Week 8 - Quiz - Legacy

Question 1

How are legacy systems defined?

Answer 1

Many definitions that be split into categories:

1. Strategic
2. Organisational
3. Operational
4. Developmental

Question 2

What is the developmental viewpoint of a legacy system?

Answer 2

Developmental viewpoint develops & maintains an organisations systems.

• straightforward
• understand the effect of change
• software oriented definition ie. “any code that has left development”
• understand it is challenging to hand from an expert to a non-expert
• & that there is a need for skills to maintain the system

Question 3

What is the operational viewpoint of legacy systems?

Answer 3

The operational viewpoint supports the business by operating its systems.

• outdated
• no longer meet organisational requirements or strategies
• inefficient
• “system whose security has been compromised”

This shows that its hard to keep old hardware & systems running that have less effective user interfaces.

Question 4

What is the organisational viewpoint of legacy systems?

Answer 4

The organisational viewpoint is concerned with defining & operating the business processes to support the business strategy.

• constraint on an organsiations ability to adapt to change or adopt new strategies
• could be addressed by business processes re-engineering, but legacy systems are inflexible
• expensive
• non-portable
• undocumented

BUT indespensible since they support other business functions.

Question 5

What is the strategic viewpoint of legacy systems

Answer 5

The strategic viewpoint considers the financial costs and benefits of running an organisation.

• a system becomes a legacy system when the financial benefit they contribute to the organisation is less than the cost of operating & maintaining them
• can’t support desired business opportunity, so cost the business the opportunity

Question 6

Who is the author of this paper on legacy systems?

Answer 6

Alderson and Shah (2010)

Question 7

What is the overriding view of all of the view points

Answer 7

1. Strategic level decides if it is finanically viable
2. If it is, the organizational level determines how to adapt the organisational structure and business processes (ie. business process re-engineering & new expertise)
3. Next, at an operational level they make sure it does what it is intended to do & requirements for the change are understood
4. Finally, at a developmental level they ensure they are in place and maintained based on the other view points

Question 8

Who decides the status of the legacy system?

Answer 8

It is decided at a strategic level based on its financial costs & benefits.

But other view points contribute information to its decision.

• predict loss of business opportunities & inefficencies in organisational structure
• operational difficulties ie. degraded system
• effects of change on supporting systems