Question

SW Acquisition & Proj Man Section wol Spring Semester 2019 CO Research several case studies on web regarding legacy systems. Find an example of a case where the legacy system was replaced and an example of a case where the legacy system was enhanced. Write a brief synopsis of each of these (1/2 page each) stating the description of the system, the process and the outcome (positive/negative). What challenges did the project team face during the project?

Answer 1

Legacy Systems: It is nothing but old method of technology or application software etc. But this old system is outdated or expired but it is still in use. Legacy means that it had made a way for either new versions or for the replacements.

Example:

Case1:

As we all know that Nokia small keypad mobile phone. We known us for it's easy features of phone calls, messages etc. We know this keypad very much because in those days we used to play Carroms, Snake game very much. But later they directly launched Nokia Lumia and other versions. In between many versions came and also went. But these newer versions has completely changed the Nokia family. Because we are not at all using those keypad Nokia phones now. Even 1% of people are not at all using those keypad phones. This is the way in which the legacy systems was completely replaced.

Case2:

Nowadays smartphone has became more famous in this technological world due to it's best features. Smartphone made life very easy.In those days we used to use mostly the keypad phones. Then at first someone introduced Android Jellybean. This is the most basic version of the android. Later Android KitKit came into the use. After that Lollipop came into the use and then Marshmallow and then Nougat and the newest version and generally using Android version at present is Oreo. Many versions are coming into the existence as the technology is developing day by day. But Android is the common class and the versions are the objects which are deriving from the class Android. It is the way in which the legacy systems are enhancing.

Positives:

i) If an application is an older version or a basic version then it is very easy to operate and also changes can be made very easily.

ii) easy to use and also provides efficiency.

Negatives:

i) It does not support for the newer versions or features which may be build into it. So it is not much flexible.

ii) As legacy systems are old methods they use old hardware or software equipment which may consumes very expensive resources which includes money,operating system etc.

Challenges:

While working with the legacy systems web team or developers may face some challenges. They are:

i) The main challenge is that the lack of information. Nowadays whatever the organization is they might require the up to date information for the further steps. If they use older versions or systems they might not get the news gets updated time to time.

ii) The complexity level of understanding the systems for the staff is some what difficult for understanding.

iii) These systems are much expensive inorder to maintain or to support also. Costs very much.

iv) As it is the older method programmers must have some past experiences regarding the old programming languages. In one team there need to exist 3-4 members which has the past experience like that. If no one in the team has the past experience then it may not be developed or moved forward.