Maintain, refactor or rewrite PHP matrix

01

System criteria

What shapes technical feasibility.

Clarity of business rules and boundaries.Test coverage and regression capability.Coupling to data, integrations and infrastructure.Incident frequency and ease of diagnosis.

02

Delivery criteria

What the organization can sustain.

Downtime tolerance and data migration.Team capacity and available knowledge.Need to deliver features during change.Budget, horizon and cost of running two systems.

03

Options

Four paths that may be combined.

Maintain: stabilize and reduce risk without broad structural change.Refactor: improve boundaries within the existing system.Progressive replacement: extract capabilities while both bases coexist.Rewrite: build another foundation and plan a full migration.

04

Warning signs

When to challenge a quick decision.

Rewrite driven only by dislike of the code.Refactoring without an observable boundary or outcome.Maintenance ignoring unsupported versions or critical risk.Migration without a data, user and rollback strategy.

Recommended use

Turn answers into decisions

Score independently across business, product, engineering and operations.
Attach evidence and confidence level.
Compare phased options, not only end states.
Review the decision as constraints or knowledge change.

Next step

Content connected to this decision

Continue with diagnosis, execution or related experience.