Guiding legacy systems for evolution. PmatE: a case study of maintenance and engineering

Copy igh © 2022 by Au ho /s and Licensed by IADITI. This is an open access a icle dis ibu ed unde he C ea i e Commons A ibu ion License which pe mi s un es ic ed use, dis ibu ion, and ep oduc ion in any medium, p o ided he o iginal wo k is p ope ly ci ed. Jou nal o In o ma ion Sys ems Enginee ing and Managemen 2022, 7(1), 11689 e-ISSN: 2468-4376 h ps://www.jisem-jou nal.com/ Resea ch A icle Guiding legacy sys ems o e olu ion Pma E: a case s udy o main enance and enginee ing And é Mon ei o1, Gonçalo Viei a1 * 1 Uni e si y o A ei o, Po ugal * Co esponding Au ho : and emon ei [email protected] Ci a ion: And é Mon ei o, Gonçalo Viei a (2022). Guiding legacy sys ems o e olu ion. Pma E: a case s udy o main enance and enginee ing. Jou nal o In o ma ion Sys ems Enginee ing and Managemen , 7 (1), 11689. h ps://doi.o g/10.55267/iad .07.11689 ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Recei ed: 11 Oc . 2021 Accep ed: 31 Dec. 2021 E en hough so wa e change is ine i able, accu a e main enance can ex end so wa e li espan in a sub le way when bo h budge and ime cons ain s ge in he way o so wa e eplacemen . In he Uni e si y o A ei o, he p ojec Pma E – a quiz web pla o m c ea ed o encou age s uden s o like Ma h – eme ged in he ea ly 1990’s and s acked se e al applica ions o e he decades wi hou majo planning, cleaning o upg ade. This esul ed in a huge-sized amewo k ha was c ucial o be always a ailable and onli ne and had high ope a ional cos , leading o an inc easing amoun o echnical deb . A e 3 decades, he p ojec was s udied, e ac o ed and e u bished, leading o a s able consis en amewo k eady o e olu ion and so wa e spinou s. This wo k shows h ow o manage and enginee solu ions o main ain a legacy sys em and e ol e i e en when ied up o hea y cons ain s. CCS CONCEPTS: So wa e and i s enginee ing • So wa e c ea ion and managemen • So wa e pos - de elopmen issues • Main aining so wa e • So wa e e olu ion Keywo ds: So wa e enginee ing, so wa e main enance, so wa e e olu ion INTRODUCTION So wa e sys ems ha a e de eloped specially o an o ganiza ion ha e usually a long li e ime (Somme ille, 2016). Such sys ems, de eloped many yea s ago, using echnologies and in e aces ha a e now obsole e, a e s ill in use and emain i al o he no mal unc ioning o business and ep esen a subs an ial in es men o o ganiza ions (Newby, 1994). Au ho s in (Benne , 1995) s a e clea cha ac e is ics o a legacy sys em: age (mo e han 10 yea s old), he size (hund eds o housands o lines o code), an old p og amming language, a long his o y o main enance ha inc eased he en opy and he main enance cos s, he ele ance o he mission and he in e nal domain knowledge. The solu ion seems simple: so wa e enewal o building om sc a ch. Bu he e is a signi ican business isk in simply sc apping a legacy sys em and eplacing i wi h a sys em ha has been de eloped using ecen echnology (Somme ille, 2016). One can come ac oss se e al issues: he sys em may be using applica ion/se ice ules ha a e no p ope ly documen ed elsewhe e; he e a e clien s/p ocesses ha a e elian on he legacy sys em; legacy sys ems a ely ha e comple e speci ica ions - du ing hei li e ime usually ha e undocumen ed majo changes. Howe e , e en hese la ge and du able sys ems mus change in o de o emain use ul. Bu upg ading is also usually e y expensi e. The eal challenge consis s o inding cos - e ec i e and quali y solu ions and e ol ing hem in o de o mee new equi emen s. Typical solu ions a ailable in managing legacy sys ems include o dina y main enance, e e se enginee ing, es uc u ing, eenginee ing, mig a ion, w apping and also disca ding (de Lucia e al., 2001). One o hese examples is he p ojec Pma E – P ojec o Ma emá ica Ensino (Pin o e al., 2007), which eme ged in 1989 as a e eshing way o lea n Ma h and de elop a ondness o ma hema ics (Anjo e al., 2005). The concep was simple bu ho ough: p o ide he s uden s an in e ac i e in e ace wi h ma hema ical quizzes and combining compe i i eness wi h a gami ied applica ion – le els, li es, coun down ime . While “playing”, he s uden s would o ge ha he “game” was based on Ma h, one o he leas popula science e e (Bha dwa, 2018; Flick and Lede man, 2003). The objec i e was o lea n while playing, which was a hi . As an academic p ojec bo n in a uni e si y, he applica ion was always ee o use, bo h o eache s and s uden s (Pma e, 2019). Sponso ships we e only used on main e en s o gi e s uden s p izes. Mon ei o and Viei a / J INFORM SYSTEMS ENG, 7 (1), 11689 2 / 10 The web applica ion would be a ailable o aining du ing he whole yea , culmina ing on a la ge physical e en a he Uni e si y o A ei o, whe e schools and s uden s would compe e o op places. As he expec a ions e ol ed, he p ojec has g own la ge in he las decade o an a e age daily use o 5000 use s and a compe i ion a e age abo e 7000 con es an s. Table 1 shows he s a is ics o he CNC@UA, he la ges compe i ion, o he las 5 yea s. Table 1. Fi e-yea s a s o Pma E CNC@UA compe i ions (de Lucia e al., 2001) Yea # o Schools # o Teams # o S uden s # o Games 2016 204 4482 7308 5850 2017 195 5263 8468 7261 2018 190 6411 8912 8474 2019 192 6122 8565 8076 2020 Pandemic yea 2021 120 4183 4183 5116 F om i s c ea ion o nowadays, he sys em has g own in bo h size and ea u es wi h he exis ing echnologies, esponding o he public demand. None heless he sys em was buil in a ime when ha dwa e capaci y was a mo e expensi e han i is oday and, consequen ly, e ficiency ook p io i y o e a main ainable and upg adable sys em. This b ough ine i able consequences in e ms o sys em deg ada ion, also caused by poo a chi ec u e and documen a ion which ine i ably inc eases main enance cos s (Somme ille, 2016). In 2019 he Pma E amewo k began o sob due o educed pe sonnel, low budge and lack o main enance. The na ionwide ecogni ion, he p ojec b and and he 3-decade e o made he coo dina o s assume a ein en ing s a egy: he e was an e ec i e need o make a majo change and o e alua e o he p ojec . The e was a pe cep ion o in insic high alue o he p ojec , bu i should be o mally analyzed. The ma ix p oposed by (Somme ille, 2016) in Figu e 1 was used o e alua e he sys em and i s ue alue chain, leading o a esul high alue/low quali y. Figu e 1. Legacy sys em decisional ma ix (Alkazemi e al., 2013; de Lucia e al., 2001; Ransom e al., 1998), (Newby, 1994) Low quali y means expensi e o main ain: hese sys ems should be eplaced, i sui able o - he-shel sys ems a e a ailable, o eenginee ed o imp o e hei quali y. Making a decision abou e ol ing a legacy sys em should be able o ensu e an o e all imp o emen o he quali y o he legacy sys em, and he educ ion o i s main enance cos s. Ne e heless, he high alue o bo h s uden s and Uni e si y o A ei o, on educa ion and ma ke ing, d i es he con inui y o he p ojec and he sys em eenginee ing and adap abili y o achie e quali y equi emen s. In his pape , we p esen a case s udy wi hin a uni e si y, showing how o e alua e he s a e o a legacy sys em in an academic o ganiza ion and how o implemen a eenginee ed solu ion ha can deli e a quali y p oduc wi h ex endable a chi ec u e and low main enance. The pape is o ganized in eigh sec ions: sec ion Rela ed Wo k p esen s simila wo k, sec ion Pma E F amewo k desc ibes he exis ing sys em’s logic and a chi ec u e ollowed by sec ion Analysis and E alua ion ha uses a me hodology o assess he sys em; sec ion Implemen a ion desc ibes he asks’ de elopmen , ollowed by sec ion Resul s ha compila e da a and gains. Sec ion Fu he Wo k enume a ee la e wo k o do, while sec ion Conclusions w aps he achie emen s and esul s. RELATED WORK The IT indus y has always pu sued a way minimize he cos o main aining legacy sys ems. Se e al assessmen models, like (Newby, 1994), ha e been p oposed and implemen ed, bu because o he in insic p i a e na u e, closed sou ce o comme cial, mos a e no accessible o iewable. In he end, academic wo ks a e mo e isible and usually p o ide some de ails on published wo k. Rega ding so wa e e alua ion and main enance, he e a e some case s udies a ailable, like he Umm Al-Qu a Uni e si y Mon ei o and Viei a / J INFORM SYSTEMS ENG, 7 (1), 11689 3 / 10 ha esea ched o a solu ion o cope wi h he changing en i onmen wi hou in e up ing he ou ine wo king ac i i ies (Alkazemi e al., 2013). The case s udy uses a weigh ed decision-making g id o elabo a e u u e asks bu does no implemen any change; la e publica ions om same au ho s only e e o amewo k p ocess and s a egies (Alkazemi, 2014). Ano he is he case s udy ha uses au oma ed analysis o iden i y dependencies and e ac o code (Ba o a e al., 2014). The s udy is in e es ing because o he la ge applica ion ange bu keeps ocus on p og amming echniques. Au ho s in (G iswold and No kin, 1993) p opose and implemen a model and a ool o es uc u e code in an e o - ee ans o ma ion; i concludes ha i should need e idence o cos -e ec i e ad an ages om eal-case scena ios. On (Ahmad e al., 2021) we can ead abou esea ch o mode nize legacy so wa e, wi h a e y special ocus on mobile applica ion; au ho s p esen a esea ch me hod, a ans o ma ion p ocess and an applica ion e alua ion. As o educa ional games, a e y ecen s udy (The and Usagawa, 2018) analyzes he e ec i eness o online quizzes, compa ing adi ional es s wi h i ual es s made on Moodle pla o m(Moodle P y L d, 2021); i concludes ele a ed a en i eness and highe achie emen s o online es s bu does no ocus on quiz gami ying. Ano he in e es ing wo k ocus on online lip lea ning wi h gami ica ion quiz (Zainuddin e al., 2021); he s udy p esen s e idence o high engagemen o he pandemic e a, based on su eys and in e iews, bu does no show how i was implemen ed o a chi ec u e. THE Pma E FRAMEWORK The Pma E amewo k was ini ially a simple e minal applica ion, w i en in C. Back in he ea ly 90’s ha was a no el y ha wo ked well wi h he ini ial Ma h quizzes. I had a simple UI wi h ques ions, each one wi h ou ue/ alse op ions and a sense o le el p og ess. A he ime i was an excellen s a o he p ojec ’s objec i e, i mo ed he s uden s as hey enjoyed “playing” wi h Ma h. Figu e 1. 1990 e minal applica ion The nex s ep was o make i a ailable ac oss he campus ne wo k, online. So, a new applica ion was de eloped in ASP and VB Sc ip , suppo ing In e ne Explo e . In he ea ly 90’s i was a b eak h ough and local campus compe i ions became amous and desi able: 2000 s uden s om he whole coun y ga he ed annually o ind he bes - s uden , eam o school - in Ma h games. A ew yea s la e i was pa ched wi h a ew add-ons, especially wi h Adobe Flash o suppo Ma h symbols and o mulas. As he yea s wen by, i had g ea accep ance and s a ed o g ow o mee demands: mo e games, mo e empla es o games, mo e school yea s in ol ed and mo e cou ses a he han Ma h i sel . In 2020 i held 14 main quiz ca ego ies om he 3 d o he 12 h g ade: om Ma hema ics o Biology, passing h ough Po uguese and English bu algo Physics and Chemis y and so on. In he las yea s i also was ex ended o assis highe educa ion classes, suppo ing Calculus assessmen s o ins ance. A module o build diagnos ic es s was also de eloped, allowing eache s o e ie e impo an in o ma ion a he s a o he academic yea o le el-up s uden s wi h hei knowledge. The egis a ion, pa icipa ion in compe i ions and access o esul s ha e been cos - ee om he p ojec ’s beginning. A e egis a ion, each s uden was en olled in a class by he co esponding eache and had access o all ca ego ies on his/he yea bu also all ca ego ies below hei age. The aining quizzes a e a ailable all-yea long and a e pa ame ized models illed wi h andom alues a he ime o quiz eques , gene a ing uncoun able di e en ques ions/answe s. The in e ac i e in e ace encloses a 4-ques ion quiz game-like applica ion – le els, li es, coun down ime and ou pai s o T ue/False adio bu ons, as shown in Figu e 3. Figu e 3. 2019 quiz sc een sample A e inishing he le els, o he ime is up, he quiz ends and he use ge s back o his/he pe sonal a ea. The e he/she can access o p e ious esul s and pe sonal s a is ics. I seems qui e simple, bu inside he hood he complexi y g ows disp opo iona ely. A chi ec u e Dis ega ding he ea ly yea s om he e minal C applica ion, he ac ual Pma E pla o m s a ed as a small ASP web applica ion wi h a small webse e . Simple clien -se e calls, low usage and an adequa e da abase whe e he ques ions we e sa ed, we e enough o he ime-being. As he yea s wen by, use s s a ed o ask o mo e academic ange and mo e and di e si ied con en - i g ew in Mon ei o and Viei a / J INFORM SYSTEMS ENG, 7 (1), 11689 4 / 10 size and ea u es, d i en by use s’ eques s. The manpowe was always cons i u ed by s uden s o esh-g adua es’ s uden s wi h schola ships, which did no con ibu e o a good planning o s uc u ing. The o he p oblem was ha a e each de elopmen cycle, usually om 1-2 yea s, de elope s mo ed along o o he challenges and he nex s a would s a wi h no solid g ound. Each demand ou pu ed a so wa e isle ha was buil wi h he echnology ending a ha ime. No upda es we e made o he exis ing so wa e, leading o a kind o so wa e pa chwo k. E e y p ojec , excep o admin back- o ice, lies on a e sion con ol se e Mic oso TFS, which allows o make e sion con ol, wi h some small upda es o changes. A e 3 decades, i led o a complex amewo k, cons i u ed o 6 applica ions and 1 da abase – wi h se e al ins ances – as shown on Figu e 4. Figu e 4. Pma E amewo k a chi ec u e The end-use has access o he la es news and his pe sonal a ea, being able o see esul s, s a is ics, aining and compe ing wi hou changing URL add ess, hand-o e be ween PHP and .NET applica ions is ul illed wi h simple HTTP edi ec s. A he back-o ice, he adminis a o s can manage all kinds o use da a and quiz esul s bu mus change he URL o swi ch applica ion and egis e schools and new s uden s; hey also mus swi ch o ano he pla o m, ModelMake , o de elop pa ame e ized quizzes and manage a eas/ca ego ies/ a ge yea s. All he da a s ays pe sis en o e a SQL da abase (2013), holding dozens o ins ances om decades; he la es backup had o e 10GB and some que ies would ake mo e han 2 minu es. The e is also a Py hon daemon ha p oduces andom alues o ill pa ame e s: on he on -o ice when a quiz is gene a ed, a andom model is chosen om he s uden ’s ca ego y and each pa ame e a iable (ques ion and/o answe s) is sen o he Py hon daemon o be ende ed wi h eal alues wi hin he p o ided ange, as shown on Figu e 5. Figu e 2. Pa ame e ized quiz empla e and 2 empla e conc e iza ions Mon ei o and Viei a / J INFORM SYSTEMS ENG, 7 (1), 11689 5 / 10 The amewo k wo ks easonably in daily use, i we look a he upside – se e al echnologies, mos o hem obsole e, exchanging da a h ough 7 so wa e blocks. The p oblem is ha he lack o a cohe en , uni ed s a egy o ollow was decisi e o inc ease main enance o e he yea s. So many sys ems, wi h many loose-coupled connec ions, become comple ely unsus ainable. As a simple example, c ea ing a new compe i ion o 2020 could ake a whole day – i equi es a p og amme o c ea e ou new SQL DB ins ances wi h new compe i ions’ IDs and associa e IDs o co esponden models manually. Ano he example is he e ie al esul s a e he annual compe i ions: SQL que ies unning on s o ed p ocedu es can ake o e 8 minu es o each o he 14 sub- ca ego ies. All esul s a e hen ou pu ed as HTML o he esul s public page on he ins i u ional websi e. Too much wo k, wi h no spa e human esou ces o budge and no chance o pu he amewo k o line - abou 2000 use s a e online daily and an a e age o app oxima ely 7000 on compe i ion days. Acco ding o (Be ande and And ews, 2005), a possible app oach is o co ec so wa e aul s, make i adap i e o new en i onmen s, enhance and imp o e e iciency and o make i p e en a i e, by making s uc u al changes and subsequen main enance easie . Wi h his in mind, he objec i es o his wo k we e hen de ined in 4 main goals: A. E ol e he amewo k o be main enance ee B. Speed-up esul s’ da a e ie al C. Enhance use in e ace and design D. Cleanup unnecessa y so wa e, addons and da abases The nex s ep was o go h ough each goal, elici a e he p oblems and ind a solu ion o i . ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION We u ilized he amewo k desc ibed ea lie o assess he majo asks in o de o build a p io i y able o he cu en s a e o he sys em. The di e en con ex s, oge he wi h hei co esponding ac o s and s a uses we e aken in accoun . The objec i e was o iden i y, ca ego ize and p opose imp o emen s. The in e p e a ion o he alues ob ained ou o he Pma E a e gi en in a column called “Ca ego y” ha can de ines ou le els o impo ance om A o D. These le els desc ibe he impac o he ob ained alues on business con inui y and sys em adap abili y om he business pe spec i e equi emen s. Acco ding o he ou goals de ined in chap e 3, hey we e also spli o i he ca ego iza ion. The esul s o he analysis can be seen on Table 2. Table 2. F amewo k p oblems # P oblem Solu ion Ca ego y RP1 Sca e ed so wa e ac oss se e al se e s Me ge so wa e on a single se e wi h edundance and backup eini ializa ion A RP2 Obsole e so wa e obs uc ing se e echnology De elop modula and ex ensible new so wa e wi h s a e-o - he-a p og amming languages A RP3 New academic yea s equi e ha d code ope a ions Re ac o code and build au oma ic s o ed p ocedu es o upda e au oma ically A RP4 Re ie al o esul s ake oo long Reenginee DB, build indexes and op imize SQL que ies B RP5 HTML ou pu esul s equi e manual ile inse ion and edi ing Re ac o code o ansla e SQL ables in o HTML and inse a gene a e bu on o he use B RP6 Obsole e Quiz UI: no use - iendly, haza d colo s and i only o 640x480 esolu ion De elop new iendly UI, wi h esponsi e beha io o i all de ices, including mobile C RP7 Obsole e on and back-o ice De elop a new consis en and cohe en design ans e sal o all so wa e C RP8 Obsole e plugins, addons and webse ices: Flash and VB Sc ip Iden i y all necessa y and emo e emaining; eplace by s a e- o - he-a Ja asc ip lib a ies D A e he p oblems we e iden i ied, and as manpowe was sca ce, hey we e p io i ized o allow inc emen al de elopmen sp in s and show p og essi e enhancemen on he pla o m. To achie e his, we used he combined p io i iza ion echnique e e ed by (Be ande and And ews, 2005), whe e equi emen s a e mixed among s akeholde s – in ou case P oduc and P ojec Manage s. The esul o ha p io i iza ion is desc ibed below on Table 3. Table 3. P io i iza ion Resul s. P io i y, P(RPX) = RPCX × WP oduc M + RPCX × WP ojec dM whe e RP is he equi emen p io i y, and W is he weigh o he s akeholde # P oblem P oduc Manage (0.60) P ojec Manage (0.40) P io i y RP1 Sca e ed so wa e ac oss se e al se e s 0.10 0.15 0.12 RP2 Obsole e so wa e obs uc ing se e echnology 0.10 0.15 0.12 RP3 New academic yea s equi e ha d code ope a ions 0.25 0.15 0.21 RP4 Re ie al o esul s ake oo long 0.10 0.15 0.12 RP5 HTML ou pu esul s equi e manual ile inse ion and edi ing 0.10 0.10 0.10 RP6 Obsole e Quiz UI: no use - iendly, haza d colo s and i only o 640x480 esolu ion 0.25 0.10 0.19 RP7 Obsole e on and back - o ice 0.00 0.10 0.04 RP8 Obsole e plugins, addons and webse ices: Flash and VB Sc ip 0.10 0.10 0.10 To al 1 1 1 Mon ei o and Viei a / J INFORM SYSTEMS ENG, 7 (1), 11689 6 / 10 A e p io i iza ion, he nex phase was o implemen changes acco ding o iden i ied signi icance. The ocus would be on p oblems RP6 and RP3. IMPLEMENTATION Following he equi emen s’ p io i y, one by one we s a ed sol ing he p oblems. The i s s ep was he p oblem’s diagnosis, hen de elop solu ions o sol e hem and implemen changes. On his e y i s phase RP1, RP2, RP7 and RP8 we e le on hold. RP3 – New academic yea c ea ion Expec a ions we e ha he e could be a page on he back- o ice o c ea e a new academic yea . This was nonexis en , hough. The s anda d p ocedu e was o: A. C ea e new ids o he 14 compe i ions and sub compe i ions in he DB; B. Clone he 5 da abase ins ances (shown on Figu e 6); C. Go o he DB ins ance o he cu en yea and upda e compe i ion IDs; D. Open web o m code ile, commen 400 lines o code and copy hem o new lines and eplace IDs; E. Upda e he on -o ice applica ion o c ea e new quizzes using new IDs and new academic yea . Figu e 3. SQL Se e DB ins ances The mos use ul p ocedu e would be a web o m on he back-o ice wi h lis ings (compe i ion, yea s, e c.) and a bu on o allow he c ea ion and upda e o all a iables. Based on ha idea, we c ea ed ha web o m and linked all ac ions o i , so i would igge e e y hing wi hou edi ing a single line o code. Be o e ha , we changed he DB in o de o a oid ins ance c ea ions e e y yea ; we needed o adap and inse new columns in o ables and apply i on he C# code-behind. The web o m did he ollowing asks: A. Au oma e da abase ins an ia ion wi h p ope s o ed p ocedu es and igge s; B. Gene a e compe i ion IDs and a ach hem o ela ional ables; C. Re ac o code o educe cycles and op imize i ; D. Upda e on -o ice applica ion o allow yea choosing. These modi ica ions we e made and esul ed in an ex emely p ac ical - as well as anspa en - app oach o back- o ice use s, which can be seen on Figu e 7. Figu e 4. Au oma ed launch o new Academic Yea RP6 – Obsole e Quiz UI + RP8 – Obsole e plugins The ASPX web o m was ull o unnecessa y hings: Flash plugins, old jQue y lib a ies and old ASP.NET con ols. I also had huge s a e iews behind he page and was only loaded wi h session da a, e ie ed om he use login and DB. Figu e 8. New quiz esponsi e UI I simpli ied design, added esponsi e elemen s ha i any sc een and a mo e in ui i e and be e use in e ace. Mon ei o and Viei a / J INFORM SYSTEMS ENG, 7 (1), 11689 7 / 10 RP4 – Re ie al o esul s ake oo long The pe o mance p oblem ha exis ed on he amewo k was e y clea – web o ms ha would e u n some kind o esul could las om 2 o 8 minu es o un, depending on he que y. Conside ing he scale, 7-10K s uden s, i may no seem pa icula ly high, bu he conce n eme ged. To sol e he p oblem, we s a ed o call he que ies di ec ly on he SQL DB, o disca d ne wo k o connec ion p oblems. The esul s we e as onishing, he p oblem was indeed wi h he SQL que ies. We an he SQL Li e Que y S a is ics and he esul s a e shown on Figu e 9. Figu e 5. SQL Que y Analyze on Pma E que y Besides an e oneous cons uc ion o he que ies, wi h unnecessa y columns o able joins, he DB was no indexed. The i s s ep was o co ec que ies wi h solely he necessa y column da a and able joins. This imp o ed esul s and inc eased pe o mance, elapsed ime emained be ween 10-20 seconds, depending on he que y. We hen c ea ed indexed iews o he ables om which we expec ed esul s. He e lies he pu pose, because he esul s can only be e ie ed when compe i ions a e o e , which means he iew should be one iew o inal and consolida ed esul s. We c ea ed a igge o c ea e a iew o he esul s’ able, like he one shown on Figu e 10, and au oma ically c ea e indexa ion. Figu e 6. SQL igge o c ea e au oma ic indexa ion This esul ed in que ies wi h elapsed ime be ween 2-12 seconds, which sounded qui e be e han 1-3 minu es. RP5 – HTML ou pu esul s equi e manual inse ion Upon he end o compe i ions, he esul s we e ex ac ed om he DB wi h SQL que ies like he ones e e ed be o e on 5.3. E en hough hey we e e ie ed wi h HTML ags, each que y ende ed a HTML ou pu which should be copied and sa ed on a PHP se e , which would ake a manual e o o hou s. This was co ec ed o a page ha would call he s o ed Mon ei o and Viei a / J INFORM SYSTEMS ENG, 7 (1), 11689 8 / 10 p ocedu e and sa e HTML inpu o he co ec olde , wi h IIS pe missions. I some esul s would equi e e ision (i.e. some e o on some quiz) i would be enough o dele e he ile om he se e and access he page again o e esh he ou pu . Again, his esul ed in easonable ime sa ings and a oided IT pe sonnel o handle he esul s. Figu e 11 shows an example o he ou pu . Figu e 11. Gene a ing HTML esul s wi h one-click bu on RESULTS The ou come o he ask’s implemen a ion was e alua ed bo h in e iciency and usabili y, depending on he equi emen . This sec ion p esen s a compila ion o he e ec s. Fo ime-consuming asks, we measu ed he cu en imes agains olde one, al hough 1-day ask o a p og amme was an es ima e Table 3. Implemen ed RP e iciency # P oblem Ini ial Time Cu en Time Time Gain Ra io RP3 Opening new academic yea s 6:00:00 0:01:50 5:58:10 19636% RP4 Re ie al o esul s o s uden s 0:02:00 0:00:10 0:01:50 1200% RP4 Re ie al o esul s o schools 0:08:00 0:00:20 0:07:40 2400% RP5 HTML ou pu esul s equi e manual ile inse ion and edi ing 4:00:00 0:00:40 3:59:20 36000% Fo he usabili y assessmen , we made a small su ey wi h 5 ques ions on a 20 use se – we aim o make a su ey on he end o each compe i ion o b oad alida e he esul s wi h a mode adequa e scale. # P oblem Ini ial UI Cu en UI Gain Ra io RP6 Obsole e Quiz UI: no use - iendly, haza d colo s and i only o 640x480 esolu ion 44% 92% 48% 209% The main goal o an algo i hm is o p oduce co ec ou pu , and he sys em was p oducing i ; he main achie emen we aimed was e iciency, which was ex emely op imized wi h he bes p ac ices on he se e al sys ems. FUTURE WORK Due o ime, manpowe and budge cons ain s, some equi emen s we e s ill pending. In his case, he cen e ing o he so wa e on a single se e , wi h backup in case o allback o cou se (RP1), he whole e ac o ing and upda ing o old Mon ei o and Viei a / J INFORM SYSTEMS ENG, 7 (1), 11689 9 / 10 echnologies (RP2) and he enewal o he en i e back-o ice (RP7), w i en in ASP and .NET 2.0 did no go h ough. RP1 was a p io i y bu he big scale o he sys ems’ in ol ed we e di icul o ga he and educe in such a sho ime. I should be a p io i y and should be conside ed o de elop wi h new echnologies. The RP2 ask was also no comple ed due o ime cons ain s and o IT se ices echnology lockdown. I was no possible o assemble a new a chi ec u e wi h s a e-o - he a echnologies while implemen ing he o he equi emen s. As o RP7, as i was no a p io i y o s akeholde s, i will be a ask o he nex de elopmen i e a ion. S ill, i needs some SQL e u bish also because he pages’ con en holds di ec SQL que ies, as we can see on Figu e 12 below. Figu e 7. Example o di ec SQL que ies: muda escola.asp ile The bes p ac ices indica e ha hey should be ans o med in ansac - eady que ies and isola ed in s o ed p ocedu es, which will sa e a lo in main enance bu also can speed up asks. One ul ima e ask o ul ill should be a use e alua ion es : ga he a signi ican g oup o use s and es usabili y and sa is ac ion. This would aise he le el o he applica ion o he highes s anda ds. CONCLUSIONS A legacy applica ion a ely can be op imized wi hou signi ican e o . I is o en in ol es ha d and complex wo k ha is no isible. Thus, a legacy sys em has a di e en li ecycle whe e decision p ocesses mus be ca ied ou ca e ully in o de o suppo he success ul managemen o he sys em. These p ocesses a e usually analyzed in an implici way, bu when he complexi y o he p oblem is no common, one mus apply a sys ema ic app oach o de ining which modi ica ions should be made o ecommended. This pape p esen ed a use case o how o e ol e a legacy sys em in o de o main ain i s in insic high alue. I s model was assessed, analyzed and hen i was e u bished. The business goals o he legacy sys em we e de ined by aking in o accoun he poin s o iew o di e en s akeholde s wi hin he o ganiza ion. The amewo k in e en ions we e ca ied-ou on c i ical so wa e componen s, hus p o iding a con e sion esul b ough use usabili y, con olled cos s and easie main enance o he coming yea s. E en hough i lacks a la ge scale alida ion, wi h end-use es s, i augmen ed use iendliness, made da a and in e ace loadings as e o all use s as well as sa ed se e s’ esou ces. The use case p o ides a e e ence model ha shows a po en ial solu ion o legacy sys ems managemen , and mo e speci ically how add ess hem by aking in o accoun bo h business and echnical issues. Fu he mo e, models, echniques, and ools o suppo he amewo k ins an ia ion we e p esen ed and applied. As his was he e y i s phase o he enewal, we a e ce ain ha con inuing he bes p ac ices desc ibed in he cu en li e a u e will esul in a sys ema ic inc ease o amewo k quali y and alue. In he second phase o he p ojec we will add ess he emaining p oblems. Ne e heless, he expe imen was alida ed wi h excellen esul s. The conclusi e esul s o he de elopmen will be p esen ed in u u e wo k. REFERENCES Ahmad, A., Alkhalil, A., Al amimi, A.B., Sul an, K. and Khan, W. (2021). Mode nizing Legacy So wa e as Con ex — Sensi i e and Po able Mobile-Enabled Applica ion. IT P o essional, 23(1), pp.42-50. Alkazemi, B., (2014). A F amewo k o Assess Legacy So wa e Sys ems. J. So w., 9(1), pp.111-115. Alkazemi, B.Y., Nou , M.K., Meelud, A.Q. (2013). Towa ds a F amewo k o Assess Legacy Sys ems, in: 2013 IEEE In e na ional Con e ence on Sys ems, Man, and Cybe ne ics. pp. 924–928. Anjo, A., Pin o, J.S., Oli ei a, M.P., Isid o, R.O.G. and Pais, S.I.V. (2005). Compu e ized Diagnos ic Tes . Cade nos de