D4.1a Method framework

Executive summary

The RENAISSANCE method aims at supporting the reengineering of legacy software systems, that is the transformation of valuable software assets which are difficult to maintain toward new systems which are able to evolve both in the short and long term. This report provides a rational and defines the framework for the RENAISSANCE method.

The report contains two chapters and a bibliography section including main references.

Chapter 1, "Introduction", provides the background for understanding the framework. It contains who, why, what and how sections in order to help readability of the report itself, and two main sections, concerning the identification of the problem addressed by RENAISSANCE, and the approach proposed to solve the problem. Legacy software systems with their dilemma about what-to-do are identified as the major problem within the software evolution domain, and the reengineering perspective, seen as the systematic transformation of the existing into a new form, is identified as a promising technique to answer the what-to-do question. Based on this background, the RENAISSANCE approach is defined as a reengineering approach which borrows ideas and concepts from Business Process Reengineering state-of-the-art. Objectives and constraints of the method, and benefits of adopting it are pointed out and discussed. Acknowledgements conclude the chapter.

Chapter 2, "The RENAISSANCE Framework", provides a comparison between the current approach to application management, the maintenance approach, and the proposed one, the evolutionary approach. The chapter suggests the way to introduce and adopt this new technology into company's organization, and defines a framework in terms of a domain, a paradigm, and an abstract model containing generic activities. A two-phase process is proposed to support the overall reengineering activity. The what-to-do phase evaluates the existing legacy system combined with the business goals and, as a result, identifies the best re-engineering strategy to implement. Then the how-to-do phase supports the implementation of the planned transformation. The reminder of the chapter details all the identified activities. The RENAISSANCE method, defined in the corresponding report, is thus an instance of this framework.