Information Aging

This paper emphasizes on the importance of keeping aging information in a format that can be used readily and understood by everyone. In order to get up-to-the-minute access to older engineering information, managers need to be ever vigilant about ensuring that legacy data exists in a format, which can be easily understood and accessed. Today a number of new software applications and technologies can help even those companies with seemingly the most outdated of computers, the mainframe. In recent days, software developers have introduced innovative ways in which companies can speedily retrieve legacy information, whether it is stored in a format for a desktop computer or a mainframe. These methods involve migrating or upgrading information or installing middleware, all at some cost. Some companies may choose to move legacy data to the open XML format and use a number of software tools, such as database query methods, to quickly retrieve information. Legacy documents that can be written into XML can include blueprints, CAD designs, change orders, materials specifications, assembly instructions, and cost estimates.