Banks scramble to fix old systems as IT 'cowboys' ride into sunset

Post by kwhitefoot » Thu, Apr 13, 2017, 10:29 AM UTC

cle wrote: post #220

mikehollinger wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>all features and edge casss should have a test. Yeah, but the interesting problem is what happens next. Let's say a test case reveals that there's a flaw in the next-gen system. You fix it. It later turns out that the same flaw exists in the legacy system. What do you do? Do you revert the fix, or leave it in place?

Revert the fix and add it to your backlog. You've got enough to worry about when porting/rewriting, don't add additional dimensions of complexity and risk by trying to change business logic at the same time. Minimize risk by minimizing change...then when the new system is up on its feet, go back and fix all the mistakes you found.

Post by gech » Thu, Apr 13, 2017, 5:38 PM UTC

pnathan wrote: post #339

hourislate wrote: post #329

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Life is short, how much of it are you willing to give away. That may not resonate with you now but wait until you're in your 40's or 50's and 10-20 years has passed.

I like what I do. I like going to work. I like my company. I like coming home to my baby and tickling his feet. It's life . Being a lazy bum not accomplishing what you want to do shortchanges you and your life as well as the people paying you. My father in law has a saying: "if you don't like what you do, what are you doing?". And I agree with that.

Post by movedx » Sun, Apr 16, 2017, 11:46 PM UTC

amorphid wrote: post #335

movedx wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure if the $100/hour figure quoted is a hard and fast cash amount banks strictly adhere to, but ultimately this is business, so: set your price and walk away if it's not met. I set my price: AUD$850/day, with a TINY bit of wriggle room, and that's final. I know my worth (from a skills perspective and market/economical one.)

That strategy works if you have enough demand for your skills, and you don't price yourself out.

Post by ADefenestrator » Wed, Apr 19, 2017, 4:54 AM UTC

fragmede wrote: post #256

beat wrote: post #231

I worked for years on the modernization of a critical banking infrastructure system. The problems are manifold. The biggest problem is overall architectural impedance mismatch - switching from a batch system (most of those old COBOL mainframe apps are batch systems) to a service-oriented architecture. This makes incremental replacement extremely difficult. But a cutover? On a system that moves more money in a day tha…

Startups have yet to solve the problem of legacy code. At the very center of Internet companies too old to still be called startups is some ancient Perl or PHP written by the founders, back when they were around, and even wrote code. That might seem less archaic than COBOL or faxes but it's the same root problem. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" didn't account for "well you see, it's not catastrophically broken but…

Post by stickfigure » Wed, Apr 19, 2017, 9:59 PM UTC

mseebach wrote: post #349

stickfigure wrote: post #347

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a steep power law in bill rates. It is not twice as hard to get $400/hr as $200/hr, but orders of magnitude harder. And my observation - as someone who bills more than these numbers sometimes - is that the higher the rate, the shorter the gig. You have to look at this probabilistically. Contract programmers taking home $800k/yr are very rare, but folks misusing "upper six figures" to mean $180k are common. I…

And the fact that everyone else is jumping in to categorically deny that its possible says a lot about the psychology of other HNers.