This document discusses the importance of future-proofing in architecture and design. It provides two historical examples, a 1912 bridge in England that was designed with mass transit in mind and ended up accommodating a subway line 48 years later, and a 2003 retail software suite that is still using a single code base over a decade later due to a flexible architecture. The key point is that considering future capabilities and needs upfront, through a flexible design, can significantly reduce long-term support costs and maximize the lifespan of a project.

1. Old School Future-Proofing Applies, Now More Than Ever
By Greg Dow – Sales Manager, Crimson Transaction Technologies
Flexibility in architecture is the
key to future-proofing. It allows
increased capabilities with reduced
support costs. This is nothing new.
Architects, and engineers have been
thinking this way since the beginning
of human history. As the rate of
progress explodes, software designers
should have the same discipline and
forethought to future-proof their
creations. Allow me to use two
historical examples of future-proofing
to demonstrate my point.New College Dining Hall, Oxford

2. The picture above is the Prince Edward Viaduct. It spans a valley 400 meters
across by 40 meters deep. It was designed in 1912 with mass transit in mind; the
upper deck accommodated electric trams and a lower deck allowed future rail
lines. It opened in 1918.

3. It was not until 1966, forty eight years later, that the lower deck was used for
a subway line. The forethought eliminated the need for a second structure. This
example, is of public works and transportation, rather than IT, but the point is that
decisions made in the 1910s saved millions of dollars in the 1960s.

4. The Scoria™ Retail Suite, by Crimson Transaction
Technologies, is designed for flexibility too. It was first
released in 2003. The primary focus was to build a solid
and flexible architecture that would allow unique
customer requirements to be satisfied without adding
code branches. Parameters and settings for each line of
business are applied without the need to recompile.
Parameter changes can be made locally using in house
resources without extra expense. Data Interfaces can be
made to any number of lines of business’ information
systems using common interfaces.
Over a decade later, the Scoria™ Retail Suite is on
version 1, sub version 25 and there is still one single code
base across Crimson’s entire client base – no branches.
The flexibility built in to the architecture future-proofs the
customer investment