Digital Transformation of 200+ Applications

Digital Transformation of 200+ Applications: Step-by-Step

Phase 1 — Initiation & Strategy (Weeks 0–4)

1. Board & Executive Kickoff

   • Presented Portfolio_Transformation_Strategy_v1.pptx to CTO, CIO, CFO, and BU Heads.

   • Captured business objectives: faster time-to-market, cost reduction, regulatory compliance, cloud adoption.

2. Portfolio Inventory

   • Conducted discovery workshops with SMEs, delivery leads, and ops.

   • Collected app metadata: owner, SLA, tech stack, dependencies, criticality.

   • Produced Application_Inventory_200plus.xlsx.

3. Define Transformation Principles & Standards

   • Cloud-first, microservices-ready, event-driven architecture, security by design.

   • Defined architecture principles in EA_Principles_v1.docx.

   • Defined standards: API contract standards, logging/observability, cloud landing zones, CI/CD.

4. Initial Risk Assessment

   • Identified top risks: data residency, legacy tech debt, regulatory gaps, skill shortage.

   • Produced Portfolio_Risk_Register.xlsx with preliminary mitigation strategies.

Impact: Executive alignment achieved; initial roadmap scoped.

Phase 2 — Assessment & Categorization (Weeks 4–8)

1. Application Rationalization

   • Classified 200 apps into:

     • Retire

     • Rehost / Lift & Shift

     • Replatform / Partial modernization

     • Refactor / Cloud-native

   • Documented in Rationalization_200Apps.xlsx.

2. Dependency Mapping

   • Mapped inter-app data & API dependencies using Dependency_Map_200Apps.vsdx.

3. Prioritization using WSJF

   • Scored applications on Business Value, Risk Reduction, Time Criticality vs. Effort.

   • Selected Wave 1 (30 apps) for early cloud-native modernization.

4. Stakeholder Workshops

   • Facilitated sessions to validate prioritization and adoption approach.

Impact: High-value apps identified; risk-informed migration strategy agreed.

Phase 3 — Target Architecture & Roadmap (Weeks 8–12)

1. Define Multi-Cloud Target Architecture

   • Azure: Channels, APIs

   • AWS: Core transactional systems

   • GCP: Analytics & AI/ML

   • On-Prem: PII / regulated databases

   • Produced Target_Architecture_200Apps.pdf.

2. Migration Roadmap (5 Waves)

   • Wave 1: Channels & Partner APIs (16 weeks)

   • Wave 2: Loan Origination (12 weeks)

   • Wave 3–5: Remaining apps phased by WSJF

   • Created Migration_Roadmap_200Apps.mpp.

3. Governance Model Setup

   • Architecture Review Board (ARB)

   • Weekly design clinics & monthly steering updates

   • Policy-as-code enforcement for cloud landing zones, API, security standards.

Impact: Clear blueprint for modernization and governance.

Phase 4 — Execution / Wave Delivery (Month 3–15)

1. Wave Planning

   • Each wave had:

     • Go/No-Go gates at Design, Security, Performance, and Cutover

     • Runbooks (WaveX_Runbook.xlsx)

     • Automated CI/CD pipelines in Azure DevOps / GitHub Actions

2. Legacy Integration

   • Exposed APIs as façade layers, enabling strangler fig pattern.

   • Daily reconciliation jobs ensured no data loss or inconsistency.

3. Risk & Incident Handling

   • Example: Kafka partition skew in Wave 2

     • RCA: timestamp-only partition key → hot partition

     • Remediation: hashed customer ID key, autoscaling consumers, updated Producer_Partitioning_Guidelines.md

4. Data Residency & Compliance

   • Applied geo-fencing: KYC/PII in India, analytics in GCP with pseudonymized data.

   • Enforced via IAM, network policies, and application-layer checks.

5. Observability & KPIs

   • Grafana dashboards for deployment frequency, MTTR, API latency, SLO adherence

   • Deployment frequency: 0.5 → 12/month

   • MTTR: 6h → 30min

   • Loan approval time: reduced 60%

6. Delivery Cadence

   • 5 Waves delivered in 15 months

   • Each wave had 3–4 gates for go/no-go

Impact: Incremental modernization with minimal business disruption; early wins built executive confidence.

Phase 5 — Post-Modernization / Run State (Month 15+)

1. Operating Model

   • Federated teams: Platform Team + Domain Squads + Security & Compliance

   • RACI documented in Operating_Model_Roles_RACI.xlsx

2. Continuous Improvement

   • Monthly retrospectives

   • Automation backlog: cost optimization, SLO enhancements, further observability

3. Final Metrics / Business Impact

   • Deployment frequency: 12/month

   • MTTR: 30 min

   • Cost savings: 28% per txn

   • Loan approval time: down 60%

   • Enabled 6 new banking products in first 6 months

4. Artifacts Ready to Share Post-Interview

   • Portfolio_Transformation_Strategy_v1.pptx

   • Target_Architecture_200Apps.pdf

   • Migration_Roadmap_200Apps.mpp

   • KPI_Dashboard_Grafana

   • Wave1_Runbook.xlsx

   • Portfolio_Risk_Register.xlsx

✅ Key Takeaways / Interview Points

• Lead portfolio-level strategy (board engagement → wave planning)

• Executed multi-cloud, hybrid, secure, and compliant transformation

• Used WSJF for prioritization and strangler fig for legacy integration

• Built governance (ARB), operating model, standards & principles

• Tracked quantifiable KPIs (deployment frequency, MTTR, cost, loan approvals)

• Resolved real incidents (Kafka skew) to show hands-on expertise