This session provides options on how to best use existing legacy Line-of-Business applications in a modern cloud environment like Office 365. In fact, the session discusses the most used options to migrate existing LOB applications to the cloud - like Microsoft Azure or the SPFx/PnP frameworks.

1. OFF105 – App Modernization
What You Need to Know Before
Planning a Migration to Office 365
Oliver Wirkus (MVP, MCT)
Sr. Consultant with 2toLead
oliver@2tolead.com

2. APP MODERNIZATION
We’re not talking about modernizing Desktop Applications – at all!

3. INITIAL QUESTIONS
Are you using custom Line-of-Business applications in your organization?
Are you using custom LOB applications?
Were those LOB applications built more than 5 years ago?
Are those LOB applications crucial for your business?
When did you add new functionality to at least one of those business
application?

4. APP MODERNIZATION – THE ‘WHY?’
What are the reason why YOU should think about App Modernization?
Improve UX and
efficiency of a Legacy
LOB application
Modern functionality
(like AI) intended to be
added
Improve LOB
application security and
thread protection
Legacy LOB
application needs
additional
functionality
Planning a migration to
Office 365
Reduce efforts for
maintaining a Legacy
LOB application

5. APP MODERNIZATION – THE OPTIONS
Gartner’s 5 ‘R’s - Five Ways to Migrate Applications to the Cloud
Retire
Total cost of
ownership
(TCO) is
greater than
Business
Value
Replace
Replace with
off-the-shelf,
SaaS solution
Retain
App still
provides
value, and
business logic
is still
applicable
Rehost
App still
provides
value, but
(too)
expensive to
run
Reenvision
App still
provides
value, but
cannot be
easily
migrated
Reference: http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/1684114

6. WHY IS THIS AFFECTING YOU?
Are you planning for a migration to Office 365?
Business
Application
deployed to
SharePoint on-
premises?
Business
Application
developed for
older versions
of SharePoint?

7. WHAT IS WRONG WITH SERVERSIDE CODE?
There is nothing wrong with server-side code, but …. (and there is always a ‘but’)
 Executes on the SharePoint server directly
 Has access to the complete SharePoint API
 Code can be impersonated
 Security risks possible / Requires ‘Full Trust’
 Hard to maintain
 Can have negative performance impact
 Can cause trouble when SharePoint gets updated/upgraded
 Downtime when solution is updated
 Troubleshooting can get very complicated
 Not available in Office 365

8. REPLACING SERVER-SIDE CODE
These are the options to replace SharePoint-hosted server-side code
Business
Application
using Server-
side code
SharePoint-framework Web Part using client-side
code only
Provider-hosted Add-in using client-side code for
UI/UX and (external) Server-side code for Business
Logic
Azure-hosted application using Azure infrastructure
and Azure services (PaaS)

9. SHAREPOINT FRAMEWORK SPFX
These are the options to replace server-side code
 Lightweight development environment
 Script-code only
 Requires strict coding guidelines
 Limited functionality, constantly updated
 Centered around SharePoint components
 Code runs under permissions of current user
(no impersonation)
 Great integration with modern sites (like
communication sites)

10. PROVIDER-HOSTED ADD-IN
These are the options to replace server-side code
 Requires 2 elements: UI and business logic
 UI solution deployed to SharePoint, using
Script languages only
 Logic solution deployed to ‘cloud’ using C#
or other supported language
 Challenging development environment
 Skilled developers needed
 Capable of handling multiple clients
 Updates to the logic solution do not affect
the UI solution within SharePoint

11. AZURE-HOSTED APPLICATION
These are the options to replace server-side code
 Different approach – not relying on
SharePoint Add-in framework
 Business application is hosted in Azure
 Business application can use diversified
services provided by Azure
 Azure is providing different approaches to
create a Business Application
 Depending on the approach there can be a
separate UI solution in SharePoint
 Business Applications are reusable and not
tied to SharePoint anymore

12. AZURE-HOSTED APPLICATION
Here is the reason why Azure-hosted applications are so powerful.
Web
Apps
Mobile
Apps
API
Management
API
Apps
Logic
Apps
Notification
Hubs
Content Delivery
Network (CDN)
Media
Services
HDInsight Machine
Learning
Stream
Analytics
Data
Factory
Event
Hubs
Mobile
Engagement
Biztalk
Services
Hybrid
Connections
Service
Bus
Storage
Queues
Backup
StorSimple
Site
Recovery
Import/Export
SQL
Database
DocumentDB
Redis
Cache
Search
Tables
SQL Data
Warehouse
Azure AD
Connect Health
AD Privileged
Identity Mngt
Operational
Insights
Cloud
Services
Batch Remote App
Service
Fabric Visual Studio
Application
Insights
Azure SDK
Team Project
Active
Directory
Multi-Factor
Authentication
Automation
Portal
Key Vault
Store /
Marketplace
VM Image Gallery
& VM Depot
SECURITY &
MANAGEMENT PLATFORM SERVICES HYBRID
OPERATIONS

13. AZURE-HOSTED APPLICATION
Approaches for Azure-hosted applications
Server-less Web/Mobile
Azure functions
Event-driven compute
application components
• IoT events
• Games events
• Operational events
App service
Web and mobile fully
managed applications. No
infrastructure management
• Ecommerce sites
• LoB sites
• Supporting websites
Microservices
Service fabric
Massive-scale 24*7 available
applications with agile multi-
components
• Multi-part live games
• Queuing systems
• Large-scale sites/LoB
Existing frameworks
Cloud services
Applications focused on the
framework / runtime /
application model
• Existing enterprise/LoB
apps
• New scale-out with
existing components

14. POWER-FULL AZURE APPLICATIONS
Why are Azure applications so powerful when used with Office 365?
Windows Azure
Business
Application
Azure
Infrastructure
Azure
Services
Azure
Storage
SharePoint (Office 365)
Business
Application
UI
External Systems
Mobile Application
(Power Apps, Xamarin)
Power BI Reporting
Flow
SharePoint
elements

15. SUMMARY
The main take-aways of my session
 If you are using custom Business Applications and think about
moving to Office 365 -> Your applications probably need a
modernization
 If you want different frontends (like SharePoint or mobile Apps) ->
Your applications probably need a modernization
 If you want to utilize the power, high-availability and effortless
maintenance of Azure -> You applications probably need a
modernization

16. QUESTIONS
Thank you for attending my session – Let’s have some tech-talk now …
Oliver Wirkus (MVP, MCT)
Sr. Consultant with 2toLead
oliver@2tolead.com