TechSuRe - A Method for Assessing Technology Sustainability in Long Lived Software Intensive Systems

Over the lifetime of a long lived software intensive system the (software) technologies used in the system will change. Changing technologies in such systems is typically extremely costly and painful for the organizations that have to perform these changes. Hence, wrong technology choices can jeopardize the economic viability of such systems in the long run. This paper presents TechSure, a method for assessing technology sustainability in long lived software intensive systems, together with experiences from case studies. The method makes sustainability issues an explicit part of a technology assessment and offers guidance on how to gauge the associated sustainability. Together, this supports making appropriate technology choices for long lived software intensive systems.