Public Sector’s Looming Software Issue

The state of the nation’s roads and bridges has been in the news recently. Aging roadways and failing bridges are causing safety and economic issues for the country. This backlog of aging infrastructure is the result of deferred maintenance, which the Statement of Federal Financial Accounting Standards 40 defines as:

… the practice of postponing maintenance activities such as repairs to save costs, meet budget funding levels, or realign available budget monies. The failure to perform needed repairs could lead to asset deterioration and ultimately asset impairment.

Technical debt in the technology world is analogous to deferred maintenance. Systems that are considered technical debt were developed years ago and are still in use. These systems were built using old unsupported technology, have not been updated, and lack features to support modern work. 

Software applications are one of the areas where organizations have deferred maintenance and have incurred technical debt. Often, older applications are still used in organizations but can be difficult to support and break when modifying the software. Because they are based on old technologies, these applications may not be updated to guard against current cybersecurity threats, making them significant security risks.

If it was easy to replace or upgrade legacy applications, they would already be modernized. These legacy software systems have not been maintained due to a lack of funding, competing priorities, or other constraints.

Organizations face significant challenges and potential business disruption when replacing mission-critical systems. It takes time and staff resources to develop requirements. Business processes must be analyzed and documented to understand the current processes and to design improved workflows. All these factors contribute to the cost and effort involved with software modernization projects. 

Like bridges at risk of collapse, legacy applications can pose a risk to your organization. This risk stems from the fact that these systems are often critical to running your business but could fail at any time. Because of the security risks and other issues with legacy applications, it is time to consider upgrading your organization’s software to modern technology.

Business applications built on modern technology using low code/no code platforms have many benefits over legacy software. According to Microsoft, low code/no code applications can be deployed up to 74% more quickly than traditional software development methods. Other benefits of low code/no code applications include:

• Hosted in the cloud – no infrastructure to maintain
• Built-in security – the vendor manages security in the cloud
• Works on multiple types of devices – computers, tablets, mobile phones
• Resilient and scalable – can easily increase capacity, always available

At In Time Tec, we have the experience and capabilities to partner with you to modernize your legacy applications. Our staff can collaborate with your team to analyze your critical business applications and develop a plan for updating your software and business processes. We provide a full range of application development services, including low code/no code solutions.