More and more companies are investing in application modernization (i.e., replatforming, rehosting, re-architecting or rebuilding an app) to align outdated corporate software with current business needs and modern technological standards, thereby securing legacy tech investments. The application modernization services market, which was estimated at $19.82 billion in 2024, is expected to reach $39.62 billion by 2029, according to the report from MarketsandMarkets.

Although legacy application modernization can be driven by various factors, it typically aims to improve software reliability, scalability, or security. In most cases, companies succeed in meeting these objectives with well-planned modernization initiatives. In the 2024 Konveyor.io survey of companies already invested in app modernization, 58% noted it helped enhance software security, 53% reported improved software scalability, and 52% stated that modernization helped increase software reliability.

In this article, experts from the software development company Itransition highlight four trends shaping the app modernization landscape to help you navigate the process more efficiently. 

Low-Code and No-Code Development 

Low-code and no-code development platforms offer point-and-click and drag-and-drop tools for designing and building apps with minimal or no coding, and an increasing number of companies are utilizing them to develop and modernize their software. For instance, 37% of respondents to Zoho’s 2024 survey held among European companies already consider low-code an essential element of their software development strategy. 

What makes low-code and no-code development so popular is that it enables companies to build app prototypes and develop apps much more quickly compared to traditional coding approaches. By switching to these development approaches, companies cannot only reduce the time to market for new solutions but also modernize existing software faster.   

Suppose you own a legacy app with functionality and a user interface that do not match current user expectations, leading to negative user experiences. So, you plan to replace this legacy app with a newer, more efficient version. Currently, you have multiple functionality and design ideas for the new app, but you cannot decide which ones to focus on, which slows down the project planning process. 

If you had multiple prototypes for a modernized app, each showcasing how it can look and behave with different designs and functionalities, making the right decision would be much easier. And with low-code and no-code tools, even users with limited tech expertise in your organization can build interactive app prototypes within several days or weeks. According to the same Zoho study, 77% of the surveyed companies consider faster prototyping a significant advantage of low-code.  

Cloud Computing 

The growing use of cloud computing technology is another notable trend influencing the app modernization landscape. Today, we can see more companies migrating their on-premises apps to the cloud, both without or with minor code and architecture changes. At the same time, more businesses are re-architecting their legacy apps as cloud-native, either by adopting containerization or by moving apps to a microservice-based architecture. 

By moving legacy apps to the cloud environment, companies can significantly enhance their scalability while making them easier and less costly to maintain. As cloud computing offers such impactful advantages, we can expect this trend to continue. 78% of companies that participated in Lufthansa’s 2025 survey state they are happy with the results of cloud migration, and 72% say they are increasing budgets for cloud technologies and cloud migration projects. 

Artificial Intelligence (AI) 

Speaking about trends that shape application modernization in companies, we cannot overlook the growing influence of artificial intelligence. The majority (78%) of organizations surveyed by Red Hat in 2024 were already using AI to support their application modernization initiatives or were planning to use the technology in the future. 

Many companies, for instance, utilize software intelligence tools at the outset of their modernization projects to automatically collect data about the source code, database structure, and other components of legacy solutions, thereby pinpointing areas for improvement. Additionally, organizations often implement AI coding assistant tools to enhance the productivity of their software engineering teams, thereby accelerating modernization. 

Companies are also increasingly complementing their legacy software with AI capabilities (such as intelligent data precaching, which helps accelerate data storage and retrieval processes) to enhance system performance and reliability. They extend legacy app functionality with powerful AI features, ranging from user personalization to predictive analytics, to increase the software’s overall business value. 

Progressive Web Applications (PWA) 

Another trend we can see is transforming legacy apps into PWAs, solutions at the intersection of mobile and web, which can perform well on any device supporting an Internet browser. Research Nester reveals that the global PWA market has reached $2.2 billion in 2024 and is going to surpass $72.16 billion by 2037, meaning companies are increasingly investing in the technology. According to the same study, many of these companies focus on modernizing their web apps to provide users with native app-like experiences. 

From a business perspective, notable advantages of PWA include cross-platform interoperability, enabling companies to convert a single legacy app into a PWA instead of building multiple new apps for different operating systems and devices. Another benefit is that PWAs can store network data in a local cache and reuse it later, resulting in typically requiring less bandwidth compared to standard web apps. This capability allows them to work even offline, which in turn can help companies improve user engagement rates. PWAs are also SEO-friendly, meaning they can help companies attract more traffic and increase global reach. 

Final thoughts  

The use of legacy apps comes with numerous pitfalls, including performance and security issues, as well as data compliance and user experience concerns, which can hinder the return on your technology investment. Application modernization can help you avoid these issues by aligning software with your current business requirements, ensuring it remains efficient and competitive in the ever-evolving digital landscape.  

Nonetheless, companies planning to modernize their apps often find out they lack the necessary skills and competencies to complete projects in-house. If you have similar concerns, you can seek assistance from third-party software experts. An outsourcing software agency can help you handle various aspects of your project, including legacy app assessment, selection of a modernization approach, and execution of modernization.