Is Your Team Skilled Enough to Address the Complexity of a Migration?

Application server migrations often come with apprehension. While companies look forward to better performance and/or support, enhanced security as well as functionalities, they can feel like navigating a project full of potential pitfalls. Among these, a particularly pressing concern is whether the application development team is prepared to handle the complexity of the migration process.

After all, a successful migration isn’t just about the technology—it’s about the people implementing it. Addressing this fear is crucial to ensuring a smooth transition and unlocking the full potential of your new platform. Let’s have a look at how organizations can address this challenge while improving their skillsets.

Application Server Migration Skillset

You’ve already taken significant steps to prepare for your application server migration. You’ve established a robust roadmap to ensure business continuity as well as security, and prepared comprehensive estimates for capital and operational expenses. Yet, some lingering doubts remain: Can my team handle the complexities of this migration? Can this issue affect the successful transition to a different runtime and application operations?

These questions are valid, with a team’s capability able to directly impact the success a transition to a new application environment, especially when application server migrations are part of larger modernization frameworks, such as the move to the cloud.

Paul Iwaszek, Director of IT at Go Technology Group, explains: “(…) Many businesses are hesitant due to the potential need for refactoring or re-architecting their systems. (…)”

While concerns about skill gaps are valid, letting this fear hold an organization back can result in missed opportunities. Postponing a migration due to perceived team limitations might seem like a safer option, but it can lead to greater challenges in the long run.

In particular, delaying an application server migration doesn’t solve the underlying issue of skill gaps, which can easily be addressed. In fact, deferring such projects indefinitely can exacerbate the challenge as applications become outdated. Successfully addressing this fear begins with proactively identifying the skill gaps within your team and exploring practical solutions to bridge them.

Addressing the Skill Gap: Turning Challenges into Opportunities

One effective approach to make sure application server migration teams have the right knowledge base is conducting a thorough skill gap analysis. By evaluating a team’s current expertise against the technical requirements of the migration, companies can pinpoint areas that need reinforcement. For example, familiarity with the target environment’s architecture, expertise in data migration processes and integration skills are all critical components of a successful migration. Once any gap is identified, targeted training programs or cross-training sessions can empower the team to build the necessary skills.

If the task at hand still feels overwhelming, leveraging external expertise can provide much-needed relief. Partnering with an experienced consultant can offer your team guidance and hands-on support, reducing the risks associated with learning on the job. These partnerships not only fill immediate skill gaps but also serve as a valuable learning opportunity for your internal team, setting them up for long-term success.

When looking at support options, relying on the application server provider’s migration team can be extremely beneficial. Thus, it is helpful to favor a vendor that can offer this level of assistance. For example, Payara Accelerator’s personalized suite of services is designed to help Payara Services’ new and existing customers simplify the migration process as well as optimize application deployment, to maximize performance, stability and security. More precisely, companies can benefit from:

• Guidance on Migration and Upgrades
• Configuration and Health Check Review
• Application-Specific Visibility and Monitoring Solutions
• Operational Training and Configuration Know-How
• Configuration Tuning for Enhanced Performance
• Application Upgrade Service
• Cloud Migration
• Achieve Optimal Performance, Stability and Security

“We have been working with the Payara support team for the last couple of months and, so far, we are positively impressed with the response level and the quality of documentation provided by the Payara engineers.

The whole support team is aware of our circumstances resulting in a support service that offers straight forward solutions for our specific issues.” - Hyperwallet

Read the full case study here

Get Your Team Ready to Migrate

The journey to a successful application server migration is undoubtedly complex, but it becomes manageable and even empowering with the right tools and support. If you are contemplating moving to a different application server solution, but are concerned about the technical skills required, learn more about how we can support you through our Payara Accelerator suite of consulting services. We are here to equip your team with the right know-how and expert assistance to embark on a successful migration journey.