Research Methodology
How we research vendors, gather pricing data, and maintain editorial independence in the software modernization market.
Our Mission
We exist to reduce information asymmetry in the software modernization market.
Most companies make multi-million dollar migration decisions with incomplete data:
- Vendor pricing is opaque
- Real project timelines are hidden
- True failure rates aren't discussed
- Honest trade-offs are buried in marketing
We fix this by publishing transparent, data-driven research on migration costs, vendor capabilities, and strategic decision frameworks.
Research Process
01 Market Landscape Analysis
For each migration pattern (e.g., "COBOL to Java"), we identify all viable vendors through:
- GitHub analysis of refactoring tools
- Conference presentations (AWS re:Invent, Google Cloud Next, etc.)
- Industry analyst reports (Gartner, Forrester)
- LinkedIn job postings - who's actively hiring for this skill?
- Case study indexing - who has public proof of delivery?
We then screen for credibility:
- Minimum 3 publicly referenceable case studies
- Active maintenance (tools) or open job reqs (services firms)
- Verifiable domain expertise - not 'we do everything'
02 Pricing Research
We do not "phantom shop" or misrepresent our identity. We gather pricing data through three channels:
We contact companies directly, identifying ourselves as industry researchers. We ask for anonymized price ranges - not specific quotes.
We interview companies that have completed migrations, with their permission. We aggregate data across 10–30 projects per migration type.
Some vendors publish starting prices. We cite these as benchmark anchors with the caveat that real projects typically cost more.
When we state "$1.2M – $3.5M" for a migration:
03 Content Creation
- Risk factors - based on post-mortem analysis of failed projects
- Cost breakdown - itemized by phase (assessment, migration, testing, cutover)
- Timeline - realistic ranges based on org size and complexity
- Vendor matrix - ranked by case study count and specialty match
- Multiple migration patterns synthesized into cohesive strategy
- Cost-benefit analysis across approaches (rehost vs refactor vs rearchitect)
- Decision trees for choosing the right path
- Bidirectional links to specific tactical migration guides and insights
- Only vendors with 3+ verifiable case studies
- Specialty focus - not generalists
- Cost tier: $ (offshore/budget) to $$$$ (Big 4)
- Written by our team - never vendor-supplied copy
Editorial Independence
- ✓ Sponsored listings - clearly labeled 'Featured Partner'
- ✓ Factual corrections from vendors with supporting evidence
- ✗ Pay-to-rank - rankings are based solely on evidence
- ✗ Vendor-written marketing copy in our profiles
- ✗ Gated access - core research is always free
- We don't accept consulting projects from vendors we cover
- We don't sell leads to vendors
- We don't accept education trips or vendor-paid travel
- If we ever change this policy, we'll disclose it here immediately
Data Freshness
Corrections & Transparency
If you believe we've made an error:
- 01 Email us with specific corrections and supporting evidence
- 02 We'll review within 5 business days
- 03 If confirmed, we'll update the content and add a changelog note
- 04 We do not silently edit - all corrections are visible
How We're Different
- Behind $5K–$50K paywalls
- Vendor-funded research
- Annual update cycles
- Generic 'Magic Quadrants'
- 'Download guide' → sold to 10 vendors
- Pay-per-lead model
- AI-generated fluff
- No vendor vetting
- ✓ Freely accessible - no paywall
- ✓ Advertising-supported, editorially independent
- ✓ Quarterly data updates
- ✓ Evidence-based rankings
We believe transparency builds trust. This page is our contract with you.