The idea of “legacy” systems can seem a bit abstract, especially since the systems involved typically sit in a data center far removed from daily work. But they’re like your appendix or wisdom teeth: They’re of little interest until they hurt. Here are five symptoms of legacy systems that should be updated or replaced before they cause problems.
1. Cobol is Still in Play
Some government agencies still run programs based on COBOL, a programming language dating to the 1950s. Those systems are still around because they run large, critical programs that are difficult to rewrite without causing major disruptions. But maintaining those systems comes at a cost. “Agencies have had difficulty finding employees with such knowledge and may have to pay a premium for specialized staff or contractors,” according to a recent report on modernization from the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
2. Technical Debt is Piling Up
A legacy system is like a really old car: The longer you own it, the more costly it becomes to maintain. One difference is that replacing a legacy system can take years, during which time the expenses continue to rise. This is called technical debt. GAO, in a 2023 report about the Internal Revenue Service’s modernization efforts, describes it this way: “In an era of constrained budgets, the high costs of maintaining legacy systems could limit an agency’s ability to modernize and develop new or replacement systems.”
3. Constituent Service Takes a Hit
In August 2023, three members of the Senate urged the Social Security Administration to accelerate its modernization efforts. Applicants for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) “face significant administrative barriers to accessing this critical lifeline,” Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Oregon), Robert Casey Jr. (D-Pennsylvania) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) wrote in a letter to the agency. Case in point: The SSI application is 20- plus pages long, and in paper form. “It is more important than ever that the SSI program is modernized and accessible to all Americans,” the legislators wrote.
4. Agencies Can’t Adapt to Change
Many legacy systems were developed with the theory that basic operation requirements would not change dramatically. That’s proving to be a costly assumption as those systems remain in place. For example, during the pandemic, many states struggled to meet the surge in demand for unemployment demands because of outdated systems, according to a May 2023 report from the U.S. Department of Labor. Many of those systems, the report notes, are based on “monolithic software, [which] is designed to operate as one big chunk rather than as a series of independently managed parts,” as modern software is, leaving them “brittle and inflexible.”
5. Employees at Risk of Missing Paychecks
Let’s call this a worst-case scenario, but the point is clear. After years of receiving too little funding and other support, the National Finance Center (NFC), which manages human resources (HR) services for many federal agencies, could find itself unable to deliver paychecks, according to a July 2023 report from the National Academy of Public Administration. The problem is that HR services and the underlying technology have evolved, but NFC has not. “NFC’s leaders … now need to take strategic, determined action to catch up and then keep pace with these developments,” the report states.
This article appears in our guide, “How to Kickstart Modernization.” For more ideas about how to make the case for modernization that agency leaders and legislators find compelling, download it here: