Sometimes I really wonder about IT management. Recently in comp.lang.smalltalk, a thread arose about migrating an application from Smalltalk to .NET. Forget the specific languages involved though; my answer on this is the same without regard to what the source and destination are: it's almost always a bad idea. Unless your language/tool vendor is going out of business, or pushing the product into EOL, such migrations just don't make sense. I've written about this extensively, so rather than recapitulate, I'll reference the older posts:
Every time I've seen this kind of thing come up, it's a variation on this:
- Line level management that created the original application has left the organization/group
- New management has arrived, and they are unfamiliar with the technology in use
- New management has experience with (insert tool/language here), and believes that it's the answer to every question
- New management insists that the application needs to be "modernized" (meaning, written in the favored technology he/she understands).
Just ask yourself: especially in a time of uncertain budgets, is a huge rewrite really the best use of your limited resources? What will your group not be doing for the business while they waste time on that?
Technorati Tags:
technology rewrites
Previous Topic
