Jussi Koskinen & Jarmo Ahonen

ELTIS (Extending the Lifetime of Information Systems): Estimation of Software Modernizations

Paper distributed on invitation in: The Eight European Conference on Software Maintenance and Reengineering (CSMR’2004). Conf. location: Tampere, Finland. March 24-26, 2004. 8 p.

Abstract

ELTIS is a research project funded by TEKES (National Technology Agency of Finland) and Finnish software industry. ELTIS aims at supporting the process of selecting software modernization strategies. Modernizations are large-scale system changes performed in order to keep the system operational and competitive. Extending the system lifetime may be desirable since large legacy systems have often been great investments. Both software suppliers and user organizations enter decision making processes while considering possible modernizations. Decisions are typically made by groups of experts. Relevant decision criteria of the software supplier include software maintenance benefits, risks, and costs. These issues include the effects of possible related reengineering. In this paper we shall describe the ELTIS-project, the general problems and options related to this kind of decision support, and main existing approaches suitable for selecting modernization strategy and estimating the profitability of software modernizations, and our research agenda - empirical data gathering and long-term iterative process improvement in co-operation with software industry.

Updated: Sept. 30, 2004 by Jussi Koskinen.