Legacy Application Modernization on Google Cloud for Merchandizing Scalability

Client

Driving Reliability for the Automotive Aftermarket

Our client is a top retailer and distributor of automotive parts and accessories. They help individuals and businesses keep their vehicles running safely and reliably. Focusing on innovation and excellent service, they have earned a strong reputation for providing dependable solutions and outstanding customer support.

Challenges

Reimagining Legacy Systems for Modern Agility

The client’s core merchandising and supply chain management platform — built on Informix V9.0, PowerBuilder, and legacy Java/C modules — had become a roadblock in innovation. Its tightly coupled, monolithic design made it difficult to scale, integrate, or adapt to changing business demands.

As workloads grew, the system struggled with performance bottlenecks, integration failures, and slow data exchanges. Rigid orchestration through cron jobs, Control M, Talend, and FTP added further complexity, making operations cumbersome and prone to failure.

File-based dependencies and strict compatibility requirements meant even minor changes carried high risk, leading to frequent disruptions and costly maintenance. As the company moved toward hybrid operations, network latency between the on-prem DB2 system and GCP-hosted Informix introduced connectivity and disaster recovery challenges.

Business Impact
Frequent performance issues and integration delays disrupted daily operations and increased costs, making it difficult to keep pace with enterprise goals.

• Downtime affected service delivery and throughput.
• Brittle integrations slowed releases and limited agility.
• High maintenance overhead inflated total cost of ownership (TCO).
• Lack of cloud readiness impeded modernization and scalability.

The situation called for a comprehensive modernization — one that would not just migrate technology, but reimagine how the platform performed and evolved.

Solution

Google Cloud-Native Modernization, Engineered for Scale

Hexaware partnered with the client to execute a structured modernization and replatforming of the merchandizing platform to Google Cloud Platform (GCP). The objective was clear — enable scalability, improve performance, simplify operations, and support future digital initiatives.

Hexaware’s Phased Cloud Application Modernization Strategy

Hexaware’s cloud modernization services took a phased approach combining application replatforming, refactoring, and automation to modernize legacy apps, improve scalability, and align the platform seamlessly with the client’s cloud-first vision on Google Cloud.

Step 1: Replatforming and Modernization Foundations

• Migrated core applications and databases to GCP to align with the client’s cloud-first roadmap.
• Upgraded Informix to Version 14, enabling long-term cloud support.
• Modernized four critical Java applications: POG Precount, Warranty Adjustment, Item Restriction, and New Item Setup.
• Containerized services where possible for flexible deployment and scaling.

Step 2: Data and Batch Job Transformation

• Migrated three Informix databases to GCP.
• Re-engineered and migrated five batch jobs to cloud-ready workflows.
• Retired redundant cron jobs and consolidated orchestration under Talend and Control M, ensuring reliable automation.

Step 3: DevOps, Security, and Observability Enablement

• Established CI/CD pipelines using GitLab for automated builds and deployments.
• Implemented Secret Manager for secure credentials, Grype for automated security scanning, and Dynatrace for monitoring and observability.
• Standardized environments across Dev/QA/Staging/Prod for consistent, predictable releases.

Step 4: Strengthening Connectivity and Disaster Recovery

• Implemented DRDA gateway and Megaport for low-latency hybrid connectivity between GCP and on-prem DB2 systems.
• Built a robust disaster recovery plan aligned with enterprise resilience standards.

Step 5: Validation, Cutover, and Knowledge Transfer

• Executed full performance testing, data comparisons, and target architecture validation before go-live.
• Performed a phased cutover with hypercare support and knowledge transfer to operational teams.
• Ensured post-go-live stability and sustainable handover for ongoing operations.

With a structured, application-focused modernization strategy, Hexaware ensured a smooth and risk-free transition from legacy to cloud.

The result: A future-ready merchandising and supply chain platform that is scalable, secure, and automated. It delivers higher performance, simplified operations, and the agility to accelerate digital transformation in automotive retail.

Benefits

Automative Retail Services Digital Transformation

The result was faster operations, smarter decision-making, and a stronger foundation to meet evolving customer and business needs.

90% Reduction in Application Downtime

Cloud migration to a resilient cloud environment drastically reduced system outages, resulting in smoother business continuity and improved service availability.

50% Boost in Throughput for Business Processes

Optimized architecture and re-engineered data flows improved system performance, increasing throughput by 50% and accelerating transaction processing.

40% Lower Support Costs and Reduced TCO

Automation, streamlined orchestration, and simplified infrastructure reduced ongoing maintenance efforts and operational costs.

Standardized, Repeatable Deployments

With CI/CD automation and standardized environments, the client can now release changes faster, with minimal manual intervention and greater reliability.

Stronger Security, Visibility, and Governance

Integrated secret management, security scanning, and monitoring tools delivered a proactive approach to risk management and compliance.

Scalability with Cloud-Ready Infrastructure

Containerization and GCP scalability allow the client to handle growing workloads effortlessly and prepare for future innovations in retail and supply chain operations.

Key Outcomes

Cloud Metric	Outcome
Application Downtime	↓ 90%
System Throughput	↑ 50%
Support Costs	↓ 40%
System Performance	Significantly Improved
Business Agility	High with CI/CD & Cloud Scaling

Summary

A Cloud-Ready Future on the Fast Lane

Hexaware’s partnership with the automotive retailer showcases how deep modernization, careful orchestration, and cloud-native engineering can turn a complex legacy system into a future-ready, scalable enterprise platform, proving that modernization, when done right, is not just a technical upgrade but a business transformation.

Today, the client’s merchandizing and supply chain platform runs seamlessly on Google Cloud, supported by a modern stack, resilient connectivity, and automated delivery pipelines. Downtime is down, performance is up, and maintenance overhead has dropped significantly.

With a scalable, secure, and agile cloud foundation in place, the client is now well-positioned to integrate advanced analytics, expand automation, and continue its journey toward data-driven operations, driving innovation and reliability across the automotive retail landscape.

Start your cloud-powered app modernization journey today! Transform your merchandising and supply chain operations with Hexaware’s expertise and services for Google Cloud.