Patent ID: 8712814

Claim:
An economic retirement analysis method that comprises: identifying an existing component and a potential replacement component, wherein each of the existing component and the potential replacement component are one of software, hardware used to execute software, or a system that includes software or hardware used to execute software; estimating costs associated with the existing component and the potential replacement component; calculating, by an economic retirement tool stored on a non-transitory computer readable medium and executed by a processor, an economic retirement date for the existing component in view of the potential replacement component, the economic retirement date defined as a date when a maintenance cost for the existing component exceeds the sum of a maintenance cost for the potential replacement component and a porting cost for the potential replacement component, calculating, by an economic retirement tool stored on a non-transitory computer readable medium and executed by a processor, an acquisition cost recovery date for the one potential replacement component, the acquisition cost recovery date defined as a date when savings due to a difference between the maintenance cost of the existing component and the maintenance cost of the potential replacement component exceeds the sum of an acquisition cost of the potential replacement component and the porting cost for the potential replacement component; storing the economic retirement date and the acquisition cost recovery date; and determining, by the economic retirement tool, that the potential replacement component is economically viable when the economic retirement date is sooner than an end of life for the existing component and when the acquisition recovery date occurs before an end of life of the potential replacement component, the end of life for the existing component is when a vendor ceases to support the existing component, and the end of life for the potential replacement component is when a vendor ceases to support the potential replacement component.