Hi,
I am consulting for an organization that is looking to decommission its many legacy applications (often point-to-point interfacing) and migrate to an SOA/ESB environment. There is a long list of current applications that perform various functions ranging from HR systems, to Addressing Systems, to Safety systems, and so on. In other words the applications are varied in their functions. My task is to determine which of these applications are similar in features so that we can assess the feasibility of reducing the service footprint of the organization.
I am struggling with the "how" to proceed with this task. An initial assessment was done by comparing the applications' mames and grouping the ones that "sounded" similar together. This is not sufficient for the organization's needs to go forward with the decommissioning and merging process.
How would you tackle this task? How can I get an accurate high-level view of these applications without delving into granular data and functional requirements?
Any feedback is appreciated.
Thanks.
Sounds like a great project.
Think I'd go about this by first looking at things from a business point of view. Align what you're doing with sound business reasons for doing it. Where is the business hoping to go? Define a future state for the business, then work out how the many applications fit into that state and the priority of what needs to be done. What you'll end up with is a program of projects to get you to that future state.
It will be a mistake to approach things from a purely IT perspective. After all IT's prime task is to serve the business.
This is business architecture really. Have a read of this book if you're interested. I own it. There are other suitable ones of course:
http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/Introduction-Business-Architecture-Chris-Reynolds/9781435454224
Kimbo
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