Staffing, Leadership Key to Modernizing IT

Staffing, leadership and training concerns are all playing a role in the failure of many federal agencies to modernize their legacy IT systems, and that lack of modernization is leaving many mission-critical government capabilities at risk, senior IT managers noted in a recent survey.

The survey, released Tuesday by MeriTalk and the Unisys Center for Innovation in Government, found that while 80 percent of c-level IT executives believe modernizing legacy applications is critical, only one in three say such modernization is a top priority at their agency. Respondents estimated that agencies spend nearly half of the annual federal IT budget, or $35.7 billion, on maintaining and supporting legacy systems.

Meanwhile, it's not just budgetary concerns setting modernization initiatives back, the study found. Forty-four percent of participants noted that additional IT staff is needed to accelerate modernization initiatives, while 31 percent said stronger prioritization of such initiatives is necessary.

In addition, 31 percent of IT managers believe a better understanding among IT workers of the application modernization process also could help move it along. Just over half (56 percent) of respondents said their department currently has a full understanding of their agency's application modernization goals, the study found.

The study, which is based on a survey of 166 federal IT leaders, including c-level IT executives, also found that federal IT leaders view application modernization as a long-term project, with 60 percent saying that modernization initiatives will take three years or longer to implement.