Replatforming vs. Refactoring: A Strategic Guide for Enterprise CTOs
Modernizing an organization’s applications is not an easy decision to make. With an increased cost to maintain legacy systems, a CTO will often ask, “Should we refactor our applications completely or re-platform them?” While both approaches have the final aim of making performance and scalability more effective, they differ in terms of what issues they are addressing and how much resources they need. The wrong decision can waste time and money with no return on investment.
So what is the difference? Re-platforming involves putting an existing application on a modern infrastructure with minimum changes to its core structure. A company could transfer an on-premise application to the cloud and make only those adjustments necessary for fitting the application into the new environment. This method is faster and does not create any major problems for the application that continues to deliver necessary results.
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Refactoring is much more complicated. This option implies making some changes to the code of the application to improve its efficiency, flexibility, security, and maintainability. Although this method is time- and resource-consuming, it often helps prepare the organization for the future.
The main point to keep in mind is that technology should not be modernized just because it’s old. The right question to ask is whether or not the application is capable of supporting the company’s future goals. If speed is the most important issue and the current system functions properly, then re-platforming will be the best solution. However, if the application becomes non-scalable, costly to maintain, or unable to perform any new digital functions, then refactoring is more favorable.
Cooperation is important, too. A CTO has to discuss the costs and outcomes of both approaches with business executives, finance executives, and cybersecurity specialists.
There is no one-fits-all solution since each organization works in its own specific environment and is faced with its own issues. Sometimes, it might make sense to apply the combination of re-platforming now and refactoring later. Effectiveness of modernization is not about how much code was rewritten, but how efficient the technology is used for growth and innovation.
