> Every re-write I’ve ever seen or been a part of, has either failed or taken way longer and a lot more effort than initially projected.
On the face of it what you say is true, but I've seen (and I'm sure many have seen) situations where the codebase was so bad - or the underlying technologies so ancient - that a rewrite was the only practical way to get things back on track again.
Did the rewrite take way longer than initially projected? Yes.
Was it a lot more effort than initially projected? Yes.
Was it painful medicine that nonetheless left the business in a better place? Yes.
On the face of it what you say is true, but I've seen (and I'm sure many have seen) situations where the codebase was so bad - or the underlying technologies so ancient - that a rewrite was the only practical way to get things back on track again.
Did the rewrite take way longer than initially projected? Yes.
Was it a lot more effort than initially projected? Yes.
Was it painful medicine that nonetheless left the business in a better place? Yes.