Application Modernization

What exactly is a modern application?

• Design: Application design is about more than looking slick. Minimalist websites such as gov.uk taught a new generation of government IT employees that building good applications is about the experience of using an application. There is an increased focus on bringing in the people who will ultimately use the app and letting them try things out to provide feedback, AKA “user-centered design.” It's also important to make apps that work as well on mobile as desktop, by responding to screen size, and strive to meet web accessibility standards. 
• Iteration: Another feature of modern application development is a constant improvement. An often-heard criticism of government applications is that by the time they’re finished, they’re out of date. The only way around that is constant improvement: either by using a non-customized product that a vendor is committed to improving (think cloud email) or by using modular apps.
• Elasticity: Modern applications most often live in the cloud or in hybrid-cloud environments. Though there are many advantages to building applications that live in the cloud, one of the main advantages is that the size of the back end — the data and processes happening behind the scenes of what you see on your computer screen — can grow or even shrink as needed.  

Application Rationalization 

Cook County still maintains a number of older applications that are approaching the end of their useful life. In an effort to systematically modernize our IT systems as quickly as possible, given our resource constraints, we are engaged in a process of application rationalization.

Application rationalization is the process of assessing our application portfolio, finding redundancies, identifying cost savings, and prioritizing crucial applications for modernization. When we complete this process, we will have a comprehensive inventory of all the applications throughout the County and a detailed plan for the future of each of them.