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Applications

Application Modernization

Modernize applications with security built in from the start.

Frustrated by the rising operating expenses and opportunity costs of your legacy applications? The burden compounds as maintenance becomes more difficult, security exposures grow, and releases lag. Limited resources are consumed by keeping the lights on, leaving too little time for growth and innovation.
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Tech debt: a tax that holds you back

Every application your business runs was built for a moment in time. Some have aged well, but many haven’t. When that gap goes unaddressed, you pay more in cloud bills, security exposure, lost productivity, and missed market opportunities.  

By the time this gap emerges as a business problem, there are usually strategic implications: a core platform that won’t scale to support an acquisition. A revenue-critical application that can’t pass an audit. Or releases that once took days now consume weeks.

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The OnX approach

Find the right path for each application

There is no universal way to modernize. Some applications are good candidates for a lift-and-shift to the cloud. Some need a deeper rewrite to take advantage of cloud-native services. Some need to be fully replaced. Yet others are worth modernizing in place because they still deliver value.

ONX assesses every application’s business value, technical condition, security posture, and dependencies. Then we recommend the path that delivers the best outcome at acceptable risk. That portfolio-aware approach is part of how ONX builds stronger foundations for our clients. 

 

Application Modernization capabilities

 ONX modernization engagements span the full spectrum of options — from targeted replatforming to complete rebuilds. Every engagement starts with a vigilant assessment.

Where to start

Advisory engagements

A ONX advisory is a time-bound, fixed-fee engagement designed to give you a clear answer to a specific strategic question — fast.

Discovery & Design Workshop

Best for: Organizations grappling with a business problem, such as lack of in-house resources, end-of-life challenges, or multi-faceted risks related to existing applications.

You walk away with:

  • Expert analysis of your current state, including insights on application condition, cost, risk, and business value 

  • Recommended actions for solving the business problem 

  • Executive readout deck for leadership alignment

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What success looks like

Application modernization pays off when your business feels the difference in cost, pace, and risk reduction. Three outcomes show up most consistently. 

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Cost optimization

Lower run costs, lower licensing exposure, and lower maintenance overhead. Modernization can shave application maintenance and run costs by as much as 30% to 50%, freeing capacity to invest in what the business needs to build next.

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Reduced risk

 Security and compliance posture strengthened by design. Legacy systems running unsupported dependencies are systematically remediated, and the architectural patterns of the modernized environment simplify ongoing risk management.

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Operational efficiency

Organizations that complete modernization commonly achieve 40% to 60% faster release cycles, turning the application portfolio from business constraint to growth and innovation leverand innovation.

"Business is always chasing the next new thing — more features, new functionality. Tech debt gets ignored until security or other limitations force the issue. By the time someone asks us to modernize, it's like raising a house: You can't lift one corner. The whole structure has to come up together. The teams that do this well plan for it, and that’s exactly where we focus."

Ari Steinberg

Ari Steinberg

Director of Application Development, ONX

Don’t take our word for it

“OnX continues to be a reliable and trusted partner, consistently providing support whenever we have questions or encounter issues. Doug's proactive engagement—regular attendance at our meetings and close alignment with our roadmap—demonstrates a genuine commitment to understanding our priorities and aligning with our operational needs. A key factor in OnX's successful relationship with the City of Edmonton is its deliberate focus on understanding our environment, our challenges, and the business outcomes we are working toward. Their highly skilled technical team further strengthens this partnership, enabling us to confidently tackle complex initiatives and advance critical projects with greater speed and assurance."

ManagerCity of Edmonton / Government

“OnX has been an incredible partner and really takes the time to understand our needs and our culture. Elias and Gabriel have been fantastic throughout and represent OnX professionally and with curiosity about our technology landscape.”

Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH)Hospitals & Physicians; Medical

“The OnX account team consistently demonstrates a high level of professionalism and expertise. They are not only a pleasure to collaborate with, but also excel at understanding and translating customer requirements into practical, cost-effective solutions. Their ability to balance client needs with budgetary constraints ensures that projects are both feasible and aligned with business objectives. Overall, their commitment to service and depth of knowledge make them a valuable partner in achieving successful outcomes.”

Sr. Manager IT InfrastructureDeloitte / Accounting Services

“The commitment and dedication by OnX is second to none. We truly do feel that OnX is simply more than a vendor—rather a valuable partner in Sask Polytech's overall success. We truly value the insight that Mark T, Tuyet L, Marcel M, Ali S and various others have guided us within our value streams. Cannot say enough good things about OnX.”

Team Lead NetworkSaskatchewan Polytechnic / Education

“OnX's core competency in professional services, staffing and procurement services have been integral to the success of assisting the operations staff for the Canadian Blood Services. The OnX team have proved themselves to be more than a vendor but a partner in enabling the reliability for the services The Canadian Blood Services provides.”

Canadian Blood ServicesOrganization; Non-profit

Modernization is one part of the application lifecycle

Most application modernization programs touch new development and ongoing management. OnX supports the full application lifecycle, with the same teams continuing across phases when that’s the right model for your business.

Related insights 

Frequently asked questions 

How does ONX approach application Modernization? We help organizations update their existing applications to drive better business outcomes. That may mean migrating them to the cloud, rebuilding them on modern platforms, refactoring code to improve performance and maintainability, or patching and hardening systems that need to stay where they are. We always lead with an outcomes lens and align our recommendations to reduce the cost, risk, and operational drag that legacy applications place on the business.
Can ONX support the 4 Rs of application modernization? Yes, ONX helps clients tackle the 4 Rs of application modernization: rehost, replatform, refactor, and rebuild. Rehost is a straight lift-and-shift to new infrastructure, typically the cloud, without changing the code. Replatform makes targeted changes to take advantage of cloud-native capabilities. Refactor restructures the code itself to improve performance, scalability, and maintainability. Rebuild replaces the application entirely. Most portfolios end up with a mix of all four plus retain (leave it alone) and retire (decommission it).
How do you decide which applications to modernize first? ONX scores each application across four dimensions: business value, technical condition, security and compliance risk, and dependencies on the rest of the environment. Applications that combine high business value with significant operational drag or unacceptable risk tend to rise to the top. We also consider sequencing. Certain applications need to be modernized first because the rest of the portfolio depends on them. The Discovery & Design Workshop is designed to help answer this question.
How does application modernization improve security? Legacy applications frequently carry technical debt in the form of outdated libraries, unpatched vulnerabilities, and architectures that predate current threat models. Modernization — especially to cloud-native environments where identity management, encryption, and policy enforcement are built in — typically produces a materially stronger security posture. ONX treats security as a design input. We surface vulnerabilities during assessment, shape the architecture with secure design patterns, and run automated code reviews and security testing throughout the development lifecycle.
How is the ONX approach to application modernization different? Three things distinguish how ONX engages on modernization. First, we assess every application against business value and technical condition before recommending a path. Second, we cover the full set of modernization options (rehost, replatform, refactor, rebuild, integrate, patch), so our recommendations aren’t shaped by the limits of what we offer. Third, the team that modernizes an application can continue supporting it in production through ONX Application Management & Support. That way, the institutional knowledge built during the modernization stays with the application after go-live.

Strong foundations start with knowing what to fix first

Every legacy application has a cost. ONX helps you determine which applications are costing the most and which ones, modernized in the right order, will free your business to build what’s next.