Mapa do legado: um arcabouço sociotécnico para a tomada de decisão na modernização de sistemas legados

Abstract

The aging of corporate systems manifests in indicators such as outdated user interfaces, code developed on discontinued platforms, difficulties integrating with business partners, and even a shortage of qualified professionals to maintain specific technologies. Understanding the appropriate time for modernization depends on the perception of these signs, which are not always evident or clearly identifiable, as well as on the motivations that determine the direction of what has conventionally been called legacy applications. Factors such as costs and deadlines influence how each organization drives technological advancement, with concrete consequences for every decision. The objective of this work is to develop a set of guidelines, structured as a framework, to support organizations in making safer, more grounded, and strategically oriented decisions for the sustainable evolution of their legacy systems. To achieve this goal, we structured the research in three stages: a systematic literature review, focused on identifying the state of the art and scientific gaps related to legacy systems modernization; a qualitative empirical investigation, based on interviews with technology professionals working in Latin American organizations, allowing for an understanding of the perceptions and practical experiences associated with the evolution of these systems; and, finally, the integration of this evidence to build a structured set of guidelines that make up the framework called The Legacy Roadmap. The analysis of the empirical evidence indicated that the decision to modernize legacy systems is rarely motivated solely by technological factors, but is instead strongly influenced by organizational elements, risk perception, and the accumulated experience of the professionals involved. These results suggest that we can understand the modernization of legacy systems as a sociotechnical phenomenon, in which technical, organizational, and cognitive aspects combine to shape the paths organizations take as they evolve their systems.