A Productive Response to Legacy Systems

Requirements change. The requirements of a legacy information system change, often

system itself can be evolved to support them. The capabilities of a legacy system

process termed petrification. As systems petrify, they deliver diminishing business

To address legacy systems, the first challenge is to understand how to shed their

newly adaptable system never again petrifies into a change resistant legacy system. This

The approach outlined herein is underpinned by an agile migration process - termed

each particular legacy system and provides guidance upon how to address them. That

capture recurring themes underlying petrification. These steer us to the problems

patterns via which we can deal with those problems one by one.

appeal to a follow-on process, termed Productive Evolution, which embraces and keeps

teaches us to be vigilant against signs of system petrification and helps us to nip them in

adaptable in step with ongoing requirements change, and that continue to retain their

value as significant business assets.