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A Survey of Legacy System Modernization Approaches

Technical Note
This report, published in 2000, provides a survey of modernization techniques including screen scraping, database gateway, XML integration, database replication, CGI integration, object-oriented wrapping, and "componentization" of legacy systems.
Publisher

Software Engineering Institute

CMU/SEI Report Number
CMU/SEI-2000-TN-003

Abstract

Information systems are critical assets for modern enterprises and incorporate key knowledge acquired over the life of an organization. Although these systems must be updated continuously to reflect evolving business practices, repeated modification has a cumulative effect on system complexity, and the rapid evolution of technology quickly renders existing technologies obsolete. Eventually, the existing information systems become too fragile to modify and too important to discard. However, organizations must consider modernizing these legacy systems to remain viable. The commercial market provides a variety of solutions to this increasingly common problem of legacy system modernization. However, understanding the strengths and weaknesses of each modernization technique is paramount to select the correct solution and the overall success of a modernization effort. This paper provides a survey of modernization techniques including screen scraping, database gateway, XML integration, database replication, CGI integration, object-oriented wrapping, and "componentization" of legacy systems. This general overview enables engineers performing legacy system modernization to preselect a subset of applicable modernization techniques for further evaluation.

Cite This Technical Note

Comella-Dorda, S., Wallnau, K., Seacord, R., & Robert, J. (2000, April 1). A Survey of Legacy System Modernization Approaches. (Technical Note CMU/SEI-2000-TN-003). Retrieved December 22, 2024, from https://insights.sei.cmu.edu/library/a-survey-of-legacy-system-modernization-approaches/.

@techreport{comella-dorda_2000,
author={Comella-Dorda, Santiago and Wallnau, Kurt and Seacord, Robert and Robert, John},
title={A Survey of Legacy System Modernization Approaches},
month={{Apr},
year={{2000},
number={{CMU/SEI-2000-TN-003},
howpublished={Carnegie Mellon University, Software Engineering Institute's Digital Library},
url={https://insights.sei.cmu.edu/library/a-survey-of-legacy-system-modernization-approaches/},
note={Accessed: 2024-Dec-22}
}

Comella-Dorda, Santiago, Kurt Wallnau, Robert Seacord, and John Robert. "A Survey of Legacy System Modernization Approaches." (CMU/SEI-2000-TN-003). Carnegie Mellon University, Software Engineering Institute's Digital Library. Software Engineering Institute, April 1, 2000. https://insights.sei.cmu.edu/library/a-survey-of-legacy-system-modernization-approaches/.

S. Comella-Dorda, K. Wallnau, R. Seacord, and J. Robert, "A Survey of Legacy System Modernization Approaches," Carnegie Mellon University, Software Engineering Institute's Digital Library. Software Engineering Institute, Technical Note CMU/SEI-2000-TN-003, 1-Apr-2000 [Online]. Available: https://insights.sei.cmu.edu/library/a-survey-of-legacy-system-modernization-approaches/. [Accessed: 22-Dec-2024].

Comella-Dorda, Santiago, Kurt Wallnau, Robert Seacord, and John Robert. "A Survey of Legacy System Modernization Approaches." (Technical Note CMU/SEI-2000-TN-003). Carnegie Mellon University, Software Engineering Institute's Digital Library, Software Engineering Institute, 1 Apr. 2000. https://insights.sei.cmu.edu/library/a-survey-of-legacy-system-modernization-approaches/. Accessed 22 Dec. 2024.

Comella-Dorda, Santiago; Wallnau, Kurt; Seacord, Robert; & Robert, John. A Survey of Legacy System Modernization Approaches. CMU/SEI-2000-TN-003. Software Engineering Institute. 2000. https://insights.sei.cmu.edu/library/a-survey-of-legacy-system-modernization-approaches/