CIS 518 Discussion Student Response

CIS 518 Discussion 1 post responses.

Respond to the colleagues posts regarding:

"S-, P-, or E- Systems" Please respond to the following:

· From the e-Activity, identify at least two methods by which we can determine if a legacy system should remain as legacy or it should be upgraded into a new software system. Explain these two methods and how they are applied.

· From the e-Activity, describe at least two ways software engineers can measure the impact of a proposed change to a software system.

JR’s post states the following:Top of Form

It’s best to fully assess and evaluate the current system to really determine if an upgrade is necessary. One impactful reason to upgrade a legacy system is to lower or remove security risk.  Kroll Global Fraud and Risk reported that “84% of companies fell victim to fraud...one of the greatest vulnerabilities is older, legacy systems...” (Frazzetto, 2018). Older systems may require resources that are no longer available. Another way to analyze the system for an upgrade is to consider the cost of system failure. Organizations typically think that it is more expensive to rebuild versus rewriting.  Having an older system can become less efficient and effective since necessary tools and resource may be out of date or complicated to access.  Legacy systems must eventually evolve to keep up with the latest technology trends. 

Engineers can measure impact by customer retention and how quickly the new system can recover from downtime.  Consider how a rebuild would affect customers. Would customers be able to keep up with the change? Will the change attract a new customer base?  Would there be limitations or constraints. Also, with downtime, how quickly can users gain access again if system were to fail? Leadership must ensure that the new change will benefit users and increase the bottom line. 

 

 

Reference 

https://www.cio.com/article/3307441/rewrite-or-rebuild-5-legacy-system-upgrade-considerations.html 

CIS 518 Discussion 2 post responses.

Respond to the colleagues posts regarding:

"Cost of Strongly Coupled Components" Please respond to the following:

· Explain why a high degree of coupling among components of a software system can make maintenance of the system difficult. Provide at least one example that supports your answer.

· Elaborate on two maintenance strategies that you would apply to lessen the effect of an already tightly coupled software that you have to maintain for an organization that requires 100% uptime on its safety-critical system. Provide a justification as to why you would implement these strategies over other options that are available. Describe how your strategies would change if the system only required 90% uptime and could be shut down for short periods of time during nonbusiness hours.

JR’s post states the following:Top of Form

Too much coupling can cause issues and damaging conditions. For example, there could be alignment issues. Misalignment creates loads that can exceed coupling specifications (Shapiro, 2010). Can cause other components to malfunction prematurely. Loose coupling can improve application maintainability, extensibility and scalability. Excessive coupling is not necessary it’s best to keep pairing minimal and accurate. 

Tightly coupled software are composed of components that require detailed knowledge of other collaborating components (Shapiro, 2010).  I would try reassigning responsibilities, possibly combine classes/modules. I would assess, analyze and evaluate performance frequently and record any improvement or issues. I believe keeping coupling loose will maintain/increase cohesion making the system more manageable. 

Reference 

https://www.machinedesign.com/archive/article/21829492/prevent-coupling-failure-with-good-design-installation-and-maintenance