ISVs faced with a dilemma: caught between public cloud and legacy

6 September 2022

ISVs faced with a dilemma: caught between public cloud and legacy

It’s not easy to be an independent software vendor: you want to switch fully to the public cloud to be able to offer SaaS, but you also have customers that still run legacy software. With one foot on-premises and the other in the cloud, you are faced with a dilemma between old and the new. What are the consequences of this? And how do you find a way out of this dilemma?

For many years, applications were offered, sold and installed on-premises and maintained via an additional support contract. This provided customers with certainty, specific customisation and security. However, what it couldn’t offer was ease of use and flexibility. The cloud, on the other hand, can offer all of this. You can log in anywhere, pay for usage and you have access to countless features that you can implement out of the box, for example to secure your environment more effectively.

However, it’s not always so easy for software vendors to make the switch.

"ISVs are now stuck between the old and the new because their customers often still use legacy solutions and are not quite ready to switch to the cloud."

From legacy to cloud

ISVs that want to switch to the cloud are faced with a number of major issues, such as: What is the migration strategy? Are you going to replace or redesign legacy applications? Or will you consider a ‘lift & shift’, where the application and all related data is transferred to a cloud platform without redesigning the app?

This is already complex when it just concerns your own organisation. However, ISVs are now stuck between the old and the new because their customers often still use legacy solutions and are not quite ready to switch to the cloud. This means ISVs have to take a two-pronged approach, in which legacy and SaaS services run parallel to each other. This technological split also causes a financial dilemma, between innovation or maintenance. As an ISV, your instinct is of course to pour as many resources as possible into cloud innovation, but you also need to take into account customers that host outdated technology in (their own) data centres.

The trick is to find your way out of this dilemma in phases as efficiently as possible in order to prevent organisational and financial difficulties.

A sharp focus on the transition

Finding your way out of this dilemma primarily requires brainpower. Without sound knowledge, the transition is at risk of running into security issues and costs may spiral out of control. Not to mention the legal challenges and security requirements, as when you transition to SaaS, your software company will often become (partially) responsible for – predominantly sensitive – customer data. To comply with legislation and regulations, your company needs to have and retain the right certifications.

An experienced and reliable partner can advise you on this cloud transition, save you time and prevent unforeseen costs and risks. This means you’ll spend less time with the dilemma between the old and the new. Solvinity is a specialist in designing, building and managing compliant and secure (Secure by Design) IT environments. The Cloud Landing Zone is the essential starting point herein. Reliability and cost efficiency are in our DNA. We can provide support for CI/CD, Stretched Dev(Sec)Ops and cloud management, so software developers can focus on what they’re good at: developing the best products for their customers!

Software Development & Cloud challenges

Want to read more about about trends and challenges in the software development market? Download our e-book especially for ISV’s and software developers.