Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Exactly the Same?
A manager or other decision maker considering
embarking on an applications migration effort should
remember one very important rule:
a realistic goal of the migration process is functional
equivalents not 100% emulation
—From
Systems Migration
, Alan R. Simon
What Triggers a Migration?
Migration projects are triggered within IT departments due to a number
of reasons, including:
The existing application is creaking and has reached a natural limit,
perhaps to the volume of data it can handle or the number of
users it can support. This new requirement itself may be triggered
by business growth scenarios, planned or unplanned.
There is a need to move to more current technologies to provide
features seen as essential from a competitive or customer expec-
tation point of view.
New standards or regulations have emerged within the company
or the industry, requiring one to change.
One is trying to bring something subcontracted outside into the
company.
One is trying to take something running inside to an outside vendor
who wants to support it using a different technology.
Mergers, which force one application to migrate to “another” tech-
nology.
One is moving from an off-the-shelf (OTS) application to an in-
house application.
One is going from an in-house application to a customized OTS
solution.
As most conventional business processes — finance, purchase, and
manufacturing — were the earlier ones to get automated, they may just
be at a stage in their life cycle where they should be retired. While doing
