A Lack of Architecture and Planning

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A Lack of Architecture and Planning

Steve Jones - SSC Editor

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Points: 736478
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August 19, 2024 at 12:00 am

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David.Poole SSC Guru Points: 76035 More actions · Answer 1

I remember having an external technical audit carried out on a system intended to become legacy. Some of the questions posed by the auditor were useful and provided us with a list of things we could address. The thing is, the auditors views changed during the audit. A lot of the "madness" started to make sense. No, in the perfect world we wouldn't build it like that if we did it again. However the things that drove the original decisions were still in play so a replacement would have a certain Deja Vu.

After Xe's presentation I watched Steve's. Around the "don't rename columns" part there's a comment about things hidden in ETL that will trip you up. That is a very relevant comment when it comes to a rewrite of a large complex system. Does the full picture of the system exist as a full picture?

In the minds of individuals?
As collective knowledge within the organisation?

My experience with rewrites is that if the organisation was happy with 80% of an application before the rewrite then, after the rewrite, and when the new system stabilises, the organisation will be happy with 80% of the application. It's just that the unsatisfactory 20% will be a different unsatisfactory 20%.

I've found that when speaking to the people using the various systems they have a clear idea of their current pain points. The bits that just work they just take for granted so it is these bits that a vulnerable to becoming pain points in the new system.

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Rod at work SSC-Dedicated Points: 34017 More actions · Answer 2

I started to watch the video. Really enjoying it, however its longer than I realized, so I'm gonna have to put it on hold until later.

Kindest Regards, Rod Connect with me on LinkedIn.

Steve Jones - SSC Editor SSC Guru Points: 736478 More actions · Answer 3

David.Poole wrote:

I remember ...
My experience with rewrites is that if the organisation was happy with 80% of an application before the rewrite then, after the rewrite, and when the new system stabilises, the organisation will be happy with 80% of the application. It's just that the unsatisfactory 20% will be a different unsatisfactory 20%.
I've found that when speaking to the people using the various systems they have a clear idea of their current pain points. The bits that just work they just take for granted so it is these bits that a vulnerable to becoming pain points in the new system.

Indeed. For every improvement, there is likely something else you don't like.