System Evolution in the Intelligent Enterprise: An Historical Case Study of VISA's Transaction Processing Systems
January 2007
Michael S. Cokus, The MITRE Corporation
John W. Dahlgren, The MITRE Corporation
ABSTRACT
Intelligent enterprises need systems which evolve well. Systems will increasingly
be expected to evolve to meet users' changing needs, and predicting user demand is becoming
more inexact. System engineers need to understand why some systems evolve well and put this
knowledge into practice. Lessons learned from the evolution of actual systems should be
incorporated into system design and development processes to equip the system engineer to meet
this challenge.
This paper discusses a case study of the technological evolution of VISA's credit card
transaction processing systems. It identifies key principles which were successfully applied to
enhance system evolution. The paper discusses observations concerning how generic properties
(the illities) relate to one another and how they were achieved in VISA's system design. Related
issues of system platforms and component coupling which affect system evolution are also
addressed.
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