# Modernizing our IT Environment at Target

DevFeed: [Modernizing our IT Environment at Target](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/modernizing-our-it-environment-at-target-20396.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://target.github.io/architecture/modernization_Intro>)

Author: Target Brands, Inc

Published: 2015-04-15T05:00:00Z

Content type: article

Language: en

Sources: [Target](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/target.md>)

Topics: [systems](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/systems.md>), [real-time](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/real-time.md>), [data](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/data.md>), [Testing](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/testing.md>)

Tags: [architecture](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/architecture.md>), [data](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/data.md>), [devops](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/devops.md>), [distributed](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/distributed.md>), [integration](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/integration.md>), [legacy](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/legacy.md>), [modernization](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/modernization.md>), [real-time](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/real-time.md>), [teams](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/teams.md>), [technology](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/technology.md>), [testing](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/testing.md>)

## AI overview

The article describes Target's effort to modernize its IT environment, using a project involving near-real-time data from multiple systems as an example. It identifies integration with legacy systems, distributed-environment setup, stale source data, lengthy manual testing, and coordination across teams as modernization challenges.

## Source excerpt

In 2014, I worked on a project to build out a system to provide new business capabilities for our Marketing and Digital spaces. This initiative was not unlike other initiatives we undertake at Target, but it provides a great example of the importance of us investing in an effort to modernize the way we operate, the technology stacks we use and the way we think about systems and systems architecture. The project took in data in near real-time from multiple systems, processed the data and exposed it to consumers. The closer we came to real-time data the larger the benefit to our guests. There was only one problem - we had to keep one of our current systems running in parallel prior to switching on the new capabilities. In this scenario, there were a couple of key frustrations I experienced which are symbolic of what is driving our need to modernize: 75% of the time spent on the project was integration with systems which would be shut off shortly after we went live. The estimate for integration work with legacy systems was enough work to keep 34 full-time workers busy for an entire year. The majority of the processing for this system was in a distributed environment, standing up the environment took over 20 weeks. The data which would be exposed through this system would be 24 hours old due to limitations of the providing systems. Every time we went through a release, we would initiate a fully manual testing process which spanned six weeks. Decision making for this effort spanned over eight teams and four different organizations. From what I have seen, Target is not that different from the majority of large enterprises which have been in business for half a century. We have grown over time, transitioning from one technology paradigm to the next, adding more and more technology debt into our environment as we move quickly to provide business value to our internal business partners and our guests. I assume we are faced with the same pressures as other large enterprises: