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Commentary|BY DAVID WENNERGREN
Accelerating IT modernization
When it comes to the Modernizing Government Technology Act, it’s the outcome — not the money — that matters
DAVID WENNERGREN isa managing director at Deloitte Consulting.
Although the Modernizing Govern- ment Technology Act passed the House and is currently under con- sideration by the Senate’s Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, the passage of this important, bipartisan piece of legis- lation remains uncertain.
Much of the attention has focused on the establishment of a revolving IT modernization fund that federal agencies could use to jump-start their modernization efforts. Estab- lishing investment funds is often
a dicey proposition that generates concerns from appropriators and agencies alike about how to ensure that the money is appropriately managed and spent.
But it’s important to remember that in the case of MGT, it’s less about the money and more about the results.
The misunderstanding about the MGT Act is that the fund would result in a net increase in the over $90 billion that the federal govern- ment already spends every year on IT.
IT modernization should focus squarely on reversing the danger- ous trend of spending 80 percent
or more of agency IT funds to maintain aging and insecure legacy infrastructure and systems by instead providing agencies with access to modern computing tools and approaches to improve mission outcomes.
When done well, IT modernization will likely not only reduce the cur- rent cost of IT operations, but could
also provide the engine to optimize business processes, improve the customer experience and allow agencies to embrace new technolo- gies, tools and best practices.
So although it is necessary to make investments in modernization, the power of the MGT Act doesn’t lie in the establishment of a fund, it
The power of the MGT Act doesn’t lie in the establishment of a fund, it lies in the imperative to move.
lies in the imperative to move. The prize is creating a greater sense of urgency and a stronger demand to reinvigorate and reprioritize agency efforts to migrate to the cloud, rationalize legacy applications and get rid of IT solutions that no longer deliver results.
Depending on the challenges your agency currently faces, you might need to finish your transition to
the cloud, automatically update or restructure the Cobol code for an old but faithful legacy mainframe system, move to commercial tech- nology, introduce robotic process automation, retire systems you no longer need or move to a capability as a service. Not every legacy sys-
tem needs to be replaced, and one of the worst things many agencies could do right now is embark on massive multiyear efforts to develop new systems.
By focusing on near-term wins, agencies can help allay fears that modernization efforts will result
in large investments from a cen- tral fund that won’t get paid back for years. IT modernization works best when it works quickly by stay- ing ahead of the changing pace of technology and repurposing current sustainment funds to provide rapid change and a near-term return on investment.
The most important thing is to have a plan — to proactively decide what to sunset, what to stabilize and what to replace. It’s time to move. Living on obsolete equipment and systems is a ticking cybersecurity time bomb.
And the need to act doesn’t just reside with agencies. It resides with Congress, too, starting with pas- sage of the MGT Act and continuing with oversight focused on out- comes rather than heated rhetoric about past problems and failures. We should applaud the bipartisan efforts of Rep. Will Hurd (R-Texas), Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) and Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.).
Nevertheless, the Senate needs to quickly finish its work to pass this legislation. We must collectively demand that change happen and that IT modernization progress be rewarded and celebrated. n
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