…a fear of the unknown. I’d like to go over 3 of the most common modernization fears and then explain how to avoid them:
…

The risks of application modernizationRead More »