As software-as-a-service and infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) have surged in popularity, core systems of record such as ERP and CRM have come to be perceived as “not cloud-ready” and best left alone.

Now companies are taking a new look at systems of record and finding compelling reasons to start migrating them to IaaS providers. At the same time, writes Wikibon Senior Analyst Brian Gracely (@bgracely), they are often challenged to find the technical expertise to complete these migrations successfully.

These migrations of older, core systems are often motivated by the huge growth of data and by the need for more flexible and cost-effective platforms. At Amazon Web Services’ (AWS) recent re:Invent 2015 conference, Wikibon interviewed several organizations that are migrating systems of record to the Amazon cloud. To provide technical support to its customers, AWS has partnered with Accenture LLP. Accenture North America Cloud Lead Jeff Radack of Accenture and AWS Worldwide Partner Ecosystem VP Terry Wise discussed this partnership on theCUBE during the event, with both saying they’re seeing a growing demand for systems of record migration (see video below).

Virtustream, Inc.’s Virtustream xStream Cloud platform is another example of a partnership model supporting re-platforming of customer business critical applications, in this case focused on SAP R3 and HANA. The model allows customers to focus their resources at the application layer while leveraging Virtustream cloud resources for infrastructure, security and compliance. Virtustream CEO Rodney Rogers discussed the advantages of this managed model on theCUBE from VMworld 2015 (see video below).

Cloud-native application platforms (also known as platform-as-a-service or PaaS) provide an avenue for companies to build new applications to run in the cloud. These simplify deployment and operations and can abstract applications from the underlying cloud platforms, decreasing lock-in.

As applications increasingly become the source of competitive differentiation for companies, aligning application portfolios to the most agile and cost-effective environments should be a top priority for CIOs, Gracely argues. Companies need to understand the possibilities and when and how they should take advantage of public cloud for their existing application portfolio as well as new cloud-native apps.

Image courtesy Amazon