When integrating, experience is key
Several industry experts agree that when selecting an outside firm to integrate retailers` legacy systems with Internet systems, experience counts. Because of the age and variety of legacy systems and because most IT professionals prefer to work with newer technology, it is important to find a company with expertise in legacy systems.
"Avoid companies that have only been in business for five years or less," says Ken Kenjale, CTO with Troy, Mich.-based Syntel. "They all have hot shots that can come up with new web-based applications, but they will not have anybody with 10-15 years experience who knows the older technology."
"About half of the old applications have no documentation or people that understand the applications," Kenjale says. "Those people have quit or died. We cannot hope to understand those applications, we just have to simulate them." In many cases the source code no longer exists leaving only the zeros and ones to read. "Even the source code is difficult to read without any supporting documentation," he says.
Jake Freivald, director of marketing with iWay, agrees. One of the major problems facing systems integration is the lack of knowledge about old systems, he says.
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