CAST Highlight reads the source code, “understands” what changes are needed to move to a cloud environment, and automatically develops a fact-based roadmap to the cloud by detecting any impediments or slowdowns (roadblocks) to migration and/or optimization to the cloud by providing an estimate of the time needed to eliminate them. So if you want to bring an application to the cloud or, perhaps, just optimize it because it is not sufficiently integrated, the first thing to do is to remove blockers.
However, not all blockers are the same. There may, in fact, be impediments that can be easily and quickly solved; for example, for a "Using hardcoded network IP address (IPV4, IPV6)" it is enough to replace the IP address with a host name, while the blocker "Using COM Components" for which it may be necessary to replace the component is more time-consuming and complicated. So in addition to the number of blockers, it is also necessary to understand the effort required to remove that specific type of blocker.
For this very purpose, CAST Highlight introduced a metric that estimates effort on Cloud Maturity.
This metric is useful because it helps prioritize the move of applications to the cloud in order to optimize resource allocation based on the choices that are made knowing a priori the effort required.
CAST Highlight allows you to create a view of the application portfolio in which you have Cloud Maturity Effort on the vertical axis and FTEs (Full Time Equivalents) on the horizontal axis.
The view above shows which apps do not have sufficient development resources compared to the effort required to resolve the blocks to cloud migration (the apps in the upper left quadrant), those that are balanced (upper right and lower left), or those where resources can be subtracted because they are in excess (lower right quadrant).
Cloud Blocker/Roadblock Effort Customization
For effort estimation, i.e., the value in terms of time required to resolve blockers, a ready-to-use model is provided with predefined values established a priori by CAST consultants experienced in cloud migration; however, when it comes to agreeing on the level of effort to resolve blockers in a custom application, assessments may differ depending on the organization, team, technology stack, development methodology, etc. So CAST Highlight allows users to modify these values and thus set up a custom estimate for each cloud pattern.
The figure below shows the interface that allows users to modify, by technology, the effort of each individual blocker type. Also provided for each blocker is:
- An indication of the different impact this change has on the application at the code (C) and/or framework (F) and/or architecture (A) level.
- The Criticality—indicates the level of criticality with the different possible values: Low, Medium, High, Critical.
Among the various steps to migrate an application, that of removing blockers is undoubtedly among the main ones. CAST Highlight is the platform that can find them, count them, indicate where they impact, measure their criticality, and calculate (allowing for customization) the estimated effort needed to remove them.
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