The act of retrofitting refers to the addition of new features or functionalities to existing components or solutions. Software developers will be familiar with the practice of (sometimes) continually adding more to an already developed component or group of components, based on changes to requirements or added requirements.

When working with overly complex designs, adding on can be difficult. In some cases, retrofitting might also mean the reuse of a developed component to meet a requirement that it was not designed specifically for (this is usually done to save development time and costs). Retrofitting is typical and, especially when using a RAD or rapid application development approach, might actually be expected.

From a Splunk perspective, the effective administration and management of your organization's knowledge objects minimizes the effort and impact of retrofitting. Retrofitting enables you to do the following