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Reimagining legacy systems: How cloud technology can revolutionise public sector IT
Legacy systems can refer to any hardware or software that is still in use despite being outdated. These systems are commonly found in public sector organisations, which may have adopted elements of modern IT infrastructure, but may not have implemented a full digital transformation strategy.
The limitations of legacy systems in the public sector
There can be many reasons legacy IT systems continue to be used by public sector organisations, including budget and resource concerns, lack of in-house expertise to manage new systems, pushback from stakeholders, or apprehension over the time needed to update systems. While these concerns are understandable, continuing with legacy systems severely limits public sector organisations.
Legacy systems generally rely on obsolete hardware and software. Unsupported hardware is difficult and expensive to repair, requiring parts which are no longer produced and specialist handling. Providers stop issuing updates and patches for legacy software, leading to unreliable performance and vulnerabilities which can be exploited in cyberattacks.
Legacy systems are often incompatible with new technology, leading to a mismatched approach, with multiple systems within the infrastructure.
All of these limitations mean the organisation’s workloads and processes are slower and more expensive than they need to be, often outweighing the cost of a full-scale digital transformation.
How can cloud transform the public sector?
There are a number of general benefits of cloud hosting compared to on-premise solutions, including improved performance, access to cutting-edge hardware and software, and affordability. For organisations in the public sector, there are several further key areas for genuine transformation.
Enhanced security
While security is a priority for all organisations, in the public sector it is crucial. When delivering vital services and handling sensitive personal data, any incident can have a significant impact. The attack on NHS supplier Synnovis in June 2024 demonstrated this, leading to countrywide disruption of essential NHS services, and a mass breach of patient data.
Legacy systems are more at risk as they are more likely to suffer from vulnerabilities, often with no way of patching these. Further to this risk, these legacy systems may not be integrated with backup systems, meaning that in the case of an incident, data can be irreversibly lost.
Cloud solutions offer advanced security features, backup solutions, and disaster recovery strategies to ensure continuity of services and avoid data loss.
Scalability and flexibility
Requirements on many public sector organisations can change rapidly - a change in government policy, or an outbreak of a disease for example can increase demand, or require the deployment of a new service. While legacy systems are slow and often costly to update, cloud solutions are quickly and easily scalable. Resources can be added through the addition of virtual machines or containers, giving greater adaptability to meet changing needs.
Cost efficiency
When migrating from on-premise, legacy infrastructure to a hosted cloud solution, the responsibility of maintenance moves to the provider. Legacy systems have specific requirements and need more maintenance due to their age, coming at a significant and unpredictable cost. Shifting this responsibility to a provider brings savings, and incorporates the cost into a regular payment which can be more easily budgeted for.
Due to its flexible nature, cloud infrastructure can be continually optimised, with improvements in efficiency made based on the organisation's specific usage. This optimisation means performance and capacity can grow without spiralling additional expenditure.
Strategies for integrating legacy systems and cloud technology
It may not always be possible to fully eliminate legacy systems straight away. In some cases, it may be required to plan a gradual migration away from these systems towards a fully modernised infrastructure. There are several ways to manage this:
Hybrid cloud
The hybrid cloud model, which unifies multiple hosting environments, including on-premise, private cloud and public cloud, allows you to assign workloads to the environment best suited to handling them. In this case, legacy components could be kept on-premise, while cloud infrastructure is used for new systems. The makeup of a hybrid cloud solution is flexible, so the migration could gradually increase the capacity of the cloud platform(s) while moving away from legacy systems.
System integration
One of the main issues with legacy systems is their lack of integration with newer technology, leading to a disjointed working process. While you should plan to eventually retire the legacy systems, there are improvements you can make for better integration in the meantime. APIs can be used to connect the legacy systems with cloud-based applications, enabling data exchange and a functional interface.
Bespoke solutions
Integrating legacy systems into a modernised infrastructure will require a bespoke solution, as every system will have unique requirements. A cloud provider specialising in custom infrastructure will consult with the organisation to assess the existing systems, create a migration plan, and design a solution to suit their specific needs.
How can cloud hosting future-proof public sector infrastructure?
A digital transformation can be a significant undertaking, so it is important to consider future-proofing the infrastructure. Forward planning means an organisation’s infrastructure can grow and adapt, preventing any future issues. There are several ways cloud hosting supports public sector organisations to future-proof their infrastructure.
Continuous modernisation
When a public sector organisation hosts their infrastructure with a cloud service provider, they effectively rent equipment. The provider will continuously update the hardware and software, ensuring the infrastructure moves with the times, without the costs falling on the organisation. This continuous modernisation ensures the issue of being stuck with legacy infrastructure does not occur again in the future.
Similarly, emerging technologies can be incorporated into cloud frameworks, allowing public sector organisations which were historically using outdated technology to instead lead in the adoption of these innovations.
Interoperability and standardisation
Through the process of a digital transformation, the entire infrastructure can be reviewed and streamlined, establishing common standards and integrating all elements to ensure seamless communication. Once this standard baseline is implemented, any new technologies, systems or processes required in the future can follow suit.
Data-driven decision making
When an organisation uses a fully integrated system, where all elements connect and can communicate with each other, it is significantly easier to gather data on organisation performance. With a mismatched combination of legacy systems and other platforms it can be difficult to get this ‘birds eye’ view. The data gleaned from the integrated system can be used to inform future decisions, delivering services in the most efficient and beneficial way possible.
Heather Cover-Kus
Heather is Head of Central Government Programme at techUK, working to represent the supplier community of tech products and services to Central Government.
Ellie Huckle
Ellie joined techUK in March 2018 as a Programme Assistant to the Public Sector team and now works as a Programme Manager for the Central Government Programme.
Annie Collings
Annie joined techUK as the Programme Manager for Cyber Security and Central Government in September 2023.
Austin Earl
Austin joined techUK’s Central Government team in March 2024 to launch a workstream within Education and EdTech.
Ella Gago-Brookes
Ella joined techUK in November 2023 as a Markets Team Assistant, supporting the Justice and Emergency Services, Central Government and Financial Services Programmes.
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