The Renaissance of Legacy Systems

Today, we understand that change in software systems is inevitable. There are many systems in operation, however, which are prohibitively expensive to change. This is a serious problem since a significant number of them are business-critical. This book describes a method, Renaissance, which aims to recover control over these legacy systems. The method focuses on reengineering as a means to transform legacy systems to systems which are responsive to change. The authors describe how to manage evolution projects, from conception through to system deployment, with consideration to technical, business, and organisational factors. The Renaissance of Legacy Systems address two fundamental issues: What is the best form of evolution for your legacy system? Once identified, how should you implement the evolution strategy? In answering these questions, this text helps you to understand the problems of reengineering and provides practical advice for managing evolution projects.