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Supplier Stability Concern

publish date: 2026/06/24 21:11:0.219382 UTC

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Why is supplier stability an important factor when assessing the environment of a legacy system, even though it is not strictly a technical characteristic?

If a supplier is no longer in business, their hardware or software may not be supported, potentially forcing the organization to replace those systems

A stable supplier guarantees the legacy system will never need any maintenance again

Supplier stability has no real impact on legacy system decisions and is only included for legal reasons

Supplier stability only matters for systems used in retail businesses

Correct Answer

If a supplier is no longer in business, their hardware or software may not be supported, potentially forcing the organization to replace those systems

Explanation

Although not a purely technical characteristic, supplier stability matters because if a supplier is no longer in business, their hardware or software may go unsupported. This can force an organization to replace systems that would otherwise have continued running effectively.

Reference

Software Engineering, Ian Sommerville, 10th edition

Quizzes you can take where this question appears

Legacy System Assessment - Environment and Application Quality