The article discusses an evolving architecture framework aimed at replacing a legacy billing mainframe without significant downtime. Midway through an extensive multi-year transition, a system outage highlighted the unreliability of existing infrastructure. Innovative solutions such as decoupling software components, implementing Change Data Capture, and instituting GraphQL enhanced performance and reliability. By structuring teams around domain boundaries, cognitive load was reduced, which improved system delivery. A continuous delivery model ensured value retention throughout the transition, avoiding disruptions commonly associated with a complete re-platforming approach.
Decoupling, technically, organizationally, and semantically...evolved away from a tightly coupled legacy architecture without rewriting everything at once.
Change Data Capture... built a near real-time system of reference, eliminating the need for direct synchronous access to mainframes for most applications.
By using GraphQL instead of REST... removed the need for dozens of Backend-for-Frontend layers and improved performance, flexibility, and maintainability.
Aligning teams with domain boundaries using Team Topologies... reduced cognitive load, streamlined delivery, and gave teams clear ownership of systems and outcomes.
Through incremental rollout, automation, and hybrid architecture, we delivered value continuously, replaced the legacy system safely, and avoided the pitfalls of big-bang re-platforming.
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