legacy systems that they use, with a limited budget for maintaining and upgrading these systems
They have to decide how to get the best return on their investment
There are four strategic options
1. Scrap the system completely
This option should be chosen when the system is not making an effective contribution to business processes. This commonly occurs when business processes have changed since the system was installed and are no longer reliant on the legacy system.
2. Leave the system unchanged and continue with regular maintenance
This option should be chosen when the system is still required but is fairly stable and the system users make relatively few change requests.
3. Reengineer the system to improve its maintainability
This option should be chosen when the system quality has been degraded by change and where a new
change to the system is still being proposed. This process may include developing new interface components so that the original system can work with other, newer systems.
4. Replace all or part of the system with a new system
This option should be chosen when factors, such as new hardware, mean that the old system cannot continue in operation or where off-the-shelf systems would allow the new system to be developed at a reasonable cost. In many cases, an evolutionary replacement strategy can be adopted in which major system components are replaced by offthe-shelf systems with other components reused wherever possible.
Keeping these systems in operation will be expensive and the rate of the return to the business will be fairly small. These systems should be scrapped.
2. Low quality, high business value - replace
These systems are making an important business contribution so they cannot be scrapped. However, their low quality means that it is expensive to maintain them. These systems should be reengineered to improve their quality. They may be replaced, if a suitable off-the-shelf system is available.
3. High quality, low business value - Continue or Scrap
These are systems that don’t contribute much to the business but which may not be very expensive to maintain. It is not worth replacing these systems so normal system maintenance may be continued if
expensive changes are not required and the system hardware remains in use. If expensive changes become necessary, the software should be scrapped.
4. High quality, high business value - Continue
These systems have to be kept in operation. However, their high quality means that you don’t have to invest in transformation or system replacement. Normal system maintenance should be continued.
What about this paper question ?
March 2016 A2.
a) Explain what is meant by a legacy system and why such systems may be critical to the operation of an organization. Discuss ways in which organizations can lessen their reliance on legacy systems. (10 marks)
Sep 2016 - A2
b) When you are assessing a legacy system, you have to look at it from a business perspective and a technical perspective. From a business perspective, you have to decide whether the business really needs the system. From a technical perspective, you have to assess the quality of the system and its related support software and hardware. You then use a combination of the business value and the system quality to take one of the following informed decisions: scrap the system, re-engineer the system, replace the system, continue the system’s maintenance.
Your task is to assess legacy systems in your organization and decide what would be the most appropriate strategy for maintaining these systems.
ii. Assume that you assessed four systems and the results of the assessment are as follows:
System A: high quality, low business value
System B: high quality, high business value
System C: low quality, low business value
System D: low quality, high business value
What would be your recommendations for each of these systems? Justify your decisions. (10 marks)
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