How to Sunset a Legacy System Without Destroying Team Morale

Summary

In this conversation, Tom Barber discusses the challenges organizations face when dealing with legacy systems and the importance of recognizing the human element in system migration. He emphasizes that migration is not just a technical project but a transition that impacts people's identities and roles within the organization.

Takeaways

• Think about your current environment for a second.
• Do you have systems running that are older than some of your engineers?
• Maybe it's that monolithic application written in a language nobody wants to touch.
• Maybe it's hardware that needs special handling.
• Or maybe it's just tribal knowledge locked in the heads of three people.
• Not if, but when, that time comes.
• You can treat it like a purely technical project.
• It's a transition that affects people's identities.
• A transition that affects people's identities, their expertise.
• Their sense of value to the organization.

• (00:00) - Intro
• (00:32) - Title
• (01:16) - The Challenge of Sunsetting Legacy Systems
• (06:11) - Principals for Successful Legacy Migration
• (12:04) - Creating a Culture of Evolution