Deciding a system has reached its end.
WHAT INDICATES IT
Vendor support ending Inability to meet statutory requirements Workarounds having become the process Cost exceeding value The business having changed fundamentally Inability to integrate with what you now need
WHAT DOES NOT INDICATE IT
Age alone A newer product existing Frustration with a specific limitation
WHY THAT LAST POINT
Replacement is expensive and disruptive, and the new system will have its own limitations.
WHAT TO DO FIRST
Establish whether the current system can be made to work.
WHAT TO ASSESS
Whether the problems are configuration, training, or genuine incapacity.
WHY
Many replacements repeat the same failures in a new product.
WHAT TO ESTABLISH BEFORE DECIDING
What the replacement costs, fully What the migration involves What history must be retained What the transition risk is
WHAT TO NEVER UNDERESTIMATE
Data migration.
WHAT TO PLAN
Extended access to the old system.
WHAT TO CAPTURE BEFORE IT IS LOST
Configuration, and the reasoning behind it Undocumented process knowledge
WHY
It is needed to specify the replacement.
WHAT TO DO WITH THE DECISION
Document it, including what was rejected.
