Examples of the prohibited evolution of IT systems

So far, things may been a bit theoretical. Most information systems are created without a defined plan and global, architected vision and this is reflected in the cost of maintenance – and thus the total cost of ownership – of the whole system. But what does this mean in practice? Is it that bad?

You may have heard expressions such as “spaghetti dish” or “data silos.” In the first case, the modules of the IS are so intertwined that it becomes impossible to touch a given part of the system without causing side effects on another one. In this case, evolution becomes complicated. The second expression is associated with modules of an IS that are so tightly separated from each other that they cannot share common data. This generally leads to duplicated data, loss of quality, and sometimes contradictory processes in the whole system. These are just a few examples of the designation of generic...