1Stevens Institute of Technology, 2051 Lama Mountain, Box 289, Questa, NM, 87556, USA, E-mail: rick.dove@stevens.edu.
2Paradigm Shift International, 2051 Lama Mountain, Box 289, Questa, NM, 87556, USA, E-mail: garry.turkington@parshift.com.
In this paper we explore the nature of migration as it applies to crossing system-retirement life cycle boundaries gracefully, intending to inform purposeful design of would-be, long-lived, always-effective enterprises, and the systems that support them. We use previous work on agile systems and enterprises to define migration as the crossing of a change in basic infrastructure, be it technical, organizational or strategic. We consider the classic view of the system life cycle and highlight its limitations in a rapidly changing world. We analyze two successful and contemporary large-scale migrations, and illuminate the factors that facilitated their success, contributing toward a pattern language for agile-system architecture in the process. Finally, the lessons of the analysis are suggested as potential informants for Force Transformation in the U.S. military and adoption of Service Oriented Architectures in the enterprise.
agile enterprise, agile-system architecture, force transformation, life cycle, migration, pattern language, service oriented architecture
