The issue with rewriting to newer technologies is relearning - the hard way - all the requirements encoded over 40-50 years. Decision-makers are rightly afraid

The issue with rewriting to newer technologies is relearning - the hard way - all the requirements encoded over 40-50 years. Decision-makers are rightly afraid of the $100M mistake. As some posters here said already, organizations have to slowly phase in newer technologies and phase out COBOL ones. The track record of Big Bang rewrites is not a good one. A few years ago it was either ACM's CACM or IEEE's Computer magazine that profiled several high-profile failures. The financial and time cost overruns were spectacular. Banking and Insurance are not the only industries using COBOL. If you're in higher ed and your institution uses Banner, you've got COBOL. During every upgrade, our Banner team has to license the latest and greatest COBOL compiler set from (I believe) Micro Focus. I have to wonder if a split in technology exists between commercial and investment banking.