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A companion to the decision framework article.

Should you rescue or rewrite your legacy software?

Six honest questions. Two minutes. No email required. Result at the end.

Framework based on 500+ engagements over 26 years. See the full explanation in the decision framework article.

Question 1 of 6

1. Business criticality

If your system stops working for one day, what actually happens?

The business can absorb it — internal tool, low frequency use. Some inconvenience, but we can work around it. Serious impact — we cannot ship orders / bill / operate. System is business-critical AND currently running. Serious impact AND the system has already stopped working reliably.

2. Codebase size

Roughly how big is the codebase? (A quick developer estimate is fine.)

Small — under 50,000 lines of code. Medium — 50,000 to 250,000 lines of code. Large — 250,000+ lines of code. I honestly don't know.

3. What percentage of the system actually works?

Not "how much drives you crazy" — how much of the user-visible functionality works correctly?

70–100% works — there are pain points but the system does its job. 30–70% works — roughly half the modules have real problems. Under 30% works AND the working parts are worthless to rebuild. Unclear — I haven't measured this.

4. Downtime cost pattern

When the system does go down, what does it cost, and why?

Downtime is expensive AND is caused by a small number of identifiable issues. Downtime is annoying but not existential; issues are scattered. Downtime is spread across most of the codebase — every fix breaks something else. The system doesn't really go down — downtime cost is low.

5. Original developer availability

Does anyone alive know why the system was built the way it was?

Yes — original developer or someone with equivalent knowledge is available. No — and we haven't done a code archaeology assessment yet. No — and we've done an assessment which showed rebuild is cheaper than documenting-then-repairing.

6. Business change since the software was built

Are the business processes the software encodes still the ones the business runs today?

Yes — the business hasn't fundamentally changed. Processes are stable. Mostly — some evolution but nothing that invalidates the underlying logic. No — the business has fundamentally changed AND current logic is genuinely obsolete.

Book a free 30-minute consultation

The recommendation is based on the six-factor framework in this article. Real engagements involve more nuance than a quiz can capture. The consultation is free and produces no commitment to proceed.

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