Technological Evolution Affecting the Maintenance Horizons

Rapid change is nothing new in a discipline that only has a lifespan of approximately fifty years. What is unique at the moment however, is the speed at which industry is adopting and then utilising these changes. The Internet is the primary driver in this rapid evolution, and this requires a step change in the thinking behind software evolution. Logically, and financially, it makes sense for them to do this so that they do not lose market-share, but by doing so they are creating a wealth of maintenance issues. These are issues that the academic communities as well as the industries involved need to address if they are to continue to be considered an asset and to be making useful progress in furthering the field. It is no longer the case than maintenance and legacy only applies to monolithic, one machine, one data-store transaction systems. It also means that large systems that may be more flexible can no longer be considered entirely in isolation. There is then a final concern that the newer systems being developed and deployed are wholly unsuitable for use with existing tools and analysis.