The technological obsolescence is increasingly present at the table of IT and technology directors of companies, since new digital trends such as AI, ‘BigData’ and ‘Cloud Computing’ require an update of business applications to be able to be integrated. Sectors such as banking, insurance and public administration are the most affected, since they have implemented customized solutions without changing base technology and the developers of that system are close to retirement. The Basque company GO4IT Solutions has developed a tool that performs modernization automatically.
The problem of technological obsolescence is combined the one associated with the ‘Silver Tsunami’ phenomenonsince a very important part of these applications were developed in the 90s and many of the programmers close to retirement age will take with them functional knowledge of the business and of vital importance for companies.
Although this is a multi-sector problem, the problems are more pressing in sectors that must evolve their business processes according to legal changes. “In these sectors, such as banking, insurance and public administrationin order to keep applications up to date with the pace of legal changes, it is necessary to develop measurement applications. These applications are absolutely fundamental for entities, as they govern their business processes. Additionally, they are usually very large in size. That’s why These applications evolve without changing technology, becoming a problem, not so much because of its functioning, which is good, but because of its obsolescence at the base technology level”explains Adrián Noguero Mucientes, CEO and founder of GO4IT.
GO4IT Solutions is specialized in solving the problem of modernizing applications on obsolete technologies. “The company was established in response to a need of this type, raised by a client of our parent company: Tecnalia. At his request, a study of the software applications market was carried out, seeing it as an interesting technology to be developed within of a company specialized in this type of solutions,” comments the company’s CEO. Thus, they were devised tools that allow you to automate this process automatically.
Recent market studies carried out by international entities predict a Application modernization market growth of 300% in the next 10 years. This trend is based, precisely, on the push that new digital technologies such as AI, BigData and ‘Cloud Computing’, among others, and their integration forces the updating of applications.
The Esperanto of programming
GO4IT’s technology is unique in southern Europe. “It is based on the compiler models of the Linux world, specifically, on the model of the GCC (GNU Compiler Collection) project. The fundamental premise is that all programming languages share basic concepts such as variables, functions, classes… Starting from this base, a pivot language or intermediate model is developed, like a kind of Esperanto of programming languages, that is, any program, whether ancient or modern, can be described by this intermediate model,” he says. Adrián Noguero Mucientes.
“In the same way as the GCC project,” continues the CEO of GO4IT, “our technology uses compilers to obtain this intermediate model of the old program, and subsequently, using code generation techniques, this intermediate model is converted back to programming codebut in this case written in a modern language or languages”.
At a geographical level, the company works in the Spanish, Latin American and Benelux markets. By sectors, the main markets coincide with those that have a greater need to migrate, that is, banking, insurance and public administration.
According to Adrián Noguero, the risks of not updating are varied: operational failures, greater vulnerability to cyber attacks, increased maintenance costs and a more limited customer experience in functionalities, among others.
Regarding the danger of these digital systems due to the retirement of a generation, the so-called ‘Silver Tsunami’, the GO4IT manager comments that these languages or platforms “are no longer taught or used in modern technical training centers.” Additionally, there is a talent shortage in the sector, and finding qualified personnel in these languages is increasingly complicated. Therefore, the company’s solution is an option for modernization.
Challenge and opportunity
According to Javier Aguilera, general director of Ikusi Spain, “he ‘Silver Tsunami’ represents both a challenge and an opportunity for companies on their path to digitalization. The key is in adequately manage the transfer of knowledge and in invest in advanced technologies that can compensate for the loss of experience.
In the field of cybersecurity, the ‘Silver Tsunami’ presents an additional challenge, since the loss of experienced personnel can leave security gapsconsiders the director of Ikusi. “Companies must invest in continuous training and hiring specialized cybersecurity talent. Additionally, the adoption of artificial intelligence solutions can improve detection and response to threats, automating routine tasks and allowing security teams to focus on more threats. complex”.
On the other hand, he considers that the renewal of business networks is essential to support the growing volume of data and demand for fast and secure connectivity. “To this end, the implementation of advanced technologies such as software-defined networking (SDN) and network functions virtualization (NFV) can help modernize networks and make them more flexible and efficient.”
Javier Aguilera also points out as key in this context data center modernizationthe heart of a company’s digital infrastructure. “The transition towards more sustainable and energy efficient data centers, as well as the adoption of technologies such as cloud computing and virtualization, are important steps,” concludes Javier Aguilera.
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