When we think of the word “extinction,” our minds often conjure up images of big events that wiped out entire species. But extinction is constant and an important part of evolution. When a species disappears, it makes room for new ones to thrive and diversify. The same is true with our technology.

Organizations need to continually evolve systems to meet changing demands and behaviors and to safeguard against new threats. There comes a time when a bug fix or security patch to an older system is just not enough, or worth it, to keep up with how we need to operate. The evolution of cloud marks a new era, one that’s ushering in the next big wave of legacy technology extinction. The target: Your on-premises technology. If your legacy software and systems are on the endangered list, now is the time to plan your migration strategy and put in place a process to make sure you never end up in this situation again.

What happens when your technology reaches end of life?
If your technology is no longer supported, running your on-premises systems will become increasingly restrictive and make your business operations more vulnerable to security breaches and disruption. Even if you find end-user support, you’ll end up paying a premium. And it’s still only a temporary fix. You risk losing compatibility with other systems and software, which may compel upgrades of additional products before they also leave support, creating extra, unplanned costs.

Use the upgrade opportunity to do more for less
While ensuring stability and security are the most critical, they’re not the only reasons to rush to shed your on-premises technology. When you’re in the cloud, your infrastructure adapts as your business requires. You can accelerate innovation initiatives that drive lasting business value, like renewing business processes and workflows for better employee experiences or embracing artificial intelligence to improve your supply chain and personalize customer experiences.

In true evolution form, cloud is an improvement in how we respond to change. By making small, continuous changes to your technology ecosystem, you don’t have worry about future big bang transformations. A simplified architecture reduces large-scale business impact risk and minimizes technology debt by keeping your IT current, supported and secure.

Set aside all of the innovation opportunity cost for a minute. Very practically, hardware and data center management costs make your on-premises technology expensive. You can reduce these costs significantly with cloud. One example: over five years, it’s estimated that Microsoft Azure can save you more than $1.25 million when you migrate 20 SQL databases. Use Microsoft’s total cost of ownership (TCO) calculator to see your own potential savings on Azure.

Don’t get left in the dark
Since most migrations can take months to complete, it’s critical to plan ahead. An end-of-life product assessment and roadmap will help you strategically plan the steps necessary to take your product through the retirement process.

Through years of experience implementing complex migrations, Avanade has built a robust, agile-based delivery methodology and set of accelerators to help automate many of the steps. This approach can help you realize quick wins while also minimizing risk and disruption. Once you’ve begun your digital transformation journey, we can help you manage and evolve technology platforms to unlock even more value.

That’s the path Home Group, one of the UK’s largest housing providers, took when its existing data center reached end of life. Instead of investing in an expensive infrastructure upgrade, it partnered with Avanade to help migrate its data and workflows to Azure. As a result, the organization released the costs of operating a large data center, preserved data security and opened new opportunities for future innovations. “In the cloud environment, we can often create new applications very quickly, very easily,” said Simon Parker, director of information services and project management office at Home Group.

Ready for an assessment? Avanade’s experts can help your organization realize the benefits of updating your technology for lasting value that rapidly outpaces extinction. Contact us today for more information on how to manage your IT investments while strategically planning for the future. If this is your first move to the cloud, now is a good time to explore your options for preventing a similar end of life threat down the road.

To see if your Microsoft technologies are approaching end of life, check out Microsoft’s Product and Services Lifecycle search tool.