Thesis author: Marco Blum
Modernization decisions are ultimately business decisions. Regardless of how technically compelling a modernization may be, it must be justified in business terms. Yet the business dimension is often the least systematically understood: benefits are stated as general claims without structured evidence, negative impacts (disruption, productivity loss) are underreported, and the temporal dimension (short-term costs vs. long-term strategic gains) is poorly captured. Decision-makers need a consolidated, evidence-based view of business impacts to build business cases, set realistic expectations, and communicate effectively to boards and finance. IT business value research provides theoretical models for how IT investments translate to organizational performance, but these are generic and not specific to legacy modernization. Most modernization research focuses on technical strategies and treats business impact as secondary. Grey literature (vendor case studies, analyst reports) contains rich business impact data but has not been systematically consolidated. There is no structured catalogue that categorizes modernization business impacts by dimension, timeframe, and stakeholder relevance. The aim of this bachelor thesis is to systematically gather and structure the business impacts of legacy system modernization from existing literature. By conducting a literature review of academic publications and grey literature (industry reports, case studies, analyst publications), this thesis identifies the full spectrum of business effects, from direct financial outcomes (cost savings, ROI, cost overruns) through strategic impacts (agility, competitive positioning) to risk and compliance effects, and organizes them into a structured catalogue that supports modernization investment decisions.
