ABSTRACT
This chapter takes a look at some ways of providing transition support through what is called “transition architectures.” It focuses on the transition approaches, presenting a way to determine which approach to use and giving some examples of real scenarios where each approach was employed. A transition architecture is made up of tools, techniques, procedures, and standards that enable the integration or interfacing between existing and target solutions through a transition period. Transition architectures can provide substantial benefits to enterprises seeking to move to new technology environments while making the most of the investment in legacy systems. In determining the appropriate transition approach, an enterprise must understand its legacy environment and the direction it needs to reach its vision — its business strategy, objectives, and imperatives. A key design goal of the transition architecture was to minimize disruptions to the existing applications to eliminate digging into legacy code that was poorly documented and not well-understood.
