# Legacy modernization strategy — planning worksheet

Reference guide: https://programmatic.llc/resources/legacy-modernization-strategy

Audience: Technology leaders and application owners comparing incremental change, replacement and retirement options.

Intended output: A workload decision record and a dependency-aware modernization sequence.

## Working context

- Workflow / system:
- Accountable owner:
- Date:
- Scope and constraints:

## Review checklist

- [ ] Is the reason for change measurable?
  Describe the delivery, reliability, cost or capability problem and the baseline used to judge improvement.

  Evidence / open question:
  Owner / next action:

- [ ] Were alternatives to a rewrite considered?
  Record why selective refactoring, replatforming, replacement or retaining the system does or does not fit.

  Evidence / open question:
  Owner / next action:

- [ ] Are dependencies and data ownership mapped?
  List shared databases, identity, interfaces and downstream users that constrain the sequence.

  Evidence / open question:
  Owner / next action:

- [ ] Is the transition and recovery path agreed?
  Define consumer cutover, coexistence, rollback triggers and ownership of unresolved behavior.

  Evidence / open question:
  Owner / next action:

## Reference sequence

### Assess the application

Identify business importance, current pain, dependencies and the cost of leaving the system unchanged.

Expected artifact: An evidence-based application assessment

### Choose the intervention

Compare retain, rehost, replatform, refactor, rebuild, replace and retire against actual constraints.

Expected artifact: A justified modernization choice

### Isolate a delivery increment

Define an interface or workflow boundary that can change without an uncontrolled transition of the whole system.

Expected artifact: A scoped change with coexistence rules

### Validate and transition

Compare business behavior and operating outcomes, then move consumers with an explicit recovery decision.

Expected artifact: A validated increment and next-step review

## Decision record

- Decision:
- Evidence considered:
- Remaining assumptions:
- Acceptance criteria:
- Reviewer:
- Next review date:

This worksheet supports discussion; completion is not a certification or a guarantee of project readiness.