VEM — Value Extraction Method
The Value Extraction Method (VEM) is Trantiate’s disciplined way of looking at a legacy system not as a burden, but as a deposit of business logic, operational learning, and historical truth. VEM separates what the future must inherit from what it can safely leave behind, producing a Value Extracted Profile (VEP) that guides every subsequent transformation decision.
Why VEM Exists
Most organizations still treat their legacy systems as monolithic and fragile — “too big, too old, too risky to touch.” That perception hides the reality that these systems also contain years of embedded knowledge and value.
VEM changes the conversation. Inspired by filtration science, it treats the legacy system like a mineral deposit: filter, separate, and clarify. Instead of assuming everything must be rebuilt or migrated, VEM reveals what should be preserved, what can be enhanced, what can be retired, and where risk concentrates.
VEM gives transformation teams a structured, repeatable lens to see the legacy system as it truly is — a set of components with different destinies, not one indivisible block.
The outcome is the Value Extracted Profile (VEP), which becomes a primary input into analysis, roadmap navigation, and execution.
The Three-Layer Filtration Model
VEM uses a simple but powerful three-layer filtration stack — Extract, Evaluate, Retain — to separate signal from noise in legacy systems.
Capture the raw picture of the legacy system — features, functions, workflows, data structures, integrations, behaviors, and operational patterns that actually exist in production today.
Classify each extracted element through a transformation lens: how it contributes to value, what risks it carries, how it aligns with the Target Future State, and whether it is still needed in the modern landscape.
Decide what the future should inherit, what should be reshaped, and what should be removed entirely. These decisions flow into the Value Extracted Profile, which becomes a reusable knowledge asset for the TRANT lifecycle.
The Value Extracted Profile (VEP)
The primary output of VEM is the Value Extracted Profile — a structured summary of the legacy system filtered into four destinies.
Capabilities, rules, workflows, and domain logic that still create value and should be carried forward into the future state with minimal change.
Elements with enduring value that must be modernized — reimplemented on new platforms, refactored for scalability, or improved for experience, security, or performance.
Features, modules, or integrations that no longer serve a purpose, are unused, or simply do not justify continued investment — candidates for clean removal.
Fragile dependencies, compliance exposures, security gaps, and operational hazards that must be surfaced explicitly and managed as part of the transformation plan.
Together, these quadrants give architects, engineers, risk teams, and executives a shared, evidence-based view of what the legacy system truly contains — and how it should be treated in the journey to the Target Future State.
VEM in the TRANT Lifecycle
VEM is the engine of the Review Legacy stage in TRANT. It turns a vague understanding of “what the system does” into a structured, inspectable profile that can be used by every role in the operating model.
Once the Value Extracted Profile is in place, ANALYZE can quantify the distance between legacy and future, NAVIGATE can shape a realistic roadmap, and TRANSFORM can execute with a clear sense of what must be preserved, enhanced, retired, or specifically protected.
• TARGET defines the Target Future State
• REVIEW applies VEM to the legacy system
• ANALYZE uses VEP to map gaps and options
• NAVIGATE sequences transitions and safeguards
• TRANSFORM acts under governance and evidence
From VEM to the Rest of Trantiate
VEM is only the first step in making transformation safe. Its outputs feed KEA, TCAP, Navigators, and the broader Trantiate operating model — and will eventually be orchestrated end-to-end by the Trantiator Agentic AI.
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