Most state and local governments face the challenges of updating access to services, streamlining internal workflows, and modernizing IT infrastructure.
“Digitizing services that governments provide can be a time and efficiency improvement,” said Chris Oskuie, Vice President, State and Local Government and Education at Software AG Government Solutions, which provides platform integration software and services.
For example, when signing up for social services, there can be a life-saving difference between verifying eligibility online and going through a help desk, caseworker and lengthy waiting period, he said.
Make the Most of What You Have
Saddled with legacy systems that might not communicate across departments and with paper-based processes, agencies may be tempted to start from scratch — if cost didn’t make that impractical.
For one thing, Oskuie observed, applications and business rules have been incorporated into those systems over years. “Trying to rewrite those applications is very, very expensive,” he said. It can also take time. Speaking of the request for proposals (RFP) process, Oskuie said, “you’d have to do a capability assessment, write an RFP for a planning systems integrator, and put it out. That’s a two- to three-year process. Once you have the systems integrator, you’ll need design development and implementation RFPs. That’s another year for issuing them, let alone selecting somebody.”
Innovations such as iPaaS — integration platform as a service — can help. “You leave the existing system in place, doing what it’s supposed to do, but modernize engagement [with it],” Oskuie explained.
“Being able to use tools that are available today to expose the business logic, programs and data from those legacy systems is a huge advantage,” he added. And it can show results in a matter of weeks.
Putting It in Place
Successful implementation requires good communication between program managers and IT employees. “It’s a matter of [matching] what the program people need with what’s possible from an IT perspective,” Oskuie said. “You need both the business side and the IT side to come together and say, ‘We’re going to go through this process jointly.’”
It also helps to have a vendor familiar with both sides of the equation, especially one offering a built-for-government approach. This means designing solutions that can handle both the mission and the technical requirements to help agencies succeed — now and into the future.
“We at Software AG have a long history in some of these legacy systems,” said Oskuie. “Some of our mainframe software is still in use in large state and local programs across the country. So, we have the intrinsic knowledge about how to [access] legacy software, whether it’s ours or someone else’s. Because of that experience, we’re able to create purpose-built adapters for legacy systems and [give] them new, modern systems of engagement.”
“It’s not hard to find opportunities to improve efficiency both internally and in constituent services,” he said. “And it doesn’t have to mean putting out a massive RFP that will cost you hundreds of millions of dollars.”
This article appeared in our guide, “State and Local: Making an Impact.” For more insights on how state and local governments are using digital transformation to enhance life in their communities, download it here:
