AWS Launches AI-Driven Workload Modernization Service for Enterprises

Amazon Web Services Inc. (AWS) has announced the general availability of Transform, a new AI-driven service designed to accelerate the migration and modernization of enterprise workloads to the cloud. The service, initially previewed at AWS re:Invent 2024 as Amazon Q Developer transformation capabilities, targets legacy VMware, mainframe, and .NET workloads, promising to reduce project timelines significantly.

Key Features of AWS Transform

• AI-Driven Automation: Transform uses specialized AI agents to automate migration tasks, addressing the cost and complexity that often deter enterprises from cloud transitions. AWS claims the service can reduce project timelines by an average of fourfold compared to manual methods, with VMware migrations seeing up to an 80-fold improvement.

• Legacy Workload Support: The service focuses on three primary workloads:

  • .NET Applications: Facilitates migration from Windows to Linux, potentially cutting operating costs by up to 40% by eliminating Windows Server licensing fees.
  • Mainframe Applications: Decomposes monolithic Cobol applications into manageable components, refactoring code into Java and PostgreSQL.
  • VMware Environments: Automates discovery, dependency mapping, and network configuration conversion to AWS EC2 instances.

• Multi-Model Approach: Transform employs a combination of AWS Bedrock-powered foundational models and graph neural networks, with AI agents handling specific tasks like analysis, planning, and reasoning.

Industry Impact

AWS highlights that 37% of data center capacity remains on-premises, according to Synergy Research Group. Additionally, 70% of Fortune 500 companies still rely on software written over two decades ago. Transform aims to bridge this gap by modernizing legacy systems efficiently.

Customer Benefits

• Reduced Timelines: Traditional network configuration tasks that take two weeks can be completed in one hour with Transform.
• Testing Capabilities: The service includes automated testing workflows, generating documentation and test cases even for poorly documented codebases.
• Cost-Free Introduction: AWS is currently offering Transform for free to encourage adoption, integrating it with their Migration Acceleration Program.

Expert Insight

"Some of these applications are really big, spanning hundreds of thousands of lines of code," said Sriram Devanathan, GM of Amazon Q Apps and AWS App Studio. "The biggest challenge customers have is often understanding their code bases — not just moving them, but reimagining them."

Conclusion

AWS Transform represents a significant leap in cloud migration technology, leveraging AI to simplify and accelerate the modernization of legacy systems. With its multi-agent, multi-model approach, the service is poised to help enterprises transition to the cloud more efficiently than ever before.