Countries around the world grapple with some of the same issues surrounding legacy applications. The Australian recently reported on that country's effort to bring its traditional applications into the cloud, a strategy that involves working with outside consultants to achieve better data management.
According to the source, every sector from education to the police force to the Department of Defense is either in the process of updating its approach to applications or at least considering an improvement plan. An anonymous vendor told the source that he expects the current IT spend to increase as agencies keep pace with the necessary data hosting and testing processes.
Earlier this year, the Australian Department of Finance released a Cloud Computing Policy guide that detailed the Australian government's general approach to information and communication technology (ICT) on which it spends $6 billion annually across all departments. In their introduction to this plan, Matthias Cormann, Minister for Finance, and Malcolm Turnbull, Minister for Communications, speak broadly about Australia's plans targeting information technology.
"This policy aims to drive a greater take up of cloud services by federal government agencies by adopting a 'cloud first' approach. Under the Government's Cloud Policy agencies now must adopt cloud where it is fit for purpose, provides adequate protection of data and delivers value for money." They also said that their two respective department would work together to mirror the trend of general ICT updates.
As different entities look to keep their modernization plans on target, having the right assistance in staying compliant will help each agency remain on target with both their specific goals and overriding government IT plans. Legacy application management is one crucial part of the larger process of updating older systems for maximum performance.