Coding can be a daunting skill to acquire. Not only is it about learning a new language and potentially new software, but it also requires a lot of hours of practice. But getting on the road to code doesn’t have to be long and winding, with new solutions making it simpler to get into coding, this could be your time.

In the recent months following the Microsoft Inspire event, you might have heard a lot about the ‘citizen developer’. A phrase coined from custom app and workflow building suites such as Power Platform, it’s where both developers and non-technical users have the capability to build apps from a set of low code or no code templates – bringing development out of normal IT roles.

If you’re new to coding, or want to see if you’ve got the knack, Power Platform is a great way to be introduced to the world of app building (PowerApps), automating business processes (Microsoft Flow) and business data reporting (Power BI) without having the expertise of a coder.

We’ll run through some key terms and tips in this blog to get you started on Power Platform – because who knows, this could be the starting block to your coding (or no coding) career!

What is Power Platform?

Made up of three products (PowerApps, Power BI and Microsoft Flow), Power Platform “improves productivity across your business with an integrated application platform”. With the mantra around citizen developers, Microsoft prides itself on the fact that Power Platform gives everyone the ability to build business solutions, no matter their technical expertise. So that’s why it’s a great start for anyone wanting to get more technical as it’ll help teach you the processes needed without the coding skill. But when you are ready to get into your coding shoes, you’ll be ahead of the curve.

Tip #1 PowerApps

With templates galore, people have been known to create an app in a day (or even hours) with the PowerApps product. But to start, get to know the different templates before rushing in and always choose one that’ll deliver your business goal. Intrigued about how the templates were built? You can dig deeper and edit template functions to see the step by step process it took to build them. That way you can replicate your favourite template sections into your own application from scratch as the template will have shown you the steps needed, turning your low code product into a coding education tool.

Tip #2 Power BI

With a feel similar to Excel, you should excel at the Power BI product if you are already into your spreadsheets. However, our top tip is that you shouldn’t replicate how you manage data in Excel with Power BI as there’s not a direct correlation. To kick-off with the basics, if you’re a fan of Pivot Charts in Excel (who isn’t??) the closest thing to try in Power BI would be the Matrix, but to start more simply, you can use Column Charts and Tree Maps to create a basic pivot table-like view.

Tip #3 Microsoft Flow

Although not requiring any coding skills to make a Microsoft Flow, you can investigate the code behind the process to understand more. Flow uses really simple frontend blocks to help create the flow you’re building, but if you wanted to understand how this translates into backend, use the ‘Peek code’ option in the ‘…’ menu and you can see how the actions you’re taking are affecting the code. A really handy tip if you want to understand more about the code behind your flows.

Whether you are new to Power Platform, or are a seasoned expert, encouraging more people into acquiring technical skills is a must for future innovation – so is why Arrk is supporting #NationalCodingWeek this week. Head to their website for some great tips and tools for both schools and businesses.

And if you’re interested in optimising and adopting your full Microsoft Office 365 suite in your company, including your Power Platform apps, then we can help make it your best tool yet.

You’ve established your legacy system isn’t meeting your constantly evolving needs, but the thought of scrapping it and starting afresh is waking you up in the middle of the night. Surely there must be a way to modernise? But how much time and resource is it worth investing to reduce your technical debt? And how far do you go before you finally admit defeat?

At least you can feel safe in the knowledge that you’re not alone in battling this conundrum. According to MIT, 67% of C-level executives would like to completely replace their core legacy systems, but at the same time, 70% say they’d like to keep their systems as long as possible. To replace, or not to replace? That is the question.

Choosing how far you modernise doesn’t have to be a black or white solution though; it should encourage a whole spectrum of different methods and processes to be explored. From re-hosting and re-factoring through to a complete re-build – application modernisation is what you make of it.

Before deciding which route to go down, you need to ask yourself some important questions about why you’re having to modernise your application. Has the scope or specification of your application changed? Does it still fulfil your business requirements? How well is your system performing or is the source code still supported? By answering these questions you’ll be on the way to finding the right solution.

With a wide range of modernisation options available (and multiple combinations), it can be a bit of a minefield to work out the most appropriate solution for your given situation. But by establishing why you want to modernise, it will lead you on to figuring out how to modernise. Discover below the variety of methods of modernisation out there…

Encapsulate

Your system’s performing well and meeting most of your business requirements, so you’ve established nothing drastic needs to change. However, you want to improve performance and increase the scope. In this scenario encapsulation will help you leverage and extend your application’s features and value through encapsulating the data and functions.

Re-host

Your application seems to be meeting most of your business requirements, however it’s not operating in the optimum environment. Through re-hosting you can simply re-deploy the application component to another physical, virtual or cloud infrastructure without having to alter the application code or modify features and functions.

Re-platform

If application performance is your main concern, then this might be solved by re-platforming. By making minimal changes to the code to adapt to the new platform without changing the code structure or the features it provides, migrating the application component to a new runtime platform should improve your performance.

Re-factor

If you’re experiencing performance issues but your business requirements have changed too, then re-factoring your application would be beneficial. Involving restructuring and optimising your existing code without changing its external behaviour, re-factoring is a step up from re-platforming and involves a deeper dive into the application.

Re-architect

Is your system not running quite the way you want it, but nothing seems to be standing out as the main issue? Perhaps re-architecting is the answer. By materially altering the application code so you can shift it to a new application architecture, you can now fully exploit new and better capabilities of the application platform.

Re-build

You’ve identified that the critical issue you’re facing is that you’re using outdated or unsupported code. This is inherently risky as it’ll be difficult to maintain and ultimately run effective tests. Therefore, re-building or re-writing the application component from scratch while preserving its scope and specifications, would be the preferred option.

Replace

If you’ve explored all the alternative methods of modernising but none have the capacity to solve your issue, unfortunately it seems that replacement is your only option. As your scope has changed significantly your current application has become redundant and although it’s a drastic measure, it would be best to eliminate the former application component altogether and take the new requirements and needs into account.

Modernising your applications isn’t a quick decision to make. But by taking the time to explore your options, rather than maybe going straight to Replace, means you could get the best of both worlds – a modernised, flexible and scalable system that also retains the originality of why you kept the system around in the first place. Multiple issues, such as performance and a sub-optimal environment, may also mean a combination of options can be chosen. For example, you can both re-host and re-platform to tackle multiple issues in one move.

Whichever route you go down, effective application modernisation is what you make of it – it’s more than a just a decision between staying put or completely changing. However, the most important driver is to ensure that architectural and technical change are aligned to the needs of the business and isn’t simply technology change for technology’s sake.

Are your legacy systems a millstone around your neck and/or swallowing up valuable internal resource? When left behind in a business’ digital transformation, clunky legacy systems can affect a company’s speed to market as well as the ability to be reactive. If that rings a bell, the good news is that legacy systems don’t have to be a burden. Instead of working against you, they can work with you and become the foundation on which your business moves forward on its digital journey.

In a recent survey, 72% of C-suite executives stated that their legacy systems hamper their ability to migrate to new technologies and make their IT functions less responsive to market change. In any industry, having a competitive advantage and being quick to adapt to change in the market is integral for success – a legacy system that holds you back and decreases your competitive edge is therefore competing against your business goals.

There’s no solution that’ll fit every company, but there are two overarching routes you could go down; either modernising your legacy systems and making it fit for the future, or if it is fit for purpose, passing the responsibility of the support and maintenance to an external provider to free up valuable development resource in-house to focus on new innovations.

Modernisation

Sometimes, it’s simpler to take the easy route and implement additional applications instead of fixing what you’ve already got. But if your focus is on reducing your technical debt as well as aligning architectural and technical change to the needs of your business, modernisation could be the answer. Maximise the system you have already and make it work for you, while at the same streamlining and centralising your systems.

Cost is a big factor when it comes to updating and modernising, but an upfront cost that means a long-term solution rather than multiple smaller ‘band-aid’ costs spread over time – there’s no competition. If it means your bespoke software now has greater functionality and has realigned all your business processes, there’s no doubt that updating and modernising your legacy systems creates greater efficiency.

Of course, the size of the project will greatly impact your decision to allocate budget. From re-platforming your legacy with minimal code changes, to a complete re-build where the specifications stay the same, but you re-write the application component form scratch, it’s not a light decision to go down this route. But with increased speed to market, higher adaptability to market change, increased scope for innovation as well as increasing the capacity to manage new demands – it might just be worth it to turn your legacy systems into legend.

Additional ways to approach your modernisation can include re-hosting your system on the cloud or or even a full replacement – to discover all seven ways Arrk can assist your modernisation, discover our RemArrk™ application modernisation framework.

Maintenance and Support

When you do have a system that’s fit for purpose, but your team are bogged down in bug fixes, or you’re over reliant on one individual to manage it, outsourcing the support and maintenance of your legacy systems becomes the logical route.

Freeing up resource of your internal digital teams is one of the main reason’s companies look to outsource. Keeping staff motivated and happy should be a priority, but if a team of developers are required to constantly fix legacy system issues rather than developing new ideas – motivation can start to halter. By handing over the maintenance to an external provider, your digital teams can now focus on new innovations and look to the future.

Equally, if an individual who created the system wants to move onto new projects but can’t as they’re the only one with the know-how, they’ll often be stuck in that position until documentation of the system can be done. A massive benefit to handing over the maintenance is that it’ll have to be documented to allow the external team to manage and develop the system. So even if the outsourcing is a temporary fix for only a few months, the lasting legacy of the documentation will mean that multiple people will have access to the system’s processes and not just a sole responsibility.

This approach also means you now have more time to evaluate which direction you want your business to go in. While bug fixing and concentrating on support, roadmapping your company’s digital future might have taken a backseat when everyone knows this should be at the forefront of any growing business. Handing over the responsibility to an external party can therefore help to relieve some essential strategic planning time while your systems are being looked after.

Lastly – outsourcing can be the most immediate solution as straightaway you’ll have the appropriate skill-set at your fingertips. Not only that, but with a dedicated team, the ongoing development of the system will become part of day to day life. So as your team matures from being involved in innovative new projects rather than legacy management, your legacy system will also mature alongside.

Modernisation and maintenance offer two different solutions to grow, develop and refine your legacy systems. They can also work hand in hand to both mature your teams and mature your digital road map. Whether you choose one option, or both, making your legacy lightweight and nimble instead of a burden, is a sure-fire way to propel your business further to the front of the digital space race. Discover our COMPLIMENTARY legacy system review now.