I've got experiences in both camps. Well managed rewrites (typically portions of a system) can fix a lot of problems in one fell swoop, but you have to really k

I've got experiences in both camps. Well managed rewrites (typically portions of a system) can fix a lot of problems in one fell swoop, but you have to really know what you're doing and actually have concrete plans for improvements. If not, all you've done is just replaced a bad system with another bad system. I've also seen that lately. You're right that often it's just "different" and not better, and that makes it hard to sell the case when a rewrite is truly needed.