1. Legacy Integration Patterns advanced

    At 21:40 a schema change on the legacy order database makes the change-data-capture connector feeding the new analytics store crash-loop. At 23:10 the connector is still down and nobody has been paged, because the analytics store is not customer-facing. At 04:55 the order database refuses writes — its data volume is full. What failed, and which design decision made it possible?

    3 min answer cdcreplication-slotwaloffload
  2. Legacy Integration Patterns intermediate

    New services must interact with a legacy system that cannot handle their load or their pace of change. Which integration patterns apply?

    2 min answer legacy-integrationanti-corruption-layercdcbuffering
  3. Legacy Modernization advanced

    A 15-year-old monolith runs the core of the business. Leadership wants microservices. How do you approach it, and what would make you refuse?

    2 min answer stranglermodernizationmicroservicesrisk
  4. Legacy Modernization advanced

    Most large modernisation programmes are late, over budget, or abandoned. What are the recurring structural causes, rather than the project-management ones?

    2 min answer modernisationsecond-systemcoexistencescope
  5. Legacy Modernization advanced

    TSB's 2018 core banking migration moved 1.9 million customers in a single weekend and failed publicly. What would you have required before approving that cutover?

    3 min answer migrationcutovertestingcase-study
  6. Mainframe Modernization advanced

    A core system is reliable, undocumented and staffed by people close to retirement. What do you do first?

    2 min answer mainframeencapsulationstranglerskills
  7. Mainframe Modernization advanced

    An organisation must modernise a mainframe system running critical batch processes. What makes this harder than typical modernisation, and what approaches exist?

    2 min answer mainframebatchbusiness-rulesrisk
  8. Mainframe Modernization advanced

    Customer balances are served from a change-data-capture copy of a mainframe rather than from the mainframe itself. What happens, hour by hour, on the night the month-end close posts a large batch and the capture stream falls forty minutes behind?

    3 min answer mainframecdcoffloadstaleness
  9. Mainframe Modernization advanced Multiple choice

    Review this plan. A bank will move 80% of balance-enquiry reads off the mainframe onto a new store fed by change data capture. The nightly batch that posts interest and produces statements stays where it is for three more years. The business case is built on the licence saving. One reviewer says the headline saving will not appear. Which objection is correct?

    3 min answer mainframeoffloadlicensingcapacity
  10. Mainframe Modernization advanced

    You must modernise a mainframe application with no documentation and one remaining expert who retires in nine months. Where do you start?

    2 min answer legacymodernizationknowledgerisk
  11. Migration Risk advanced

    A logistics platform is migrating a system that coordinates live vehicle dispatch. What controls reduce migration risk when the operation cannot pause?

    2 min answer portermigration-riskprogressiveshadowing
  12. Migration Risk advanced

    A platform is migrating a live service and must manage risk. Which risks dominate, and which controls actually reduce them?

    2 min answer migration-riskblast-radiusrollbackverification