Yesterday, we released The Forrester Wave™: Application Modernization And Migration Services, Q1 2024. We looked at the top 15 vendors in the market and evaluated them across 25 criteria. Demand for assistance continues to propel interest in modernization and migration services, as the focus continues to shift toward the former at the expense of the latter. While “move, then improve” continues to be a viable approach, most enterprises realize that the real business value is derived from modernization as a way to reduce technical debt and open a path to the future.
The market is on the verge of dramatic change with the advent of generative AI (genAI), which promises to transform the nature of modernization and migration services in the years ahead as AI gets embedded in accelerators and genAI helps supercharge productivity. Some may expect modernization efforts to come with built-in standardized intelligence. Although ambitions loom large, established use cases are only now firming up and case history examples remain few.
There are six Leaders in today’s market: Tata Consultancy Services, Accenture, Infosys, IBM, Capgemini, and Wipro. We found that Leaders differentiate themselves by being able to:
- Combine the ability to deliver solutions at scale with a strong differentiated vision for modernization and migration services. While scale can be measured, a differentiated vision must conform with the customer’s journey.
- Demonstrate the proven ability to invest in emerging technologies, including genAI. Will this attribute reorder the Leaders of tomorrow? Time will tell.
- Be conversant with advanced teaming models and other facets of modern software delivery, including platform-based — as opposed to factory-based — approaches. Moreover, pricing models are evolving as these team-based structures are adapted to product-oriented delivery.
Another five vendors — HCLTech, EPAM, NTT DATA, Deloitte, Cognizant, and EY — are Strong Performers, and Eviden, Tech Mahindra, and PwC are Contenders.
With the risks of perpetuating technical debt now evident through security breaches, ransomware attacks, and highly embarrassing software failures (all at an all-time high), now is the time to consider obtaining assistance in the form of application modernization and migration service providers. If you want to benchmark your current partner against the current industry-leading suppliers, or are looking for a new partner, this Forrester Wave is the best starting point.
If you would like to learn more about this space, I recommend the following resources:
