The scrum framework is an agile methodology that allows to streamline and accelerate the pipeline of projects. It can be particularly useful in cases of app modernization activities.
The modernization of applications is an increasingly necessary operation to guarantee companies performing digital services, and it can restore the right levels of competitiveness.
The cloud is currently an excellent architectural choice. It allows IT teams to recover flexibility and reduce waste - when paying per consumption -, providing cutting-edge technologies, greater security and scalable performance when needed. However, traditional software, designed to run in IT environments with a client-server structure, can also show impactful limitations if inserted in modern hybrid ecosystems, open and distributed on multiple clouds.
How to get out of this cul-de-sac? In some cases, the Lift & Shift method - such as simply migrating applications from local datacenters to the cloud, without changes - may not work. To ensure the effectiveness of the programs in the new environments, less or more profound interventions are therefore required, with rewritings that may be rather minimal - as for re-platforming - or massive - as for refactoring. The application can even be redesigned in its structure, adopting more modern development techniques, using of microservices and containers (rebuilding), in particular. You can also follow the replacement option, replacing the old application with another similar one, already designed in a cloud-native key.
In cases of re-platforming and refactoring, but above all when the choice falls on rebuilding, the scrum framework can serve as a facilitator element. It is an approach to the implementation of complex projects that allows reaching the final goal by proceeding step-by-step.
The development process is divided into sprints, which can be short (2-4 weeks) and iterative (following the same predefined sequence) activity cycles aimed at developing an increase (an improvement such as fixing a bug or adding a new feature). Each change is released and tested directly from the user experience, to immediately identify any errors, before moving on to the next sprint.
Through the collection of feedback and the close collaboration between developers and users, the scrum framework, therefore allows accelerating the time-to-market of applications. This applies both in the case of development from scratch and for making changes, and allows obtaining a higher quality code and mitigating the risk of failure.
The scrum framework allows advantages that are crucial in any application modernization scenarios, where it becomes necessary to quickly migrate software to the cloud, verifying that all functions perform at their best and are aligned with user requests.
The scrum framework proves particularly effective when you opt for a rewriting of applications in a cloud-native perspective. The microservices architecture, in fact, allows applications to be designed as a set of independent functional units, which can be modified individually without compromising the overall operation of the software during the operation.
Hence, the areas of intervention can be more easily circumscribed and development activities can be organized in incremental sprints, each aimed at a specific component of the application. Developers can therefore operate safely, ensuring the operational continuity of the software, and users are able to provide immediate feedback on the goodness and usefulness of the changes made, helping to improve the quality of the application.