Application Modernisation Market In A State Of Flux
Application Modernisation covers a broad range of technologies, from early 'screen scraper' products to more modern technologies that dissemble applications and re-build them into component parts.
There are some big players in the market such as Compuware and Attachmate, but according to the latest Butler Group Report, Application Modernisation Market Lifecycle Rating, the future will be dominated by smaller companies developing comprehensive toolsets and those willing to partner with service and consultancy organisations.
The core issue surrounds the perceived sanctity of critical line-of-business applications. They were deemed too important to touch on the basis of 'if it isn't broken - don't fix it'. Butler Group sees this philosophy as outdated and dangerous. A key message from the report concerns wresting back control from the applications and making them serve new purposes now and in the future.
Not surprisingly this is not as easy as it sounds and requires invasive technology and componentisation, as opposed to the traditional procedural code approach, in order to achieve the required level of integration and interoperability.
Butler Group's view of the vendors naturally reflects these technology issues. It favours the fortunes of smaller but highly dynamic vendors that understand the changing view of Application Modernisation. Companies such as Semantic Designs, SoftwareMining, looksoftware and ADPAC have the tools and the vision, says Butler Group. The danger for them is possible takeover by a larger established vendor seeking to buy into the technology rather than develop in-house.
The analysts see some dramatic changes in the technology landscape over the
periods up to 2004 –
ADPAC, a current 'Outperform' leader in the mainframe space is forecast to fall to 'Perform' in the Maturity phase unless it can develop toolsets to handle a broader range of platforms. Whilst Semantic Designs starts off in 'Under-Perform' for the current period but hits 'Outperform' in 2008 due to its innovative technology which is in development.
Compuware and Attachmate languish in 'Under-Perform' as a result of the changing face of modern applications.
According to Michael Thompson, "The applications that require modernisation in the future are likely to be rather different from the monolithic applications that still exist today in many organisations. By 2008, market pressures will have exerted their forces and the majority of organisations will have had to modernise their existing applications to a certain extent. This will not mean that maintenance will no longer be required, but that the sort of maintenance after modernisation is likely to be different."
Butler Group sounds a note of caution in that many aging emulation and 'screen-scraping' technologies may seek a new lease of life through the use of Web services as a method for linking applications together. It is the Butler Group view that whilst it may appear an easy answer it will not be the best solution for the new generation of componentised solutions with the emphasis on reusability to create new applications.
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