AI is rapidly transforming various industries, from healthcare with customers like Chi Mei Medical Center leveraging AI to improve the quality of care they deliver to patients, to retail with customers like Coles who are able to predict the flow of 20,000 stock-keeping units to 850 stores with remarkable accurately and beyond. By automating processes and providing valuable insights, AI continues to produce significant business outcomes for many businesses globally. Despite its potential, scaling AI applications involves overcoming critical challenges to run AI applications in production. Some of these factors include data silos, legacy systems, infrastructure and code, and the need for robust infrastructure. Therefore, creating the urgent need for businesses to modernize their applications, data, infrastructure, and developer workflows.

Modernizing apps and data involves updating legacy systems to leverage modern technologies like managed cloud platform services and development practices. This requires a holistic approach which includes the people, processes, and skillsets along with the data, apps, and infrastructure. This process offers numerous benefits for AI applications, such as improved performance, scalability, and security. Key components of app and data modernization include containerization, microservices architecture, and data lakes. These elements are essential for creating a modern AI infrastructure that supports faster processing, better data integration, and enhanced user experiences.

Microsoft Azure provides a comprehensive suite of tools, services, and support to enable you to modernize, run and scale your app and data seamlessly on the cloud to leverage AI at scale.

Modernizing apps and data on Azure involves a structured approach that starts with assessments, followed by planning and execution. Here is a detailed outline of this approach:

1. Assessment

The first step in the modernization journey is to assess the current state of your applications and data. This involves evaluating the existing infrastructure, identifying dependencies, and understanding the business requirements. Microsoft Azure provides a comprehensive set of first-party tools like Azure Migrate and third-party offerings with CAST and UnifyCloud to enable assessments of your apps and data estate. Azure Migrate our first-party migration solution, enables holistic assessment of your server and app estate to provide a comprehensive cloud-readiness report. The newly-released Application aware capability helps with portfolio level migrations, rather than individual servers. The Azure Migrate app and code assessment tool enables Developers perform code level assessment on .NET and Java source codes and binaries and offers a more granular assessment of code base to identify code changed required to successfully run applications on Azure. It integrates with popular IDEs such as Visual Studio offering a seamless experience to Developers within their flow of work. GitHub Copilot Chat integration further helps developers and app owners of any skill level to use conversational approach to plan their modernization using this tool.

2. Planning

Once the assessment is complete, the next step is to create a detailed modernization plan. This plan should outline the goals, timelines, and resources required for the modernization effort. It should also include a roadmap for migrating applications and data to Microsoft Azure, along with your innovation plan, AI use cases, and strategy for integrating AI capabilities.

3. Execution

The execution phase involves migrating applications and data to Azure, modernizing the infrastructure, and integrating AI capabilities. This phase requires close collaboration between IT and business teams to ensure a smooth transition. Microsoft Azure provides everything you need to build, run & optimize intelligent apps from leading app services to the broadest and most comprehensive portfolio of AI model to unified access to data and most widely used dev platforms enabling your teams to be more effective and move quickly from cloud to cloud.

App and Data Modernization at Microsoft Ignite

Microsoft Ignite is an excellent opportunity to learn about how Azure can enable your app and data modernization. Check out and take advantage of the workshops, sessions, and hands-on labs focused on modernizing apps and data. Gain insights from industry experts on best practices for app and data modernization, access exclusive tools and offers designed to accelerate modernization efforts and connect with Microsoft executives and experts to discuss strategies and solutions. Explore

Breakout Sessions

• BRK138: Power Your AI Transformation: Scaling App Modernization for Business Growth: Delivering successful application modernization projects is a multi-step process which can be sometime challenging but doesn't have to be. With the right methodology, partnership, and tools, modernizing applications can be a lot easier. Explore the best practices, tools, strategies, approaches, and patterns to assess, plan, and modernize your app and data estate and innovate with AI.
• BRK137: Assess your app and data estate for AI-powered innovation: In today's rapidly evolving technological landscape, the ability to harness the power of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is becoming a critical differentiator for businesses. However, the journey to AI innovation begins with a thorough assessment of your app and data estate. This session will provide you with the insights, best practices and tools necessary to wholistically assess your app and data estate to streamline and accelerate AI innovation through modernization
• BRK147: Modernize and scale enterprise Java applications on Azure: Unlock the full potential of your enterprise Java apps on Azure and accelerate innovation with comprehensive solutions for Spring, Tomcat, JBoss EAP, WebSphere, and Oracle WebLogic apps. We will also showcase how you can bring together app, data, and AI for building intelligent solutions for even greater impactful business outcomes.
• BRK150 Modernize enterprise integration with Azure Integration Services: Modernizing enterprise integration is key to staying competitive. Join us to explore Azure Integration Services and its potential. Discover how Azure Logic Apps can enhance processes with AI, enabling automation and smarter decision-making. Learn about hybrid deployment models to connect on-premises systems with cloud. Finally, explore transitioning from BizTalk to Azure Integration Services, leveraging your existing investments while adopting a cloud-native approach.
• BRK149 Modernizing applications with .NET, AI, and Cloud-Native practices: Learn how to modernize .NET applications using AI, cloud-native practices, and the .NET Aspire framework. Discover how to enhance resilience, scalability, and observability with Azure AI services and .NET’s built-in features. See how .NET Aspire simplifies cloud-native development and deployment with features like service discovery and managed identity.
• BRK144 Delivering business results with app innovation: Customer insights: Join this customer panel discussion to learn how E&Y, Chevron, London Stock Exchange (LSEG), and PayChex modernized on Azure App Platform using Azure Kubernetes Service, Azure App Service, Azure Functions, and Azure Container Apps. This panel discussion will cover real-world challenges of app modernization, the ease of modernizing with the right tools, and leveraging Azure Data and AI platforms to enhance internal business processes and external customer experiences.

Labs

• LAB408: Assess apps with Azure Migrate and replatform to Azure App Service: This session will guide you through the process of discovering your app, accessing your app, and leverage the GitHub integrated code remediation capability in Azure Migrate to refactor the code and replatform to Azure App Service. Don't miss this opportunity to transform your app landscape and unlock new potential with Azure

Theater Sessions

• THR508: GenAI app assessment and code remediation with CloudAtlas: Learn how CloudAtlas identifies issues, optimizes performance, and ensures compliance with industry standards. Gain insights into best practices for maintaining and improving GenAI applications. Perfect for developers, IT professionals, and product managers looking to enhance their projects.
• THR614: Modernize your apps with AI without completely rewriting your code: Adding GenAI is one of the highest priorities for enterprise customers with large app estates. Learn how to integrate new features such as caching, observability, and AI models into your existing web application while minimizing the changes to the primary application code.

Modernizing apps and data on Microsoft Azure is a critical step towards operationalizing AI at scale. By leveraging Azure's comprehensive suite of services, experts as well as vast ecosystem of partners, businesses can overcome the challenges of scaling AI applications, driving innovation and efficiency.

Join us at Ignite today and learn more about Digital Applications and Innovation Ignite Updates at: https://aka.ms/Digi-Apps-at-Ignite2024.