The hardest modernization: Your own agency’s processes
As a digital marketing agency, you help clients modernize their applications every day. You design sleek user experiences, migrate legacy systems to the cloud, and build future-proof digital products. But when was the last time you stepped back and modernized your own processes?
It’s the classic case of the plumber’s pipes always leaking at home. Agencies are incredible at building cutting-edge solutions for others but often get stuck using outdated workflows, inefficient infrastructure, and time-consuming deployment processes internally. The irony? While you’re helping clients move faster, your own agency may be slowed down by the very problems you solve for others.
The good news is that modernizing your agency’s internal processes doesn’t require an overhaul—just a shift in how you approach platform management. By eliminating infrastructure headaches and streamlining deployments, you can spend less time maintaining your own systems and more time delivering high-value work to clients.
The true cost of ignoring your own modernization
The numbers don’t lie:
- According to a Redhat survey, over 21% of modernization projects take two years or longer—often because of the time spent updating platforms rather than modernizing applications themselves.
- According to RocketSoftware, modernization challenges led to reduced productivity from 33% of their respondents.
- Agencies that modernize their platforms in tandem with applications report a 30-50% reduction in maintenance costs (IBM).
Now, think about your agency’s internal workflows. Are your developers spending more time managing infrastructure than creating better solutions for your clients? Every hour spent troubleshooting deployments or configuring cloud resources is an hour not spent designing, optimizing, or innovating.
The platform bottleneck: why your own agency’s growth is slowing down
You know the modernization roadmap for your clients: better performance, scalable architectures, seamless deployment. But do you follow that same approach for your own agency?
Your own infrastructure setup is slowing your team down
Before any modernization work begins for a client, you need to set up the right infrastructure. But internally, how much time does your agency waste spinning up cloud instances, managing networking rules, and establishing CI/CD pipelines for your own projects? If you’re doing this manually, it’s draining valuable resources that could be better spent on client work.
Deployment shouldn’t be a headache for your team
You help clients transition to modern deployment strategies, but is your own agency stuck manually managing Kubernetes clusters, runtime dependencies, and container configurations? If deploying internal tools or demo environments feels like a chore, you’re not running as efficiently as you could be.
Middleware configuration takes more time than It should
Modern applications rely on databases, caching systems, authentication services, and message queues. But does your agency have a streamlined way of handling middleware internally? If each project requires custom configurations, migrations, and troubleshooting, you’re burning unnecessary hours on non-billable work.
Observability & monitoring are overlooked—until something breaks
You emphasize the importance of logging, tracing, and monitoring for clients, but how much visibility do you have into your own applications and deployments? Without automated observability, small issues turn into major problems, and debugging can quickly become a time-consuming mess.
Security & compliance aren’t just for clients
Security is a priority for client projects, but is your own agency following best practices? Managing access controls, encrypting data, and ensuring compliance with industry regulations should be built into your own workflow—not an afterthought.
Modernizing your own agency with a cloud application platform
If your agency is spending too much time maintaining internal systems rather than building for clients, it’s time to modernize your own processes. A Cloud Application Platform (CAP) like Upsun eliminates infrastructure overhead, allowing your team to focus on what truly matters—creating outstanding digital experiences.
How a cloud application platform transforms your workflow
- Automated Infrastructure: No more manual cloud setup—pre-configured environments spin up instantly, so your team can get to work faster.
- Simplified Deployments: Forget the complexities of Kubernetes and runtime management—your applications deploy consistently, every time.
- Integrated Middleware: Databases, message queues, and authentication services are built-in and ready to use.
- Observability Out of the Box: Full monitoring, logging, and performance tracking ensure that your internal applications run smoothly.
- Security & Compliance by Default: Built-in best practices keep your agency’s infrastructure secure and compliant.
By modernizing your own processes, you free up time to focus on client work, reduce operational overhead, and make your agency more scalable and efficient.
Stand out by practicing what you preach
Offer end-to-end modernization services—including your own
Your agency is already helping clients modernize, so why not extend that expertise internally? If you can show prospects and clients that you run a fully modernized, cloud-powered operation, you’ll be a more attractive partner. According to Salesforce, companies that invest in cloud technologies experience up to 53% faster revenue growth than their competitors (Salesforce).
Respond faster to market demands
Your ability to adapt to client needs is critical. If your internal systems are slow, your response times will be too. A cloud application platform ensures that your agency is able to create consistent and repeatable solutions that are agile enough to take on new projects quickly.
Establish a reputation for technical excellence
Clients aren’t just looking for agencies that build great digital experiences—they want partners who can scale, deliver consistently, and innovate. With 94% of companies worldwide adopting cloud computing (Forbes), having a modernized internal process gives you credibility and a competitive edge.
Attract enterprise-level clients
Larger clients expect modern, secure, and scalable solutions, and they expect these solutions to be quick and easy to implement. If your agency is running on legacy processes, it will be harder to win enterprise contracts. The market no longer allows enterprise customers to take years or months to implement solutions. During that time a more agile start-up could easily surpass them in market share.
The time to modernize is now
Your agency is helping clients modernize every day. But if you’re still spending valuable time configuring infrastructure, managing deployments, and troubleshooting platform issues for your own projects, you’re falling behind.
It’s time to practice what you preach. Upsun helps you modernize your own workflows so you can focus on delivering exceptional client experiences, scale your operations, and future-proof your agency.
Ready to modernize your agency’s internal processes? Start with Upsun today and transform the way you work.
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