To support the client’s modernization needs and develop an efficient, reusable application template, we knew we needed to get to the core of what each application was intended to do. After being minimally touched for at least 20 years, knowledge gaps can arise from such applications, and often, businesses lose an understanding of how their system should work for them. Business users also can become frustrated with the systems and technology limitations, further complicating workflows. So, we engaged the organization with a strategic process that helped us direct their unique strategy and align their business requirements with their customized solutions.

1. Deliver Comprehensive Collaboration 

Throughout our work, we provided a collaborative team approach to ensure we addressed the core needs of our client at every step. UDig engineers worked closely with their team to deliver solutions for each application’s development. Key aspects of our partnership included:

• Providing Business Analysis: We aimed to deeply understand their business needs and how their technology should support their operations. By analyzing and documenting application functionality, our Business Analyst helped ensure we strategized with their goals in mind, while also serving as an ongoing knowledge resource for the client
• Engaging Client Stakeholders: From the outset, we involved technical and business stakeholders to understand their challenges, priorities, and modernization goals. This collaboration helped ensure the solution aligned with their business practices and provided flexibility.
• Collaborating with Internal Engineers: Knowing that the client’s internal engineers would maintain future applications, we worked closely with their team to understand their tech stack and best practices. By engaging AS400 engineers and development teams, we ensured a thorough knowledge transfer for seamless future maintenance.

2. Conduct a Deep Analysis 

Before modernizing, we needed to understand their pain points in order to truly build solutions that worked for them. With a dispersed knowledge base supporting their legacy mainframe, we had to ask the right questions to identify how they needed the applications to work for them today — and tomorrow. Further, with a multitude of applications to modernize, we knew that we had to strategically build out a timeline that worked for their long-term needs. This roadmap was vital for efficient workflows across every step of the process. 

We also needed to identify any gaps in the knowledge base, as well as in the existing applications. With limited documentation and siloed work processes, we wanted to support a better way to work. So, we focused on how we could help them introduce incremental improvements to their processes to support successful application enhancements. 

3. Build Modern Applications & a Scalable, Reusable Framework 

Empowered with business knowledge and a deep understanding of the organization’s legacy application challenges, we were able to: 

• Identify which elements we could bundle within the package registry to spin up new applications, such as UI components, database-level auditing, and authentication and authorization. Also, create a reusable framework that they can easily adapt across applications and removes redundancy of efforts.
• Eliminate any tech features they no longer needed or that weren’t working effectively. 
• Support the best user experience that we tailor to each business unit’s specific needs and an intuitive user interface, when necessary, that is fluid and easy to work with. 
• Iterate on the framework as we develop each new application and discover more patterns that carry across applications. 
• Build efficiency into their system and work processes.

By creating a long-term strategy that accounts for their breadth of modernization needs, we could support them as a steadfast partner and improve the way they work.