Is it time to update your web apps?

Like anything in IT, eventually there will be a time where applications need updating. Web applications and websites will run for a long time, but there will come a time where these web apps are unable to integrate with newer technologies, run slower than before, or have security issues. Any IT department focused on modernization will run into this obstacle someday. Here are a few things to consider.

Is your application or website compatible with new/up to date web browsers? We all know there are different web browsers available to the average user of your web applications. Lots of people use multiple browsers for different things. If you are one of these people, you may find some applications or websites work better in a certain type of browser. As new browsers are created and others are taken out of support (Internet Explorer), applications and websites need to be updated accordingly.

Is your application or website performing like it should be? There are many things contributing to slower load times. If your site is hosted, your provider is likely hosting many other sites as well. Having a shared resource can overload the server causing slower load times for everyone. Another cause of performance issues could be poor integration to legacy systems. To ensure this is not a cause, there are automated tools available to review code.

Last but certainly not least, you need to consider new security issues. If your application is older, there is a good chance it was written with minimal security in mind. Just a few years ago, security wasn’t as big of an issue as it is today. New vulnerabilities, if exploited, can be very costly. Consider having a 3^rd party do a security scan or penetration test to find these vulnerabilities. The cost of these tests will be much less than remediation cost if something were to happen.

Once you have assessed your organizations applications, take the next step. Modernize, improve upon what you have, or recreate your application to do what you need it to today. Arbor Solutions can help with this process. Contact me with any questions you may have. I’d be happy to have a conversation with you to discuss this further.