Modernizing Federal IT Infrastructure for Enhanced Government Services

Legacy systems can prove to be expensive to maintain and present critical security, performance, and personnel issues. Federal agencies spend about 80% of the $100 billion IT and cyber budget on operating and maintaining legacy systems. However, now they are focusing on identifying and modernizing legacy systems to eliminate security vulnerabilities, address inefficiencies, and shift funds from operations to improving the core mission.[1] For example, federal agencies have been facing difficulties finding employees who know Common Business Oriented Language (COBOL), which required the Social Security Administration to rehire employees to maintain their COBOL systems. As the technology continues to evolve, the risk of critical knowledge to maintain legacy systems disappearing is real and can significantly impact federal agencies.

Current Landscape of Federal IT Modernization

Modernizing the federal IT infrastructure is one of the most crucial and fundamental steps toward adopting digital disruption, cybersecurity, and cloud technologies. Every government sector has to take steps towards embracing digital technologies to transform and serve the citizens better. To achieve this, the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) has started by identifying ten critical legacy IT systems (about 8 to 51 years old) that cost about $337 million annually to operate and maintain and has taken the first steps toward modernizing them.^[1]

In addition to this, the Modernizing Government Technology (MGT) Act 2017 has also taken many steps to establish the necessary framework and resources to help federal agencies upgrade their IT systems. This includes a central fund - the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) – up to $250,000,000 to help modernize IT infrastructure, improve cybersecurity measures, and improve operational efficiency. The MGT Act and the Technology Modernization Board emphasize incorporating innovation in IT modernization, focusing on solutions like shared services or cloud computing, with the aim of reducing cost, streamlining operations, improving cybersecurity measures, and providing better services to the citizens.^[2][3]

The USA General Services Administration’s (GSA) Office of Technology Policy is playing a pivotal role in providing implementation guidance when it comes to meeting the Office of Management and Budget’s requirements for IT modernization. This includes support and guidance for cloud strategy, data center strategy, data center and cloud optimization, cybersecurity enhancement, and legacy system upgrades.^[6][7]

Federal IT Modernization: Challenges and Benefits

Despite ongoing efforts, potential advantages, and ability to offer enhanced user experience, federal IT modernization is progressing slowly. Three major challenges hampering IT modernization efforts include:^[8]

Budget Constraints

The cost involved in modernizing the legacy federal IT infrastructure is one of the biggest challenges hampering modernization efforts. Replacing the old system may require significant initial capital, which can strain budgets. However, with the prohibitive cost of maintaining legacy systems, carefully considered budgeting strategies can ease the burden of IT modernization.

Level of Effort

Federal IT modernization requires a high level of effort when it comes to strategizing or promoting user acceptance.

• Choosing the Right Strategy: There is no “one size fits all” solution when it comes to IT modernization, and choosing the wrong solution increases chances of failure. Such difficulties in identifying the right strategy or the right service provider can hinder IT modernization.
• Integration of New Applications with Legacy Systems: Seamless integration of new applications with existing legacy infrastructure is not simple. It requires extensive planning and forethought to ensure new and legacy applications are compatible with each other.
• User Acceptance: Resistance to change is one of the biggest challenges when it comes to federal IT modernization, as staff is used to legacy systems and may find it hard to accept and integrate new systems into their daily workflows. However, dedicated organization change management efforts can help overcome this challenge.

The Risk of Failure

• Data Loss: Legacy systems have years of crucial data they can use to service the citizens, and they need to be converted to work with the new system. However, it is not always possible to convert all the data, which can lead to data loss.
• Workflow Issues: IT modernization requires re-engineering and redesigning of legacy systems, which can lead to workflow issues. Without proper planning and training to address these issues, modernization efforts may fail.

Without a proper strategy, you also have to account for the risk of failure due to data loss or workflow issues. Such disruptions can significantly impact the quality of services federal agencies would be able to deliver to their citizens.

Despite these challenges, embracing IT modernization has a host of benefits ranging from cost optimization and improved efficiency to enhanced security and future-proof infrastructure. The federal government can deliver quality services with agility and efficiency – while ensuring data security and privacy for the citizens – by embracing IT modernization.^[9]

Navigating Federal IT Modernization Challenges with a Progressive Modernization Approach

In our other blog, we discussed the Progressive Approach to legacy modernization, and that can be a great solution for federal agencies looking to build modern, digital systems. Progressive Modernization takes advantage of the managed services approach to management of IT systems. This approach enables agencies to understand their systems better, streamline operations, and generate 30% to 40% in OpEx savings.

These savings create an additional source of funding that can be re-directed towards modernization programs, enabling agencies to reduce their technical debt progressively. The approach also allows agencies to adopt modern technologies, including:

• AI Integration: Adopt AI technologies with modern systems, exploring their potential to streamline government operations and service delivery.
• Continued Emphasis on Cybersecurity: Stay current with cybersecurity measures to counter evolving threats.
• Further Cloud Adoption: Expand the use of cloud technologies for enhanced agility and scalability.
• Data-driven Decision Making: Improve data access and the shift towards data-centric strategies for better insights and decision-making in governance.

Conclusion

Modernizing critical federal legacy IT systems is the need of the hour as they are expensive to maintain, are vulnerable to security risks, and lack skilled personnel to manage them effectively. The federal government has taken steps – regulatory framework, policy support, and financial resources – to modernize its IT infrastructure and build a secure digital ecosystem for its citizens. Although there are challenges to overcome, working with the right service provider to plan and strategize modernization efforts can help the federal government leverage next-gen technology to harness the power of data and offer quality public services to the citizens with enhanced agility and efficiency.

Author Details

Dr. Suman De, Principal Consultant and Head, Government Healthcare Analytics Solutions, Infosys Public Services

Dr. Suman is head of government healthcare analytics for Infosys Public Services. He has extensive experience in the public healthcare sector and previously worked for the World Health Organization, UNICEF and the Indian Public Health Association.

At Infosys, Dr. Suman leads the area of advanced data science and artificial intelligence-enabled population health, social determinants of health analytics, opioid management, care management, and value-based care. He is a frequent public speaker at various healthcare conferences, forums and at major universities, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Dr. Suman is based in Hartford, Connecticut. He holds a medical degree from the University of Calcutta and master’s degree in healthcare administration from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Mumbai, India.