--------------------------------<snip>------------------------
I hate to rain on anyone's parade, but all the posts notwithstanding,
the problem here isn't failure, but the fear that it might actually
succeed.
If the project is as doomed to failure as many have been saying, then
so what! Let it fail. It might be a difficult time and a humbling
experience for some, but in the end the original system will be
vindicated. However, I suspect that the real concern is that it might
actually work. Maybe not as well ... maybe without all the bells and
whistles, but in the end if it does tha job, then management will have
been vindicated in the decision.
Doom and gloom is not a way to convince management of the proper
course. If the project can succeed, then you'd better get on board
now, because the train is leaving the station. If the project is
doomed to fail, then that will also be apparent soon enough.
-----------------------------<unsnip>-----------------------------
It might succeed, if management throws enough manpower and servers into
it. But at what expense? Who's going to coordinate the implementation?
Who's going to determine and map out all the interactions between
datasets and processes? How will data be moved from one process to the
next, perhaps on a different server? How many "administrators" will be
required to maintain that whole enterprise (polite word for mess?) Are
programs to be translated from COBOL to another language? Who's going to
train staff? At what expense?
I believe that these are all valid questions that need to be answered
before any prognosis of success or failure can be made.
In my admittedly limited experience, that server farm is going to take a
significant increase in manpower just to maintain the status quo;
finding and/or making a developer staff is also going to be a major
headache. You might find people that know the languages, but they still
need to learn about the business. And as others have already noted,
security and legal issues will further muddy the waters.
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