Stories by: Joe Gentry

We dread hearing the news that something once considered unique or innovative has turned into a commodity, where the only differentiator is price. We especially don't like it when that transformation happens in our own careers -- when a prized skill becomes so ubiquitous that it can be had for pennies on the dollar. We might as well admit that this shift has happened to another treasured asset: our ability to solve any problem by simply whipping ourselves into a coffee-drenched frenzy and working harder.

For most of us, our jobs aren't about systems or reports or lines of code - they are about how we pay our bills, spend our free time, and create a future for ourselves and our families.

In today's fast-changing technology landscape, the term "legacy" often receives a negative connotation. But for many companies, legacy systems are mission-critical. They run the purchasing, manufacturing, financial, customer and payroll applications that form the very backbone of the business. They house the data and business processes that differentiate a company from its competitors and represent years of intellectual property. While these systems might have been developed several years ago, they still reliably meet the business' requirements. Replacing them with new systems in a single grand gesture rarely makes technical or economic sense.