The legacy problem in government agencies: an exploratory study

Government organizations continue to be heavily reliant on legacy systems to support their business-critical functions. When practitioners embark on legacy systems replacement projects, they tend to use the legacy software’s features as business requirements for its replacement application. This unnecessarily reproduces the business processes that have often emerged from the very technical limitations of the legacy system that is being phased out – a phenomenon referred to as the “legacy problem.” Public agencies are missing opportunities for innovation when they carry out legacy replacement projects in this conservative manner. Overcoming the legacy problem is “wickedly” difficult because of the complex interrelationships of information technology, organizational culture, and government agencies’ normative environments. This paper reports on the use of an online survey and qualitative interviews with practitioners in government agencies to explore the legacy problem. The data revealed that public agencies tend to regard legacy system replacement projects as a distinctly technical issue, and that they do not engage in systematic practices to ensure that unnecessary carryover of the business model embedded in legacy technology does not take place. As a result, legacy feature carryover occurs frequently, because practitioners want to minimize business process changes during new system implementation. The study findings single out the procurement of Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) software as the most common approach to the replacement of legacy systems. When COTS packages are implemented, vendors (technology providers) shape the requirements discussion and the business analysis surrounding feature selection and customization. These study findings can be instrumental when devising solutions to assist agencies in dealing with the legacy problem

Digital Government Systems: Tackling The Legacy Problem Through A Game-Based Approach To Business Requirements Analysis

Government agency reliance on legacy systems is problematic: they are costly to maintain, difficult to integrate with and they hinder innovation. However, the replacement of legacy systems is not a straightforward endeavor, and it often results in technology substitution that is not accompanied by business process change. The focus of this dissertation is on the phenomenon of legacy system replication wherein the requirements for applications replacing outdated technologies mimic legacy features and reflect status quo operational processes that have been historically shaped by the legacy system itself. This problem is referred to throughout the dissertation as the “legacy problem.” The dissertation investigates its roots and proposes an approach to overcome it. Specifically, a mixed method research approach is taken, including a survey of public sector practitioners to explore the extent of the legacy problem, and a series of semi-structured interviews with government information technology and management professionals to delve into the dynamics of legacy system replacement projects. Findings indicate that the legacy problem often stems from a lack of critical analysis of business requirements and the desire to minimize the risks associated with organizational change, which often result in missed opportunities for digital government innovation. As a consequence, the dissertation proposes a candidate approach to deal with the legacy problem in the development of a requirements game (RE-PROVO) which supports requirements discussions structured around the themes of legacy (or heritage) preservation and innovation. The game is evaluated by local government practitioners through several iterations and their feedback is analysed to gauge the potential utility of the approach. The results indicate that with a streamlined user interface and accentuated game elements RE-PROVO can be a valuable and effective tool for requirements analysis in legacy system replacement projects

Correlating Architecture Maturity and Enterprise Systems Usage Maturity to Improve Business/IT Alignment

This paper compares concepts of maturity models in the areas of Enterprise Architecture and Enterprise Systems Usage. We investigate whether these concepts correlate, overlap and explain each other. The two maturity models are applied in a case study. We conclude that although it is possible to fully relate constructs from both kinds of models, having a mature architecture function in a company does not imply a high Enterprise Systems Usage maturity

Requirements analysis gamification in legacy system replacement projects

The replacement of legacy systems in the public sector is fraught with project delays, budgetary overruns, technological and business process complexities. Moreover, the software implemented to replace legacy systems is developed or configured to largely mimic their features and functionality in order to minimize the disruption to organizational operations that accompanies the introduction of new technology. When the requirements for legacy replacement primarily replicate existing applications and processes, opportunities for business process improvement are bypassed. However, it is difficult for practitioners to transcend the business and systems models prevalent in their organizations for many years. The challenge is to support them to overcome such a difficulty, and be creative and engaged during requirements discussions. Our research aims to evaluate the utility of gamifying the requirements activities during legacy replacement projects for scoping replacement systems efforts in a way that takes advantage of opportunities for innovation while minimizing unnecessary changes to the status quo. The supplementation of the requirements process with game elements is explored in our research through the development of a requirements discussion game (RE-PROVO) and its evaluation by practitioners in two government agencies. Our findings reveal that key elements of RE-PROVO, including competition, anonymity and roleplay, encourage a more critical evaluation of business requirements in legacy replacement projects, but that the success of requirements gamification is contingent on a proper incentivization model which takes organizational culture and values into account

RE-PROVO: an evaluation of gamification in a law enforcement organization

Government organizations rely extensively on legacy systems for their operations. When such systems are phased out, the new applications which replace them often replicate legacy functionality unnecessarily, resulting in inefficiencies and missed opportunities for innovation. A prototype of an online discussion game designed to promote the analysis and critique of functional requirements for legacy system replacement and encourage creativity, was evaluated in a local law enforcement agency. The preliminary findings of the evaluation are discussed, and the potential effects of gamification on the future of organizational communications and decision-making are considered

The Nature of Context-Sensitive Solutions, Stakeholder Involvement and Critical Issues in the Urban Context

Over the last several decades many transportation and planning agencies have experienced conflicting demands emerging from the need to develop projects in an expeditious manner while at the same time involving stakeholders in the decision-making process, which sometimes is perceived as slowing project delivery and/or increasing costs. Given this tension between apparently conflicting demands, it is important to understand how the stakeholder involvement is being carried out and what best practices may be recommended. This study examines the issue in the context of a relatively new policy framework – Context Sensitive Solutions (CSS) – which supports the early integration of stakeholders into the planning process. The report pays particular attention to stakeholders’ involvement in projects within urban centers, where there is likely to be more complexity, both in terms of the number of stakeholders and end users affected. CSS is a relatively new process and not consistently interpreted or applied across states and/or agencies. The literature suggests that an underlying assumption when applying CSS principles to community involvement processes is that stakeholders are empowered through clear policies and procedures directed towards their participation. In our research, we found that the extent to which public agencies apply the CSS framework and involve and respond to stakeholders depends on each agency\u27s interest to engage the public in the deliberation process to find the best-fit project for a community. It is likely that the increased integration of stakeholders into the planning and project development process will not become a state of practice until the benefits flowing from community involvement are clearly understood by the agency staff. The CSS literature describes many benefits associated with comprehensive stakeholder engagement, including gaining constituents\u27 buy-in and support for project financing. A movement toward standardizing CSS policies and directives across the country will facilitate a public discussion about the benefits of engaging communities into the project design phase and away from solely expert-based designs. In addition, there are a number of stakeholder involvement practices that, if adopted, could expedite the integration of communities\u27 views and values in the decision-making process, while at the same time minimizing the chances of protracted consultation processes, time delays and additional costs

Financial Performance Outcomes Following System Replacement in the Insurance Industry

Enterprise system replacement projects within the property and casualty insurance industry are costly, high-risk undertakings that carry a significant risk of project failure. The decision to replace policy administration systems for companies with over $250 million in direct written premium is a multimillion dollar investment for corporate strategic decision makers. This study examined the financial impact of enterprise policy administration system replacement in the property and casualty insurance industry by comparing financial performance results for companies that performed policy administration system replacements with those that did not. Insurance industry financial results for the years 2009 through 2014 were used for the analysis and examined in a quantitative quasi-experimental study using repeated measures MANOVA with 6 levels for US companies with over$250 million in 2009 direct written premiums. This analysis showed that enterprise system replacement was not financially significant for revenue growth or operational efficiency. This finding suggests that system replacement should not be used as a financial growth strategy for organizations, although other justifications for system replacement may make replacement beneficial. Additional research is recommended to determine whether financial performance gains seen in 2014 for companies performing system replacements carry into future years, or whether particular companies with positive performance results following system replacement employed strategies that could be generalized across the industry. This study promotes positive social change by informing sound financial decision making and investment by insurance companies, thereby improving their financial health and stability

Clean Economy Rising: Manufacturing Powers Clean Energy in Ohio

Ohio has built upon its rich manufacturing legacy to become a leader in the production of wind, solar, and industrial energy efficiency technologies. Until recently, state and federal policies also spurred renewable energy projects throughout Ohio. Uncertainty over the future of these measures is dampening investment. This brief explores the drivers of Ohio's clean energy economy and the choices the state faces about its future competitiveness in the industry

Delivery of broadband services to SubSaharan Africa via Nigerian communications satellite

Africa is the least wired continent in the world in terms of robust telecommunications infrastructure and systems to cater for its more than one billion people. African nations are mostly still in the early stages of Information Communications Technology (ICT) development as verified by the relatively low ICT Development Index (IDI) values of all countries in the African region. In developing nations, mobile broadband subscriptions and penetration between 2000-2009 was increasingly more popular than fixed broadband subscriptions. To achieve the goal of universal access, with rapid implementation of ICT infrastructure to complement the sparsely distributed terrestrial networks in the hinterlands and leveraging the adequate submarine cables along the African coastline, African nations and their stakeholders are promoting and implementing Communication Satellite systems, particularly in Nigeria, to help bridge the digital hiatus. This paper examines the effectiveness of communication satellites in delivering broadband-based services