With a constantly evolving technological landscape, companies increasingly face the challenge of modernizing their IT infrastructures to remain competitive. In this context, cloud transformation presents itself as an essential solution. Why is migrating to the cloud so fundamental?

Legacy platforms, while having served organizations well for years, are no longer able to support the scalability, agility, and innovation requirements demanded by business. Replatforming, the process of moving applications to a new cloud infrastructure, is configured as a strategic move for companies.

This process not only allows companies to adopt more modern technologies but also to free themselves from the limitations imposed by legacy solutions, thus initiating a true digital transformation.

The data, in fact, confirms that the race to the cloud is a growing phenomenon. According to the Cloud Transformation Observatory, the cloud market in Italy is experiencing strong expansion, with Public Cloud & Hybrid Cloud in the forefront, recording an increase of 30% and reaching 4.8 billion euros in 2024. This trend concerns not only large companies but also SMEs, which continue to adopt the cloud with a 21% increase in spending on Public and Hybrid Cloud in 2024.

What is Replatforming?

In this scenario, companies have different options for cloud migration, and one of these is replatforming. What exactly is it?

Replatforming is the process of moving applications and systems from a legacy infrastructure to a cloud platform. In this process, the application logic remains substantially unchanged, even though it is optimized to take advantage of specific cloud features.

The main objective of replatforming is therefore to make applications more scalable, flexible, and easily manageable, without requiring a complete redesign. It is a balance between maintaining existing functionalities and adopting new technologies that can support continuous growth and innovation.

Replatforming distinguishes itself from other migration strategies such as rehosting and refactoring. Rehosting, also known as "lift-and-shift", simply involves transferring applications as they are, without making significant changes, while refactoring involves a deep redesign of the code to optimize the application based on specific cloud needs.

In summary, while rehosting is a quick but limited approach, and refactoring is more complex and expensive, replatforming represents a middle ground that allows taking advantage of cloud capabilities without having to rewrite the entire application.

Why Migrate Your Applications to the Cloud? 

The migration of applications to the cloud represents a fundamental step in the digitalization process of modern companies. In an era where competitiveness depends on the ability to quickly adapt to changes, the cloud offers a flexible and scalable platform that allows organizations to innovate, optimize processes, and improve operational efficiency.

Cloud-based applications, in fact, allow companies to reduce costs related to IT infrastructure management, increase service availability, and access advanced technological resources without having to worry about the physical maintenance of systems. At most, one will have to deal with cloud management, but there are dedicated solutions and services.

From a strategic point of view, the cloud represents an opportunity to increase innovation ability, speed up time-to-market, and make the company more agile and ready to respond to new market needs. Operationally, it offers advantages such as greater reliability, advanced security, the ability to easily scale according to business needs, and process automation that reduces manual workload.

The Advantages of Replatforming

Replatforming offers numerous advantages, let's see what the main ones are.

Reduction of CapEx and OpEx

One of the main advantages of replatforming concerns the reduction of both capital costs (CAPEX) and operational costs (OPEX).

By moving applications to more modern cloud platforms, companies can significantly reduce initial investments in physical infrastructure, eliminating the need to purchase servers, hardware, and other costly components.

This aspect allows for freeing up resources for other strategic initiatives, shifting the cost model from a heavy capital commitment to a usage-based payment system, which better adapts to continuously evolving business needs.

Increase in Scalability and Portability

Replatforming also offers significant advantages in terms of scalability and portability, two crucial factors for companies that want to quickly adapt to market changes and optimize resource use.

Scalability, in particular, is one of the most valued aspects of the cloud: applications migrated to the cloud are able to easily adapt to variable demand, increasing or decreasing resources according to needs without having to invest in new physical infrastructure. This allows companies to handle traffic peaks or periods of low demand more efficiently, avoiding waste and optimizing operational costs.

Portability, on the other hand, allows applications to be run on different cloud platforms or on different IT architectures with minimal intervention, promoting greater flexibility in resource management and in the choice of cloud provider.

Simplification of Project Management through DevOps

Replatforming simplifies project management through the adoption of DevOps practices, which combine development and operations in a continuous workflow.

Modern cloud platforms, with their integrated automation and monitoring tools, strongly support DevOps principles, allowing for reduced development times, improved collaboration between teams, and optimized application lifecycle management.

Cloud applications are, in fact, ready to be managed through continuous integration and delivery (CI/CD) pipelines, which automate many manual activities, reducing the risk of errors and increasing release speed.

A Successful Replatforming Example: Caleffi's New Enterprise Portal

Let's now look at a concrete and significant example of the benefits that replatforming can generate. Caleffi, a leading company in the production of components for climate control and plumbing systems, has undertaken an ambitious replatforming project.

The company, supported by the SparkFabrik team, has in fact migrated its enterprise portal to Drupal 10, generating important results. This replatforming project involved a complete redesign of the information architecture, improving the user experience (UX) and user interface (UI) of the site.

The migration allowed for the integration of a product information management system (PIM) via API, optimizing data management and enhancing the end-user experience. This transformed the portal from a simple showcase site into a dynamic and functional work tool, capable of serving different types of users such as installers, designers, and wholesalers.

Replatforming has allowed for improving accessibility and usability, increasing the granularity of product information thanks to the synergy between Drupal and PIM. A transformation that highlights how replatforming not only modernizes infrastructures but adds value in terms of innovation and operational efficiency. To learn more, read the complete Caleffi case study.

When and How to Implement Replatforming

Implementing a replatforming project requires an in-depth evaluation of legacy applications and a clear understanding of business and technological objectives.

The first fundamental step consists of analyzing existing applications, evaluating their architecture, their strengths, and areas for improvement. This process allows identifying which applications are ready to be migrated to the cloud, which might require minimal adjustment, and which instead need more complex refactoring.

In parallel, it is fundamental to align the migration with the company's strategic priorities, taking into account short and long-term business objectives. At this point, once the objectives have been identified, it is important to develop a detailed migration plan, defining timelines, necessary resources, and possible risks.

SparkFabrik, throughout its years of activity, has perfected a safe and reliable approach to replatforming. To learn more, take a look at our Cloud Migration service.

Final Considerations

Looking to the future, it is important to consider that replatforming is not a definitive solution, but a step in continuous technological evolution. Cloud technologies and development platforms evolve rapidly; therefore, companies should maintain an agile mindset, ready to adapt and exploit new opportunities as they emerge.

Investing in continuous training, in the adoption of new methodologies, and in updating technological skills will be fundamental to keep pace with digital evolution. In summary, replatforming is only the beginning of a broader transformation journey, which requires a forward-looking vision and continuous attention to technological innovations.