While modern technology solutions have streamlined how organizations manage their internal processes from financial planning and payroll to recruiting and HR, many local government agencies continue to operate with a patchwork of outdated, mismatched system, often referred to as “Frankensuites.” This disjointed mix of software solutions, cobbled together over time to meet the organization’s growing needs, frequently includes on-premises technologies, multiple user interfaces and logins, separate data sources, and unreliable integrations. Some programs may be decades old, while others are written in programming languages no longer taught in engineering schools.
These makeshift systems may meet some of the basic needs of local government staff, but dealing with multiple vendors and disparate software platforms is irritating at best. At their worst, Frankensuites come with real costs, from delays in decision-making and hidden maintenance fees to costly cybersecurity vulnerabilities that can bring the agency’s entire operations to a grinding halt, put citizen data at risk, and require hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars to remedy.
Join us as we explore the challenges of maintaining patchwork systems, the potential for critical failures, and the hidden costs of maintaining them over time.
Why Many Local Government Agencies Rely on Frankensuites
Despite strides in technology modernization, IT management fragmentation remains a persistent challenge for many local government agencies. Compared to their private sector counterparts, government leaders are more likely to face tight budgets, delaying the transition to cutting-edge, integrated solutions. Although investing in modern technology can lead to significant long-term savings, the short-term costs of a major overhaul often compel organization to choose more affordable upgrades and patches to their existing legacy systems.
Government agencies also operate under stricter regulations, complex procurement processes, and layers of approvals, all of which complicate the transition to leading technology. These patchwork systems and burdensome workarounds may be busting at the seams, but starting fresh with a more efficient solution can feel overwhelming. The longer the transition is delayed, the harder it becomes to make that shift.
For IT leaders in particular, navigating the review and approval process can be frustrating. Budget committees may not fully understand the true costs and risks of maintaining these outdated systems. Without a clear understanding of the financial and operational impacts of different technology proposals, critical modernization projects can be left underfunded.
The Risks and Costs of Frankensuites
Patchwork systems come with a wide range of cists, inefficiencies, and risks that hinder a local government agency’s ability to serve the public effectively.
Operational Inefficiencies
One of the most noticeable weaknesses of disjointed software solutions is how frustrating they are to use. Employees need to navigate multiple platforms, each with its unique interface and workflows – an inconsistent user experience that leads to confusion, errors, and decreased productivity. In many organizations, only a few employees know how to operate the contrived system of steps required to accomplish a task, putting the agency at risk when such employees leave.
With varying capabilities and poorly aligned workflows, these disjointed systems also hinder critical business processes. Tasks, such as moving or exporting data, reformatting files to meet the requirements of another system, or even locating information on a customer account can be time-consuming. Processes that should be automated across systems often require manual intervention and duplicate data entry, increasing not only the staff’s workload but the risk of human error as well.
As government agencies face the pressure of meeting increased citizen expectations with a dwindling workforce, delays in streamlining and optimizing internal processes also puts the quality of key citizen-facing services at risk. For example, a payment platform not integrated with utility billing may require manual uploads to keep customer accounts current. As overworked staff members inevitably struggle to keep up with a continuous upload schedule, this inefficient workflow can lead to confusion among residents about their balances, contribute to duplicate payments, and put additional strain on customer service teams to resolve disputes.
With the widespread use of online transactions, mobile devices, and streamlined customer service in the private sector, citizens increasingly expect similar convenience and efficiency when interacting with local government agencies. According to a 2024 National Survey Analysis on Citizen Expectations completed by the Springbrook Research Institute, 98% of respondents would like their local government agencies to invest more in top-tier digital user experiences. 74% claimed that their interactions with government platforms was somewhat non-user friendly or not user-friendly at all. This widespread frustration cannot be resolved by adding more services or uploading PDF forms to a website in an attempt to make existing processes available online. For truly efficient services, local government agencies will need to replace their Frankensuites with an integrated platform approach that not only streamlines critical processes, but makes the delivery of mobile-enabled, truly omnichannel services possible.
High Maintenance Costs
In addition to disrupting operational workflows, maintaining Frankensuites can quickly become a drain on an organization’s time and resources. When comparing a fully integrated solution to a patchwork of systems, an integrated solution may, at first glance, seem more expensive. However, the hidden costs of maintaining disconnected platforms usually makes patchwork systems much more costly in the long run.
Maintaining a disjointed system often requires infrastructure investments, in-house DevOps tools, and support staff. Each system within the patchwork typically needs its own specialized skill set to manage, as well as its own support contracts and licensing fees, driving up overall IT expenses. As agencies continue to rely on legacy software for their day-to-day needs, they also face the ongoing challenge of integrating these systems with newer technologies, leading to further complications and costs.
Patchwork systems are also challenging to scale or modify without breaking existing workflows. Some components may require costly infrastructure upgrades to introduce new features or scale effectively, while others may be entirely incompatible with cutting-edge software solutions. As organizations reliant on Frankensuites grow or evolve, they often struggle to keep pace with changing technology needs.
Managing a myriad of vendors and contracts also adds to the complexity of an already challenging IT environment. Disjointed systems are prone to breaking, causing disruptions to both internal operations and service delivery. But tracking accountability is difficult as responsibility for the patchwork system is often shared among multiple vendors. When something inevitably goes wrong, the blame can be easily shifted between service providers, making it challenging to identify the root cause of an issue.
Finding personnel with the necessary knowledge and experience to manage older technologies is also increasingly difficult. When employees responsible for these outdated systems leave or retire, agencies are left scrambling to train replacements or find contractors, impacting operational continuity and increasing labor costs. As the public sector struggles to attract and retain IT talent, and the Silver Tsunami of 76 million Baby Boomers preparing to retire looms large, local government agencies must rethink the sustainability of their current technology strategies.
Siloed Data
Local government organizations collect invaluable data throughout their work. However, piecemeal investment in systems using multiple vendors with different data models and technology standards leads to fragmented data governance and siloed information. Misalignments between platforms can also cause processing and reporting errors that hinder the organization’s ability to access and analyze information for actionable insights.
With a decentralized approach and inconsistent data formats across systems, an agency can find its ‘single source of truth’ diluted, and its data integrity compromised – a problem compounded the human errors associated with manual processes. When data differs across multiple platforms, locating accurate information is difficult. For example, if a payment system isn’t integrated with utility billing, trying to determine the actual status of an account and providing citizens with quick and reliable information can be time-consuming as staff investigates and corrects discrepancies.
Patchwork systems can also lead to considerable delays in critical decision-making. As decisions are only as good as the data they are based on, data duplication, gaps, and inconsistencies make it difficult for agencies to measure performance accurately. In addition, in a disjointed IT environment, information must often be collected from numerous sources, each with its own data model and structure, a labor-intensive process that is both time-consuming and inefficient. Staff often spend significant effort ensuring that the data is usable and accurate before it can be applied to decision-making, leading to delays in access to critical insights for forecasting, analysis, and strategic planning.
The persistent issue of fragmented data in local government becomes even more critical as organizations begin to incorporate Artificial Intelligence into their technology stack. Incorrect data can skew AI outputs, leading to poor outcomes, such as unfair resource allocations or wasted funding on ineffective programs. There has also been considerable evidence that generative AI can replicate or even exacerbate exiting biases, including racial and ethnic bias.
While generative AI can provide minimal value to agencies that use a patchwork system, such as generating new communication templates or generating text summaries, the true value of the technology can only be unlocked with an integrated data foundation – an integrated IT infrastructure that consolidated and protects data, makes it searchable, shareable, and supports data analysis.
Poor Cybersecurity Posture
Cybersecurity remains a top concern in the public sector, as cyberattacks on state and local governments continue to rise. Organizations operating with a patchwork of software solutions are particularly vulnerable. With an inconsistent security posture between vendors and more entry points for hackers to penetrate, disjointed systems are especially susceptible to breaches and information leaks.
In addition, workarounds, such as pulling reporting data through “back doors”, can significantly expand an organization’s attack surface. These vulnerabilities increase the likelihood of a breach and its associated costs, from paying ransomware demands to the costs of reverting to backups and restoring services.
Frankensuite systems often include outdated or on-premises software that fails to meet modern cybersecurity standards, lacks the latest security patches, or is entirely incompatible with modern cybersecurity tool. In complex, multi-vendor environments, it can be difficult to track which platforms are updated and which are not. Often, components may reach end-of-life without the staff even realizing it, leaving valuable systems and data exposed. In such cases, it’s not a matter of if an organization will be hacked, but when.
In addition to vendors offering varying levels of cybersecurity protection, significant challenges can arise from the need to keep disparate programs working together as well. Organizations may hesitate to upgrade software to newer versions fearing compatibility issues, leaving them vulnerable to increased cybersecurity risks.
Compliance Challenges
With varying auditing, logging, and reporting capabilities, patchwork systems also pose significant challenges for compliance management. These inconsistencies increase the risk of non-compliance with the wide range of data protection and accessibility regulations governing public sector IT, such as PCI, HIPAA, or local data protection laws. In a world of regulatory uncertainty, when an increasing number of states are expected to pass regulation on the use of generative AI, cybersecurity, and consumer privacy, keeping a patchwork system compliant can easily turn into a game of whack-a-mole. Without a platform approach, each platform needs to be updated individually, not only impacting the IT team’s workload, but increasing the risk of non-compliance as well.
Patchwork systems also create hurdles for compliance tracking, as software cannot be easily monitored and tested. Without automating and streamlining workflows, ensuring that data handling practices consistently meet stringent requirements is substantially more difficult.
Transitioning to Modern, Integrated Software Solutions
Modern, integrated software solutions offer critical advantages over legacy patchwork systems, providing greater security, reliability, and streamlining operations. They utilize a delivery model that costs significantly less than maintaining a Frankensuite made of fragmented, often outdated, on-premises systems and offer the efficiency of consolidated billing, as well as the convenience of a single point of contact for support.
Whether managing financial processes or handling daily operations, modern software solutions empower teams to work more efficiently and effectively. They offer integrated workflows across departments and leading-edge automations that streamline critical processes. Integrated systems also provide real-time access to data, eliminating delays caused by manual data compilation.
With a platform approach, meeting increasing citizen expectations is easier than ever. Delivering exceptional services starts with empowering government employees with the right tools, so they can address community needs effectively. Modern, integrated software platforms also make online government services more accessible and user-friendly, allowing citizens to complete tasks seamlessly from the convenience of their homes.
By breaking down data silos, integrated software platforms provide organizations with greater access to information and a comprehensive overview of the agency’s operations. These systems help identify and resolve data conflicts by preventing data duplication, leading to cleaner, more accurate datasets. With better data accuracy and timely access to insights, local government leaders can make sound decisions and respond to emerging issues more efficiently.
Patchwork systems are a natural result of growth. However, it is critical to recognize the burdens they place on organizations, the limits they set for scaling, and the hidden costs of utilizing and maintaining these outdated systems.
Implementing modern, integrated software solutions is not without its challenges, but it is critical for building a streamlined organization. Only with a consolidated infrastructure can local government drive efficiency and enhance the quality of citizen services.
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