“When something in the core changes, the modern layer breaks. When the business asks for a new capability, the answer still runs through the old platform. The CIO is left explaining to the board why the modernization percentage keeps rising while the risk profile, the run cost, and the time it takes to deliver anything new have barely changed.
“Viewed as debt, that looks like a program failing to pay down its balance. Viewed as gravity, it is exactly what you would expect: the pull is strongest at the center of the estate and weakest at the edges, so the edges move first and the center moves last, if it moves at all. The frame does not change the facts, but it changes the conversation from ‘why is this taking so long?’ to ‘what will it actually take to move the core?’”
This argument is the right one, but there is a different reason why this terminology change is helpful. It will force CIOs and IT directors to think through these issues more effectively, which will in turn help the CFO, CEO, and board understand what the real problem is.
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