9.6 Summary

Software infrastructure simplifies the development of enterprise information systems by allowing developers to concentrate on implementing business processes and providing end user value. In particular, middleware is an essential technology in modernizing legacy systems. It defines an architecture and approach for implementing the modernized system, provides mechanisms for integrating legacy and modern components, and provides mechanisms for integrating disparate components in the modernized system, including commercial components and other existing assets.

This is the last chapter covered under understanding the target technology. In the next chapter, we begin to describe how situated evaluations can produce additional technology competency and start to formulate an architectural design solution for a modernization effort.