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+## Epic Description
+
+The operator was built using an old version of the
+[Operator SDK](https://sdk.operatorframework.io/docs/building-operators/golang/quickstart/).
+This causes a number of problems:
+
+* our code (in particular, metrics setup) relies on an old version of the Operator framework,
+  which is incompatible with current versions of the Kubernetes libraries
+* we’re missing out on features supported by newer versions of the SDK (such as healthchecks)
+
+We need to upgrade our operator to use the current Operator SDK, following
+[the migration guide](https://sdk.operatorframework.io/docs/building-operators/golang/migration/).
+
+This work will be easier once `subctl` is in its own repository; see
+[Epic: Move subctl to its own repo](https://github.com/submariner-io/enhancements/issues/89).
+Without this work, a non-negligible amount of time would probably go into avoiding `subctl`
+breakage while reworking the operator itself.
+
+## Acceptance Criteria
+
+All our end-to-end tests pass with the new operator.
+
+## Definition of Done (Checklist)
+<!-- Make sure to check all relevant items before end of the release: -->
+
+* [ ] Code complete
+* [ ] The acceptance criteria met
+* [ ] Unit/e2e test added & pass
+* [ ] CI jobs pass
+* [ ] Deployed using cloud-prepare+subctl
+* [ ] Run subctl verify, diagnose and gather
+* [ ] Uninstall
+* [ ] Troubleshooting (gather/diagnose) added
+* [ ] Documentation added
+* [ ] Release notes added
+
+## Work Items
+
+* [ ] Create a new operator using the Operator SDK, preserving our existing group and identifiers
+* [ ] Integrate the existing controllers into the new framework.
+* [ ] Make sure the setup work done in our code is replicated in the new framework:
+  * [ ] Remove code which takes care of features supported elsewhere (metrics)
+  * [ ] Determine how to handle unorthodox features in our code (CRD setup; see the addon for inspiration)